An unfortunate accident led an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) to suffer burns in various parts of her body, but her employers would soon make her get back to work even if the wounds are still painful and she finds it difficult to move.
Photo credit: Claire Sarmiento / Facebook
Claire Sarmiento shared the sad story of what happened to her mother, Amor S. Talleser, who works in Kuwait.
Photo credit: Claire Sarmiento / Facebook
Last May 25, 2019, Amor was cooking at her employer’s house in Kuwait at 2AM, but an oven explosion led to burns in various parts of her body. Instead of rushing her to the hospital, however, her employer waited until 5AM.
Photo credit: Claire Sarmiento / Facebook
Though at first the employer promised to simply let her rest until she is feeling better, the promise only lasted a week. After that, she was told to work again. Complaining about the pain she still feels in the burn areas, the OFW tried to ask her employers to simply send her home, but she was told to either pay Php150k to go home or simply get back to work.
Photo credit: Claire Sarmiento / Facebook
Asking for help from her agency in the Philippines was not good as she was only told that their counterpart in Kuwait is the one responsible in dealing with her situation. She was also told that as long as she can still move, they can’t do anything about her employers making her work despite her situation. When she told them she feared her employers would get mad, the agency told her this was better because that would mean the employer would let her go and pay for her fare home!
Photo credit: Claire Sarmiento / Facebook
The family had also sought help from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) but were told that they have to wait for five working days to learn what action they will take in this case.
Photo credit: Claire Sarmiento / Facebook
With no one else to turn to, the family has sought help from social media, in hopes that someone could help them because Amor was already experiencing fever – a possible sign of infection. She was also getting scared that her employers might get her phone and she could no longer contact her family.
