For Abu Dhabi-based OFW: It's an online Mother's Day celebration

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — When the world celebrates Mother's Day with flowers, hugs, and heartfelt messages, one mother thousands of miles away from home celebrates quietly but triumphantly — with tears of joy and a heart bursting with pride.

In a quiet glow of a phone screen at 2 a.m. in Abu Dhabi, Lelabeth Cabahug, 50 years old and a native of Zamboanga Sibugay Province, kept herself awake just to watch the live stream of her daughter’s college graduation, an event that coincidentally fell on Mother’s Day.

“I couldn’t sleep. My heart was racing, and I was crying even before the program started. I was awake at 2 a.m. as my children need to be in the graduation premises as early as 6:00 a.m. Philippine time. I felt like I was there with them thanks to the live video streamed by my eldest child just so I could attend his sister’s graduation,” Cabahug told GMA Integrated News.

For years, Cabahug, a devoted single mother, works tirelessly as a nanny in the United Arab Emirates, enduring loneliness, hardship and immense sacrifice, not for herself but for the future of her three children.

With no family nearby and earning a modest income, Cabahug made the ultimate sacrifice: setting aside her personal dreams and the deep yearning to return home so she could pave a better future for her

children.

Her sacrifices have borne fruit. On Sunday, May 11, her second child, Micxz Heart Enanod, proudly graduates with a degree in nursing at Philippines Advent College, just a year after her eldest, Mark Dominic, earned his degree in Criminology at Ipil Medina College.

Each milestone is not just their triumph, but hers as well – a testament to a mother’s unwavering

love and resilience.

“I couldn’t believe it! She made it. After those gruelling years, how we were able to come by, finally, I just couldn’t hold back my tears as I saw my second child graduate. I may not be there physically, but I was with the three of them, witnessing the graduation and the whole ceremony. God has been so good to us,” the teary-eyed Cabahug told GMA Integrated News.

Cabahug’s story is not just one of motherhood — it is a testament to strength, resilience, and a love that knows no borders. It echoes the journey of countless single Filipino mothers who are forced to leave their children behind in the Philippines in search of a better life in foreign lands.

Married to a carpenter in 1999, Cabahug never imagined working abroad. But everything changed

after the birth of her third child, Jela Mae.

It was during that time, her husband returned to his old vices — smoking, drinking, and gambling — each vice growing worse with time.

In 2010, driven by necessity and the desire to give her children a future, she made the heart-wrenching decision to leave her children, who were just 9, 7 and five years old back then to work as a housemaid in Saudi Arabia.

Barely a year into her overseas job, devastating news reached her that her husband was unfaithful back home. She then decided to finish her contract and go back to Philippines to end their marriage.

Before she returned to Abu Dhabi in 2013 to work as a nanny with no support from her husband.

“My only weapon is my prayers. My faith in God made me decide to try once again to work overseas. This was the only way I know how to raise my children and give them a better future. With them in my thoughts and in my heart, I was able to surpass all the challenges raising them singlehandedly,” she stressed.

Despite being oceans apart, Cabahug made sure she never misses a single important event in her

children’s lives – be it their birthdays or their graduation.

She was always talking to them online and made sure she surprises them during personal milestones

like birthdays or graduation by sending flower bouquets.

Working as a house help, salon receptionist and nanny in the Middle East, Cabahug has managed to send all three of her children to private colleges — a feat even parents back home find hard to achieve.

Her children, in turn, see her not just as their mother, but as their hero.

“During my graduation day, I was hoping mom was there so that she could be with me walking on the aisle but at the same time, I'm happy because I know she's happy watching her middle child graduates. This milestone I have had is dedicated to my mom. All throughout this college journey, mom was there to support, comfort, and most especially sustained what i needed,” Micxz Heart told GMA Integrated News.

Now that she earned her Nursing degree, Micxz Heart said she will do everything to help her mother

once she starts earning.

"All the hard work of my mom is not wasted and has been paid off I could say. This milestone I had is dedicated to my mom. Proud to say that I'm one of the daughters of an OFW who has graduated and a degree holder this time,” Mics Heart stated.

“She might be far from us, yet she doesn't make less of everything, and we fully understand the situation, with all the risks and sacrifices she did because, it is not easy as a mother to support and provide the needs of her three children alone. We are so proud of our mother because, she gave us life that we don't have to be problematic with such things. I'm still amazed at how she handles all the

storms she has encountered in her life," she said.

In a separate interview, Cabahug’s youngest daughter, 20-year-old Jela Mae, recalled how young she

was when her mother left for abroad.

“I used to question if my mother really existed because I never felt her presence,” she shared. “I only

truly experienced a parent’s love through my father.”

Just like any child whose parents had to leave them in the Philippines, Jela Mae admitted that she

was craving for her mother’s presence.

At a very young age, she learned to take care of herself.

Now on her second year in the College of Pharmacy at Ipil Medina College, Jela Mae lauded her

mother for her unconditional love that on Mother’s Day she could only attribute all their successes

to Cabahug’s sacrifices and selflessness.

“As time passed, I realized that if it was hard for us, her children, it was even harder for a mother to

be away from her children. Growing older, our situation made me realize that our mom is a superhero without a cape; she's a very strong, independent woman. Many people say we grew up to be good children even without our parents by our side. The only reason we became good children was her love. Even though she was far away and we didn't spend time with her, her hard work was enough to show her love for us. She always prioritized us before herself,” she stressed.

“Our family revolves around my mother. She's a devoted provider who works tirelessly to ensure we have all we need, even if it means sacrificing her own desires. She is also my best buddy, whom I can chat to and joke with. Above all, she is the best mother anyone could ask for, constantly supportive, kind, and loving. Every day, I am inspired by her bravery, kindness and unwavering determination,”

she added. — BAP, GMA Integrated News