Dubai - Flights to Manila were suspended and travel restrictions were in place, so all Arnold could do was weep while on a video call.
Published: Wed 15 Apr 2020, 3:51 PM
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Filipinos in Dubai have come together to help their kababayan (fellow compatriot) who has had to grieve and mourn the death of his wife - in front of a smartphone screen.
Arnold Salvador, a 26-year-old storekeeper who lives in Muraqqabat, Dubai, promised his 25-year-old sick wife Raselleda that he would be home soon despite the situation arising out of the Covid-19 crisis. Three days later, she died of brain aneurysm.
Budget flights to Manila were suspended and travel restrictions were in place, so all Arnold could do was weep while on a video-call with his kids, looking at his wife in a coffin.
"The last time I spoke to her on March 21, she was asking me to come home, telling me she needed me. I told her I was just trying to borrow money to buy a plane ticket," he told Khaleej Times.
"But she couldn't wait for me. I still can't believe she's gone. All I want is to go home now, especially for our three children." Their kids, aged nine, eight and five, currently have to stay with relatives in separate homes, he said.
Shared on Facebook by expat Brenda Britania, it was a heart-wrenching story that prompted Filipinos to swing into action in a show of what they called 'bayanihan' (a sense of community ingrained in the Filipino culture).
"Knowing what he was going through made me realise that I was far from being the most helpless person in the world right now. I realised that, indeed, there were others in more desperate situations," said Brenda, who has been doing a relief drive for needy Filipinos affected by the pandemic.
"I knew I had to do something to help this man go home. So I posted about his plight on my Facebook page and donors started giving what they could."
Arnold has been a storekeeper for a shop at a mall in Dubai since last year. When the Covid-19 crisis struck, he was told that he would be placed on a three-month unpaid leave.
Thanks to Brenda's post, he recently received bags of food supplies and some cash from a number of Filipinos.
Since then, he has been saving every dirham to be able to buy a plane ticket, go home to his kids, and start anew.
Now that a number of UAE airlines have started offering special passenger flights to Manila on certain dates, he is hopeful that he would be with his children soon.
Grief on 10th anniversary
"I was overwhelmed with the generosity of our kababayan here in Dubai. I wasn't expecting all this outpouring of kindness just by sharing my story with Ate Che (Brenda)," Arnold said.
"At that time, I just wanted someone to talk to because I was feeling down as I remembered my wife Raselleda on what was supposed to be our 10th anniversary on April 11."
He said he couldn't help but recall how Raselleda urged him to "think happy thoughts" in their last conversations.
"She told me to stop worrying about our problems. She acted as if she was the strong one, but in truth, she was already losing strength," he said.
Raselleda died on March 24 after being sick since January.
Doctors said there was a problem in a part of her brain that caused her to sleep for 16 to 24 hours straight on some days. She was on medication, but the family couldn't afford necessary medical tests so they didn't know what exactly her condition was.
Brenda believed there was "a reason" Arnold reached out to her.
"I felt it was a nudge from God, so I made a commitment and I promised that I would do whatever I can do to help him survive this struggle. I am moved by how our kababayan have been sharing their blessings," she said.
kirstin@khaleejtimes.com
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