The Cost of Being Essential: A fund-raising campaign for a family that just reunited

Berly and her son Rupert (Photo: The Cost of Being Essential Campaign/GoFundMe)

Seeking a better life and better opportunities in another country is a typical Filipino immigrant story. Berly Mabalot is one of these aspirants who only want better living conditions that the local soil cannot grant them. However, working abroad is not merely an adventure but a difficult path that comes with lots of sacrifices, hard work, and debt.

Through the Temporary Foreign Workers Program, Berly worked in Canada, and she lived alone for the first three years. Fortunately, her husband Rommel was able to join her in working at the same hotel, supporting her not only financially but also emotionally. However, the family was still not complete yet with their 10-year-old son, Rupert left in the care of a relative in the Philippines.

One of the main reasons that drove Berly to go to Canada is that Rupert was born with a developmental disability that affects both his physical and intellectual capabilities.

“I needed to find a way to provide for my family, especially Rupert. He was falling behind in school without therapy and special education supports like an assistant to help him learn,” she said.

After two Visitor Visa rejections, Rupert was finally allowed to join the couple in Canada. While this is great news, Berly’s debts were accumulated after all the bureaucratic steps she had to take and consultants she had to seek regardless of a positive result or not.

Not to mention, the couple needed travel expenses to go back to the Philippines to pick up Rupert and go back to their home at Kelowna, B.C. Despite having jobs at a hotel and a hospital, these are not enough to sustain all their needs. Just to make things worse, all their plans were deeply affected because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis that prompted several travel restrictions.

There were no protocols on travel yet when the couple returned to the Philippines in February this year. After five years of being away from the country, they did not know that their stay would be extended because of a pandemic.

“We were essentially in limbo, on the phone constantly with Philippines Airlines who didn’t know when international flights would operate again,” she said.  Berly also tried to contact the travel agency in Kelowna — where their original return flight of March 30 had been booked, but it was not successful.

“They replied to my initial inquiry and said they would get back to me. But they never did and even stopped answering the phone.”

With the quarantine keeping them jobless, Berly and Rommel through credit from their friend, purchased a flight to return to Canada but since they were not Canadian citizens yet, they were not eligible for the $5,000 Emergency Loan Program designed to help Canadians return to Canada.

While the family is finally complete in their apartment in Canada, the struggles did not end yet with a $20,000 debt on their hands. Unfortunately, Berly and Rommel were also laid off from their jobs at the hotel where they have been working since they arrived in Canada.

They still have a second job in a hospital but with Rupert in their home, they cannot guarantee a schedule that would ensure someone to be there for their son. Aside from rent and other daily necessities, Rupert also has to be registered in the Central Okanagan School District to hopefully receive in-school childcare service.

“It breaks my heart when Rupert cries and begs me to not leave him.  But the reality is we must go back to work as soon as possible.  Rent needs to be paid and we have to keep up our monthly instalments — otherwise the immigration consultant firm will charge us more interest,” Berly said.

With all the struggles of the Mabalots, Karine Ng organized a fundraising campaign for them.

“After some in-depth conversations with Berly and Sammie Jo Rumbaua, we decided that the story is worth sharing, especially in these times when the topic of anti-racism is thick in the air.  We were further encouraged by MLA Mabel Elmore’s call for folks to come forward with their stories related to how the COVID pandemic is affecting the Filipinx community.

In Karine’s organized GoFundMe page, she narrated a conversation with Berly.

“When asked whether she would consider a crowdsourced fundraising campaign, Berly tentatively agreed.  She is worried that her family’s immigration status would be jeopardized.  She also fears media attention and backlash.  When I suggested setting the fundraising goal at $20,000 to meet her current needs, Berly was taken aback at how ambitious it was. ‘Isn’t that too much?’ She asked.  It is too much, I countered,  too much for anyone who has worked as hard and selflessly as you have, just so that your family can be together and for your son to have the opportunities that any child deserves.”

You can visit the fundraising campaign by Karine at this GoFundMe link. Berly and her family’s full story, as well as updates about them and the funds are included.