OFW Diaries, Episode 1

Crisanta Sampang here. Let me tell you how I got my face plastered all over the Philippines’ TV screens a few days ago. It was quite an experience.

One day two weeks ago, I was in bed with a sore throat, running a fever, half-delirious and shivering under about six layers of blankets, breathing only through a little blowhole I’d created near my face. The Vancouver seasonal flu had hit me hard, in my first sickness in about 8 years. I’d been away from my job for almost a week. You have to believe the last thing I was thinking about was work, least of all creating a video.

That was when I got a call from Alyx, a young researcher from GMA7; a smart, enthusiastic, slave-driving kid who reminded me of my younger self. Told me she found my name at Google, blah blah blah, and wanted to feature me at their show, OFW Diaries’ pilot episode. I am a Filipino Overseas Worker. A domestic helper, to be exact. I got on Google because I wrote a book about my life working as a domestic in Singapore. It’s called Maid in Singapore. I’m still working part-time as a domestic in Vancouver, Canada by choice, but have since branched out into serious writing and some filmmaking.

I said I’d be interested under normal circumstances, but I was currently down with flu, I had no camera, and I probably didn’t look very photogenic at the moment.

I might however, do it when I got better, which should be sometime middle of next week, and only if GMA7 would provide some camera rental money and shooter expenses. Hiring a cameraman and his camera in Vancouver costs $350 a day. I calculated that shooting would take two days. Plus the fee for couriering the tapes internationally, which could cost you an arm and a leg. We started haggling, and Alyx was very honest.

Alyx said they didn’t have that kind of budget, but could perhaps afford the camera rental. After all, she said, it’s a video diary, you point the camera at your face, say your name and shoot. Hah. Well, OK, I said I might do it because I liked her. But I could only film after I got better, and I WANT that camera rental money.

At this point, Alyx’s segment producer, Isel Caringal, got involved. She wanted my kids to be in the picture too. I now had to sell the idea to my daughters, Maricel and Maricar, who needed a lot of convincing and prodding, because first thing, they argued, they’d have to get their houses photographable, along with themselves and the rest of their families. Too much work. Secondly, they said they were too pangit. I assured Maricar that both of them were plenty good looking enough for TV, and if they needed a second opinion, to go ask their husbands. Maricar told me I only said that because I was their mother. I said to Isel, you better talk to Maricel.

So I was getting over my flu while my girls were warming up to the idea of being on TV, and I sealed the deal by pointing out to them that it would be good for my grandkids to see what’s happening in Lola’s world. Isel and Alyx were now both hustling me to get a move on, frantically issuing instructions and reminders by long-distance calls, text messages, emails and Facebook. Darn technology. I had the feeling that they’d only give me peace when my tapes landed in their hot little hands. Which irritated me a little bit, because I suspected they didn’t believe I could deliver on time. I’ll have to say, to their credit, that these two women know how to get things done.

Isel and her GMA7 crew went to my daughters’ Antipolo homes and I heard filming went without a hitch. Isel also dropped off the camera rental money, as I’d instructed, to save them from paying remittance fees. Next thing I knew, Maricel was texting me. She had hijacked the camera money for Maricar and herself, because, ‘they made us cry and work very hard so we deserve a talent fee!’ Darn it.

Now for my Canadian segment; contrary to Alyx’s argument that I just had to point the camera at myself and shoot, putting myself on video required a little more planning. I got the camera, learned how to use it, tested its audio and found everything alright. I looked for a good background, worked on lighting, framing, and practised answering the interview questions in a way that made my footage easily editable. To further ensure I produced some broadcast quality material, I grabbed my friend Daniel and used him as stand-in during test shots. After all I call myself a filmmaker. I was also under pressure to get this done properly in one take, because Isel and Alyx were breathing down my neck.

Filming done, tapes couriered, I texted both of them that the video was on the way. I could hear their collective sighs of relief echoing from across the Pacific Ocean.

I went back to bed for a well-deserved rest, until I got another flurry of text messages from Alyx. Kara David, the OFW Diaries host, wanted to chat by webcam. Could you, asked Alyx, download Skype so we could do that? Apparently, my YM 8 wasn’t good enough. So OK, on that same night, at 11 PM, I was given ten minutes to download and learn Skype, then talk to Kara David. Oh the stress of it all.

The chat with Kara was rewarding, however. I found her to be an intelligent and engaging host, empathetic and sensitive. She asked good questions. I made her cry. But I loved talking to her and concluded that Kara was indeed the perfect host for the OFW stories. I went to sleep around 1:30 AM happy and excited about the show.

The pilot aired after midnight on March 13th, Philippine time. After the broadcast, I received text and Skype messages from people who have seen OFW Diaries and wanted to tell me how proud they were of me. I was very pleased to hear from them. I have since forwarded the GMA7 link to a variety of people in Canada and heard many good feedbacks. I’ve also watched the other segments on You Tube and cried.
All in all, it has been a good experience, getting my word out there, and hearing back from viewers. I wish Kara, Isel, Alyx and GMA7 more success on their show. Mabuhay OFW’s!