In one of Nadine Sarreals stories, a Filipino domestic worker who has been physically and sexually abused by her employers in Hong Kong says, Ay, I have to work. I have to hold on. I can cry later, maybe at night. But while there is light, I must keep on working.

These words sum up the situation of not only many among the five million overseas contract workers from the Philippines  among the worlds top exporters of human labour  but also that of new immigrants, who often feel marginalised in societies overseas.

One always has to find strength somewhere and keep going, often in the face of overwhelming difficulties. But one could also do with a bit of help.

These are among the main themes in Sarreals work. The Singapore-based Filipino writer, who has been garnering praise and awards here, reflects the voices of her compatriots around the world, many of whom work as seafarers, factory workers, nurses and domestic workers.

She does so with style, wit and intensity, particularly in her collection of stories Exactly Here, Exactly Now , published just over a year ago.

Noelle Q de Jesus, a Filipino writer also based in Singapore, says, There is a thoroughness to Nadines fiction that is born out of a complete and utter sensitivity to and understanding of her characters.

Painful predicaments

When she writes of Filipinos and their often painful predicaments, Sarreal has sympathy for them, to be sure, but more than that, there is a matter-of-factness to her voice that gives her stories an understated pathos that moves more than any emotion.

Sarreal, 46, has lived and worked in several countries, and she uses her experiences to fuel her writing. Much of her work centres on Filipinos living abroad, including domestic workers who work in huge numbers in Asian countries like Hong Kong (150,000), Malaysia (30,000) and Singapore (70,000).

Indeed, one of Sarreals most moving stories, Case 2183-93, Angela Cabading, Age 26 , grew out of the volunteer work she did with the Mission for Filipino Migrant Workers in Hong Kong, where she compiled reports on cases of abuse.

This particular story tells of the rape of a domestic worker in the Chinese territory, and its effectiveness comes from the fact that most of the story is told from the victims point of view. In this way, Sarreal allows her characters their own voice.

I eat curses for breakfast/and breathe humiliation through the day/Before noon/I must/Sweep the floor and polish windows/Dust the furniture/Wash the dog/Hang out laundry/Run up and downstairs 12 times. . . , Sarreal writes.

So begins this story, which combines elements of poetry as well as journalism to get its message across. The journalism takes the form of letters to an imaginary editor by Hong Kong citizens aggrieved at the huge number of Filipino workers in the former British colony. The letters are juxtaposed with the first-person narrative, highlighting the domestic workers story. Living in different places makes me aware of other Filipinos who are out here too, Sarreal says. I am aware I have more in common with the people outside than those who are in the Philippines, and when they bleed, I bleed too.

Soft-spoken, with a quiet, relaxed air, Sarreal exudes intellectual integrity, a legacy from her parents who were both teachers when she was growing up. Her father taught biology and other life sciences while her mother taught remedial English. Both parents received degrees from a university in the United States, where Sarreal and her two sisters were born.

When her parents returned to the Philippines, they taught at the American School in the northern Philippine city of Baguio, and Sarreal stayed there until she completed grade six. The family went back to the United States for four years, while Sarreals father pursued a doctorate.

Scholarship

In the Philippines once more, Sarreal finished high school and received a scholarship to the University of the Philippines, where she majored in statistics.

My parents encouraged me and my sisters not to go into teaching because they wanted us to go into fields where we could support ourselves so that we didnt have to depend on men, Sarreal says with a laugh.

But her work as a statistician did not stop the stories from coming. The stories were still in my head. They were merciless, she says.

She finally decided to focus on literature, completing a masters degree in writing at Vermont College in the United States.

Apart from writing short stories, Sarreal also writes essays and poetry. She recently won first prize in a poetry contest in Singapore, in which the theme was Working in a Foreign Land. The competition was organised by a Filipino expatriate group.

While you sleep tonight/ The earth turns a few degrees/ Grinding on its ancient axis, Sarreal writes. Your loved ones across that ocean,/ Such a small body of water on a map,/ will sit at breakfast and try not to gaze/Where you would sit at the table./Meals now divided by five/Instead of six, dont feed an emptiness.

Sarreal also writes love poetry and her work was included in the recent collection of poems by Singaporean and Filipino poets titled Love Gathers All .

In addition, she works as associate editor for the on-line literary journal called Our Own Voice , which carries ''Filipino literature from the diaspora''. Contributors initially came mostly from the United States, but the reach of the journal has expanded, with Filipino writers from Poland to the Middle East now being included.

Meanwhile, Sarreals dream is to complete the novel that she has been working on for several years now. Set mainly in a church basement in a small American town, the novel tells the story of a young Filipino girl whose father disappears one day. Rather than accept his absence, the girl and her mother decide to try to track him down.

Sarreal says the idea came to her many years ago when she used to do her laundry in a basement, writing down thoughts while the machines turned. But for her, writing a novel is even harder than writing short stories or poetry. Its like giving birth to a 50-pound baby, she says.

Part of the difficulty comes from writing in a place thats far from home. Sometimes it has been a struggle to find my voice, Sarreal says. Sometimes I feel untethered. But moving around and being in strange places also helps me focus on my strongest memories. And it also helps to know that I'm not alone. There are many Filipinos in a similar situation. (IPS)