Hi I'm Marc Philip 24 years old and working here in Saudi Arabia.. It was February 2007 when I arrived here in Saudi Arabia to work as CAD Operator my first month living here in Saudi Arabia parang normal lang I thought I was only on vacation kasi yung sinasabi nilang homesickness diko maramdaman maybe be because I'm still young enjoying and I'm a little bit independent even before pa sa Pinas because when I start to go to college I was studying in Manila and my Family is in Pangasinan for almost 7 years I'm living in Manila and Visit's my family if I have time and during holidays. Anyway lets go back my life here, as I have said my first months living and working here normal lang ang takbo ng buhay because I was working in our main office in Jeddah and Jeddah is a very good Place even though there are some policies in the city and the whole Saudi Arabia I enjoyed staying in Jeddah because there are lots of Filipinos working there and there are good place to relax like malls and specially there are lots of Filipino restaurants! After 3 months working in Jeddah Since I'm working in a construction company my Division Manager assigned me in our new project in Jizan, Jizan is almost a thousand kilometer in Jeddah and boundary on Yemen and Saudi Arabia. After hearing my new assignment I feel my world stops..... the first question came into my mind is "Paano ako mabubuhay dun???". Anyway since I'm the newest CAD Operator in our Division I can't do anything but to accept my new assignment, I travelled to Jizan by plane for about an hour, when I arrived here in Jizan I can see the big difference compared to Jeddah, masasabio nating malayo sa kabihasnan, as in sobra! and then our accomodation was in the middle of the dessert and sobrang init, sabi ko sa sarili ko andito na ako wala ng atrasan. I feel I'm alone no friends no relatives, ngayon ko na naramdaman ang sinasabi nilang homesickness I feel so lonely my daily routine office - Bahay only, our work starts as early as 6:30 in the morning so I need to wake up early because its a 40 minutes drive from our accomodation to our Field office. No Filipino restaurants here big and i think they have 2 Big supermarkets here and konti pa mabibili mong Pinoy Products here, I almost give up kasi homesick na homesick na ako. but I'm thankfull to my fellow pinoys here they giving me advice on how to overcome homesickness,  after work we gathered together kwentuhan exchanging jokes, and during our rest day if we have time we go fishing ('coz we're  working at the sea constructing a quay wall for Saudi Coast Guard) and also we engage in some activities like sports and one thing that helped me overcome homesickness is watching TFC parang nasa pinas lang ako. But there are times na hindi rin maiiwasan ang homesick specially nung first Birthday ko dito then christmas and new year, malungkot kasi I miss those occations kasi lagi ko kasama ang family ko. Now mahigit 1 year na ako dito masasabi kong I overcome homesickness, now I feel excitement because maybe 8 months after I planning to have a vacation, I can't wait to see my parents and my two sisters sa ngayon work muna ako after this project and given me a new assignment magbabakasyon na ako...

For me as a young OFW, living and working here abroad is not easy but challenging. It's not easy because your living away with your family and you need to be strong, and challenging kasi kung magpapadala ka sa homesickness mo and you dont face the reality na nasa abroad ka na, your lost. Life must go on and be proud to your self. Be Proud of being Filipino. Be proud being an OFW!