My life began on March 05 1971at my parents house in south Ginatilan  Cebu Philippines.. In the middle of nowhere. My given birth name was Luzvilla/ or  Luzbella. Given by the wonderful people my parents. The story that I was told about my name is this: When I was a baby my father wanted me named Luz.. and my mother wanted Villa ... my mom thinks Luz is a bad name for me... and my father thinks its perfect for me. The wife of the ex president of the Philippines was Luz; that's why my father liked that name and mom said no because there was a prostitute in our place named Luz ... that's why she didn't allowed my father to name me Luz ...so my baptism was held until I was 2 years old.. and no one won by that time no one lost either... they both won... .they put my name together! When I was 6 I remember that no one liked us because we were  poor. People took advantage of my mother; they hired her to work but they didn't pay her right.. I saw my mother end up walking home crying and thinking what she was going to do.. I saw her crying a lot and thinking of my brothers and sisters who were in the city studying for their diplomas. My parents spent  their time a lot on the farm and my old brothers as well. Me too.. we worked so hard for our life.. I went to school bare footed and had only one dress... and the other kids didn't like me because i was poor and barefooted. No one played with me. They teased me all the time; even my teacher was always picking me out and call me lousy. I grew up in a very simple family. I grew up in the countryside far away from the city.. 10 miles away from the town. I remember when I was young we were the poorest creatures on earth i guess. My father was an ex-seaman, he got fired when he got sick... and my mother was a farmer. We are 11 in our family, 13 including our parents. I was the youngest. I worked on the farm helping my parents since I was 7 years old. I cleaned the house and took care of the goat, cow and all animals...I thought my life was just there. We ate twice a day, we couldn't afford to buy so much rice or corn, we ate vegetables most of the time and fresh fruit. I thought my life was going to be stuck in that situation . When I reached the age of 11 my sister Elena brought her boyfriend to our place in Ginatilan. For the first time in my life I saw a white person; I thought my sister was married to a king and a god and I was very proud of it... our quiet life was going to change. Also my other sister Fe married an Australian guy named Wayne. He is handsome too and has a different texture of beauty. Oh well, when my two sisters brought their boyfriends home we became famous and our life became different.. ..

I had a new dress, new slippers and pair of shoes. Suddenly there were kids wanting to play with me and saying we like you because you are not poor anymore. I was not happy when I heard that; I was not impressed. I was thinking I will be happy if they accept for what I am . When my sister Elena went to Manila and Fe went to Australia to her husband, our life was back to normal. People asked a lot of questions about how they met American, how the American liked my sisters when they were poor and not much educated. My mother didn't say anything. I did, I said my sisters are smarter than anyone else and they are educated. So when my brother-in-law Eric bought a house near the beach we were happy. I said in my mind at least I don't need to walk a long distance anymore. I hate walking. And for the first time we didn't use the gas light, we used the electric power and I was amazed because all I had to do was click the switch and lights came on. Then one day the bulbs didn't work anymore so I was so nervous I thought I was in trouble. My heart beat like crazy. I was praying, hoping they'd work. Then I took the bulbs and tried to fix them, but they still didn't work so I put my finger inside the receptacles to see if there was something stuck in there. When I did that, surprise! Someone had bitten me a different kind of bite, like my whole body was shock. And I called my Uncle Badet and asked him. He answered me with a big laugh and hugged me and said poor little girl that is an electric shock.

