So we went to the Philippines
I got numbers for the recruitment offices
and went with a group of men.
We had the name of a Palestinian there, his uncle here gave us his contact.
We checked into the hotel and began calling the list of numbers
to meet the recruiters.
By this point I had a little English,
Though if someone hears me now they will laugh. The way a Sri Lankan speaks Arabic,
my English is even worse.
So I would call the recruiters to meet,
they would tell us costs and wages.
Then this woman shows up,
a lady, very well put together.
Joyful, talkative.
She invited me to her office the next day.
It was huge.
She had two whole buildings.
One was a training center.
She brought girls from the islands,
had them sleep there,
poor girls, like chickens in cages,
hundreds of them.
When I visited they would all stand up,
Yelling out, “good morning sir!”
A hundred voices shouting.
And you’d feel embarrassed…
She’d also train them there, teach them what to do.
Before they traveled --
she had a very strong personality --
they’d pass by her office on the way to the airport,
and she’d give them a righteous lecture:
“You need to make the Philippines proud,
You need to be on your best behavior.”
Etcetera.
So we began working with this woman.
Her name was Mary Mi.
She sent us requests by the hundreds.