A Hopeful Gamble: Living the Faith as Migrant Workers and Transnational Mothers

• Main Author: Reyes-Espiritu, Ma. Adeinev M
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2023
• Subjects: migrant; Filipinas; faith; mothering; transnational; Arts and Humanities; Christianity; Migration Studies; Missions and World Christianity; Religion; Social and Behavioral Sciences; Sociology
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/theology-faculty-pubs/81; https://doi.org/10.3366/swc.2023.0416
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

This article is based on a qualitative research study involving Filipinas who are both migrant workers in Kuwait; Italy; Hong Kong and Taiwan and mothers of children aged between 0 and 18 years at the time of their departure from the Philippines. The article seeks to answer the following question: how does one’s Christian faith assist women in coping with labour migration and the resulting transnational mothering? In an analysis of data gathered from the participant mothers; the concept of ‘strategising to gain access to a better life’ emerges as central to how the participants navigate transnational mothering as labour migrants. In particular; the participant mothers identify their faith as one of the factors in which they invest. From a theological perspective; such ‘investing in faith’ is interpreted as an integral component of an ongoing spirituality that is hinged on an active relationship with God. On the one hand; their experience of living the faith reveals encountering the sacred in mundane events; amidst the challenges associated with labour migration and transnational mothering. On the other hand; their experience of hopeful gambling attests to the reality of evil or ‘dis-grace’ in the here and now.