So.. when I reached the age of 13 I graduated from primary school and I asked my parents if I could go to high school and my mother said yes. I was happy and felt lucky because I really wanted to go to school. My mother sent me to Holy Trinity School in Ginatilan. It's a private school. I really can't forget that moment, I loved to study and get the diploma. But sometimes we couldn't afford to pay the tuition every month. I always made a promissory note and they didn't accept it. And instead they humiliated me and embarrassed me in front of all my classmates. They were laughing and yelling at me where are your two sisters who married kings. I ran out crying and thinking one day I'll leave this place and never come back here ever again. It makes me really sad to say that I was born there and I hated that place. Students staring at me like I had some kind of disease and saying you know what Elarde, you belong to the mountian with the monkeys. I cried going home and yelled at my father and said why are we so poor ?! My father was always drunk and when drunk of course he would hurt our feelings. He always said we are so useless and worthless. I know he was so depressed. In 1985 my mother went to Australia ... and I didn't know. I ask my father when is mother coming home? He always said tomorrow, until I realized almost a year later. Then I knew that she  had gone to Australia. I thought Australia was really near us. Then I looked up in the map and saw that Australia is really far. Oh well, I know my mother was away from us for the reason, maybe, she is looking for money for us.

In 1986 my father wanted me to go to Antique Panay where he was born. I have a lot of aunties and cousins there, and he promised me that my family in Panay Island was different than my mother's side. I was so excited to go there, but I knew I was going to miss my father and didn't want to leave him alone. He was with my brother Armando. First I went to Manila to visit my sister Elena. There I saw a life that was so different. Everything was wonderful in Manila. I liked t.v so much, and ate foods that I had never eaten before. My sister Elena was always a great sister to me. (Elena's and Kuya Eric photo) After a month of visiting her, I needed to go to my father's Island. I was hoping that this time I could get a best friend.

Panay Antique... I have a sister in law who was nice and very loving and understanding, but still I was so shy. After two years living with then I can say it is great having a family like them. And I promised never to forget them. In 1988 I went back to Manila to live with my sister Elena. She had a beauty parlor business, and I was making some friends too. I learned the style of Manila's people. In September 1988 my father came to Manila. He looked old then. We hadn't seen each other for almost 2 years. He looked so happy to see me! I was so happy to see him too.

In April 1989 tragedy happened...my father passed away without saying goodbye. It was sad, but we are all going there someday. He had a heart attack and for me it was like the end of the world. That time I realized how much I loved my father. After a couple months my sister Elena's family went to India. I was left in Manila feeling so alone. I worked part-time anywhere I could and studied in the night. It was really hard. I felt so depressed. I wanted to go to college but couldn't afford to. Until one day I was knocking door to door in my neighborhood, asking them if they needed someone to wash their clothes. I asked 12 cents per jeans; I washed by hand. I slept in the middle of the night, washed other peoples' clothes, and in the morning worked in a big department store as a sales lady. At 7 at night I went to school. I finished a vocational course in Hotel and Restaurant management after 2 years. I felt great. I passed, but I knew my knowledge wasn't really enough to work in the finest hotels. Life without too much knowledge is too hard. My brothers were also not improving their  lives. They needed help, I wish I could help them..

On Feb 16, 1992 I decided to go abroad no matter what it took. One day I met this couple from Davao. Her name was Amilita  Pacatang, she was from Pagadian. She had worked in the Middle East and I thought what if could go abroad too? If others can do it, why can't I? So i did it. I guess i was lucky because at that time the agency needed a worker to go to Kuwait desperately. I was chosen so I was happy. I was interviewed about what kind of job I was going to do there. The agency said I was going to work in a store as a saleslady. They said it was a big department store. I had an 18k visa, but I didn't really understand what that meant. I didn't really care because I just wanted to go. I signed up and answered all the questions and I felt blessed because I had been chosen. In the airport I felt strange... we were 10 Filipina going to Kuwait. The other girls didn't speak any English or even Tagalog. And a man took our passports. I was watching what he was doing... but I didn't care, all I wanted at that time was to go away. At the last minute the guy returned our passports and told us good luck. He shook my hand and said write us okay... and be a good girl in Kuwait. I gave him a sour smile and ask him why he is not happy, he just walked and said he felt sorry for everyone who was dying to go abroad. I said okay, then when I was on the plane I realized that we were illegal, i think. i felt so scared and really sad...but anyway I needed to work... (My self photo and my mother.)

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