I know this was posted last year, but as a newbie, I just read it.

First, I would like to congratulate the writer on having such a wonderful writing ability. It's very well set out with the song words in the most apt places.

Secondly, I want to say that it is possibly one of the most emotionally stirring pieces I have ever read. As do many other contributors to this forum, I do know the Philippines and more than a few Filipinos. Reading this article actually brought tears to my eyes and made my heart feel heavy. Yes, we all know that this sort of thing happens and not just to Filipinos, but this article has been written so well, it seems to fix it firmly in your mind and in your heart.

Many of us work away from home at times. The wife cries ‘cos she’s gonna miss you and we miss our kids and family, for a few weeks. Can we imagine just how hard it must be for someone who needs to be away from his home for maybe a year or more at a time and then only going home for a week or two. Not only that, but then feeling that he is not really wanted back home, because they need the money more than they need him. Not that there would be any work for him anyway.

We all also know about the global sex trade and women being procured under false pretence from the poor and not so poor parts of the world and it’s very sad that it’s allowed to happen. I do wonder how the Arab world can get away with taking people to its countries, taking their passports and all their rights away. I have a friend who’s girlfriend went to work in Dubai as a beautician. When she arrived her passport was taken away and she was taken to a house where she was made to work as a maid. I think she was quite lucky that there wasn’t a man in the household. The woman’s husband worked in the UK. After a few weeks it was indicated to her that she was expected to perform sexual favours for the husbands of the woman’s friends. Luckily she managed to escape the house and get to the British embassy.

My Filipina fiancée also told me of a friend of hers who went to work as a housekeeper in Saudi. After a few months her family and friends stopped getting texts and letters from her. They started making enquiries, but were always fobbed off with stories that "girls sometimes find a man and run away". About a year after she disappeared her body was found. She had been sexually abused and strangled. The authorities weren’t interested in finding a killer and dropped the case. The family couldn’t afford to reclaim the body and they do not know what has happened to it since.

I’ve often foolishly thought, (like many others) “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the whole world could live as one”. This article got me think it again, but in a much stronger way. Today it was announced that the World Bank has chosen it’s new head. Why can’t a World Bank take control of all the finances for the world? Maybe have a world government. A world police force. There must be a way to stop the poverty, the wars, the corruption and other wrongdoings there are in the world today.

What a sad world we live in. What can we do?