留守儿童父母只有爱还不够

　　中秋节是个团圆的日子，然而对许多留守儿童来说，和自己的父母团圆却是一件极其奢侈的事情。其实在其他的发展中国家，也存在留守儿童的问题。今天给大家分享一下菲律宾的留守儿童。
　　The Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for family reunion, but for many left-behind children, reuniting with their parents is an extreme luxury. In fact, the problem of left-behind children also exists in other developing countries else around the world. Today, I would like to share with you some left-behind children and their parents of the Philippines.
　　尽管没有母亲愿意离开自己的孩子，但是在菲律宾，很多人感觉这也是没有办法的办法。由于无法在国内挣到足够的钱，而且菲律宾人的英语普遍较好，他们就到国外去工作。2020年大概有220万菲律宾人在海外工作。其中大多数是女性。
　　No mother wants to leave her child — but in the Philippines, there’s no other choice. Many people are unable to earn enough money at home, and many of them speak fluent English, so they go aboard to work. An estimated 2.2 million Filipinos worked overseas in 2020, The majority were women.
　　人们外出打工是希望多挣点钱，给孩子一个更好的未来。他们工作的地点主要集中在亚洲和中东。
　　They work in the hope of earning more money and give their children a better future. They work mainly in Asia and the Middle East.
　　她们的工作包括护士、接待人员、保姆和清洁工。而家庭女佣是菲律宾在国外的主要职业。据菲律宾央行的数据，2020年他们向菲律宾汇回了335亿美元，约占其国内GDP的10%，创历史新高。
　　They work as nurses, hospitality staff, nannies and cleaners. The most popular profession for them is family maid. In 2020, they sent $33.5 billion back to the Philippines in personal remittances -- a record high, according to the country’s central bank, representing 10% of its GDP.
　　但他们的收入是以高昂的个人付出为代价的。母亲们可能会错过孩子整个童年。有时，他们与孩子的关系在他们回国多年后仍然很疏远。没有父母在家，孩子们的生活可能会偏离轨道。
　　But their income comes at a high personal cost. Mothers can miss out on entire childhoods. Sometimes their relationship with their children remains damaged and distant, even years after they return. Other times, their children’s lives can veer off course without a parent at home.
　　菲律宾前总统阿罗约Arroyo曾经说菲律宾的外劳是这个国家＂最伟大的输出＂，确实，每天都有3000多人离开自己的祖国到其他国家去工作，菲律宾的经济很大程度上靠国际劳工支撑的，10个劳工中就有一个在海外工作。
　　Former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo once called their migrant workers the country＂s ＂greatest export.＂ Indeed, every day more than 3,000 people leave their home co-untry to work in other countries. The Philippine economy is largely supported by them, with one in 10 workers working overseas.
　　记者采访了其中一些外劳母亲和她们留守的孩子：
　　Reporters interviewed some of these mothers and children
　　1. 多洛雷斯(母亲): 离开真的很难。事实上，你并不想离开……(但是)我真的别无选择。＂＂尽管大学毕业生的失业率很高，但许多菲律宾人仍然相信高等教育可以帮助他们的孩子摆脱贫困。但这是一个昂贵的梦想。＂
　　Dolores (mother): ＂It’s really hard to leave. You don’t want to leave, actually … (but) I don’t have really a choice.＂ ＂Despite the high unemployment rates for graduates, many Filipinos still believe higher education could help lift their children out of poverty. But it’s an expensive dream.＂
　　2. Catalina Magno (孩子):＂你为什么要照顾别人的孩子?＂ 玛格诺(母亲):＂我告诉他，这是一种交换。如果我照顾其他人的孩子，我就可以送你们去上学，你们可以接受更好的教育。但他们通常不理解这一点。＂
　　Catalina Magno (child): ＂Why do you look after others’ kids?＂   Magno (mother): ＂I told him, this is a trade-off. If I look after other kids, I can send you to school, you can have greater education. But usually they don’t understand that.＂
　　3. 克里泽尔·奥皮拉(孩子) 小时候第一次月经来的时候，大多数女孩都向母亲寻求指导，但奥皮拉觉得自己不能告诉母亲，母亲10岁时就离开她了，去台湾和香港工作。由祖父母抚养长大的奥皮拉说:＂我母亲当时和我们一起度假，但我不能告诉她，因为我感觉我们之间有一堵墙，因为她并不总是在我们身边。＂相反，她找到了她的姐姐，她填补了这一空白，在他们长大的过程中＂姐姐表现得像一个母亲＂。＂我以后永远不能离开我的孩子，我永远不出国，不离开他们; 我永远不会做母亲为我们所做的牺牲。＂
　　Krizzel Orpilla(child) was on a family holiday when she got her first menstrual period as a young girl. Most girls turn to their mothers for guidance, but Orpilla didn’t feel like she could tell her mother, who had left when she was 10 years old to work in Taiwan and Hong Kong. ＂My mother was on vacation with us but I cannot really tell her because I feel like there is a wall between us, because she was not always around,＂ saiOrpilla, who was raised by her grandparents. Instead, she sought out her older sister, who filled the gap and ＂acted like a mother＂ as they grew up. ＂I can never leave my babies, I can never go abroad and be apart from them; I could never do what my mother sacrificed for us.