Dubai: A Filipino mother and her four children, who have been living on charity after their Lebanese father was deported over failure to repay a loan, will fly back home today after several Gulf News readers helped them with the airfare to the Philippines.
Readers rushed to help the mother and her children, who landed in trouble after her husband was jailed for defaulting on a loan repayment and deported to Lebanon, after Gulf News wrote about them.
"This is a heart-breaking story," a reader said yesterday. "We need to help the mother and her little kids to go back home in the hope that they will join the father soon."
Mary, the mother, and her children have been surviving mainly on charity for the past year. The mother and a relative, who was staying with them, were earning a meagre income as part-time housemaids.
Children's visa
The children's visas also got cancelled because they were on their father's sponsorship. Mary said her children — Joyce, 8, Jasmine, 7, Fatima, 3, and Ali, 1, — have Philippine passports and are eagerly waiting to go back home in the hope they will some day be able to rejoin their father.
"I'm very thankful to all those who helped me. I was suffering and I had no clue what to do," she said. "Readers even came to my house to bring food and medicine for my children," she said with tears in her eyes.
Husband fell ill
She said her ordeal started when her husband fell ill about three years ago. "My husband was very sick and he took the loan to pay for his heart surgery," she said. "When he failed to pay back the loan he was sent to jail and lost his job as well.
"My children do not go to school and sometimes we even stay without food," she said. "I never thought that my problems would be solved. I was helpless and I was not able to help my children," she said.
Several readers said they were touched by the story of the family. "This is very sad and we hope that the family will join the father soon," said a reader.
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