The journey of Imelda Diaz from the Philippines to Dubai was fraught with poverty, anguish, and aspiration
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00:00My name is Imelda Diaz from Philippines.
00:11I'm the youngest of nine siblings, and the only girl also.
00:17My father is a dump truck driver, and my mom, I lost my mom when I was 12 years old because
00:23of cancer.
00:25And I think that's in our genes.
00:27So I'm also a cancer survivor, and I still have that ongoing laboratory test.
00:34And as I grew up, I remember because I'm from the poor family, I cannot forget the things
00:41that we used to do when we were eating food.
00:44You know the fried egg, we used to cook that one, and then we're slicing that into 11 pieces
00:51so we can survive every day.
00:53But I'm so glad and grateful that my dad is, he supported us all the way, even he's
01:00the only solo parent at that time.
01:02I'm so grateful that my dad sent me to the school even though I finished my studies,
01:08I graduated as a Bachelor of Science, major in management.
01:13I can tell you that I'm already married when I finish my four-year studies.
01:18Then I had my daughter at the age of 23.
01:21I got married when I was 22 years old.
01:24So I think it's a love marriage, but what happened is it's not, it did not work out
01:29because we're not compatible to each other, and I'm so ambitious.
01:35I was working in retail also in the Philippines in Avanzon as a retail sales officer.
01:43And then I heard one agency that they are hiring in UAE, and because I'm an ambitious
01:50mom for my daughter, so I decided to apply going to UAE, and luckily I was chosen to
01:59join EROS.
02:01What happened is in the year of 2017, I went to the doctor and they told me that I have
02:07a metastasis cancer in the liver.
02:10But that time, I'm still struggling because my daughter is, she just finished her studies
02:16in University of St. Thomas, so meaning to say, I don't have that much of money.
02:21So I decided, and my HOD also decided that to send me back home to do that PET scan on
02:28August 2017.
02:32And then they find out that I have a stage 2 cancer in my thyroid, so they need to remove
02:39my thyroid.
02:41Sorry, actually I don't want to cry, but then 2017, I don't know what to do at that time
02:55because what happened is, sorry, it's okay, I'm shaking.
03:092017, they found out that I have a cancer that I need to undergo with surgery, but I'm
03:18empty-handed at that time.
03:22I'm sorry.
03:29That's why I'm so grateful and thankful to EROS.
03:33What they did is, they contributed so they can send me back home to do the operation.
03:40That's on February 2018.
03:49They sent me back home to Philippines, they contributed, and I have that enough of money,
03:55I know that, but I have to budget that.
03:59Sorry, I'm so emotional.
04:03I have a series of tests, there are so many tests before the operation.
04:12She sacrificed so much for me and for her family, and even though I feel like she's
04:20tired already, she still goes on and works because she has plenty of dreams for us.
04:29And she wants to achieve more for us.
04:34I feel like she's very selfless because she sacrificed a lot for us.
04:41You've given me the world and you've given me wider opportunities, and without you, I
04:53can never, I will not be here.
04:55I mean, if you did not grab the opportunity and went to Dubai, we will not be here.
05:08Dubai gave me everything, because what happened is, whatever dreams that I never fulfilled
05:13when I was, because I got married at an early age, whatever I want to myself, I already
05:20given to my daughter, and apart from that, it's a bonus that I'm helping my dad.
05:25That will not happen if I'm not in UAE.
05:29If I'll be back home, I don't think I can send my daughter to a prestigious school.
05:34I don't think my daughter will be in Canada, and I don't think my dad is still alive now.
05:39That's why I'm very thankful to ERAS and UAE also, that until now, I'm still, my family
05:47and I are still okay, and still fighting.