Distance Parenting: Bridging oceans between Filipino migrant workers and the children left behind

The primary goal of the project is to provide interventions tailored to the specific needs of children left behind by migration of Filipino workers, their caregivers, and their parent-OFWs. While most programs related to labor migration are aimed at the workers, this project will seek to study and test interventions that may support family members left behind.

This project will adopt a holistic approach that will provide interventions to left behind children, their parents abroad, and to the designated caregivers of the children. Collaboration with migrant organizations will be crucial for reaching the target beneficiaries and maximizing the project’s impact.

A participatory approach involving children, families, and community members throughout the whole project cycle will ensure that interventions are culturally sensitive and responsive to the unique needs of their context.

The project will have the following main activities:

Study

A study will be conducted to create a more concrete picture of how being in a transnational family has affected the project participants and identify the problems they face. Workshops, focus group discussions, and interviews will be conducted among the children, their caregivers, and their Filipino migrant worker parents. This research will be the basis of the design of the workshop modules and manuals as well as a children’s storybook that will document and propagate the lived experiences of transnational families.

Workshops for children

A workshop will be designed and held to provide support and empowerment to children of OFWs. The workshop will be carefully crafted to help these children cope with the unique challenges they face and to foster resilience, self-esteem and a sense of belonging. The workshop will be structured around topics such as migration, parenting, child rights and child protection. The methods and techniques to be used are a blend of interactive activities, discussions, and supportive guidance. Older children will also be trained as peer counselors for fellow OFW children in their communities. Manuals, which will serve as guidebooks, will be developed and distributed to these children.

Workshops for caregivers and parent-OFWs

Workshops on positive parenting, child development, children’s rights, and other related topics will be held for migrant parents, parents planning to work overseas, and caregivers of left behind children in order to guide them in their roles and responsibilities and help in the positive development of the children despite the challenges they face.

Relationship coaching

A series of virtual relationship coaching sessions will be conducted among migrant parents and their children in order to facilitate improved communication, enhance parent-child bonds, increase mutual empathy and understanding, develop healthy boundaries, and improve family dynamics.

Publications and Printed Materials

• Storybook on fragmented families and their experience
• Journal for children and parents
• Modules and manuals