From janitor to HR manager, OFW reflects on 'beautiful struggle'

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – He lost his father when he was 15 years old, compelling him to work odd jobs, including as a janitor and fast food help, to finish college. Today, Dennis Alejandria is an HR manager for a UK-based oil and gas company.

But nothing passed without sacrifice, the 48-year-old Alejandria, the fourth of eight siblings, said. 

Coming to the UAE in July 2007 on a visit visa facilitated by his wife, Pearly, he first took on a job as a storekeeper and forklift driver. That was 2008. 

Months before, he arrived in the middle of the desert summer; it was choking hot. He recalled, “I fell ill for a week.”

"It’s what you make of it," said Alejandria, a business degree graduate from the University of Nueva Caceres in Naga City, Camarines Sur.

“Ang aking life journey ay isang magandang pakikibaka. Ang aking mga sakripisyo at determinasyon ang naghubog sa akin kung sino ako ngayon. Totoo na ang kahirapan ay hindi hadlang para makamit ang mithiin sa buhay,” said Alejandria, who, during his elementary and high school years, stayed with relatives supporting his daily needs in return for his household support.

(My life journey is one beautiful struggle. My sacrifices and determination shaped me into what I have become. It’s true that poverty is never a stumbling block to achieving what you want in life.)

Staying in Ajman, an emirate approximately two hours north of Dubai, Alejandria, who has been with the oil and gas firm for 13 years, starting out as a secretary, has remained very active in community work. 

“Ang pasasalamat ang aking pampasigla kaya nagbibigay ako ng oras para mag-serve sa community. Service sa community ay nasa puso ko, iyon ang pamana na nais kong maalala sa aking buhay,” he said.

“Naniniwala ako na walang taong mayaman na wala nang pangangailangan, at walang taong mahirap na walang maibibigay.”

(Their words of gratitude keep me going. Service to the community is in my heart; that’s how I want to be remembered. I believe that no rich person has everything and no poor person can’t give something.)

Alejandria has received some 15 awards and commendations for his community service. Among his noteworthy acts, aside from the usual boxes of goods sent to kababayans in the Philippines, is working on the repatriation of a Filipino mother and her seven-year-old son, born outside of marriage, in 2018.

“We can always be a channel of blessings to others,” he said. —VBL, GMA Integrated News