Photo: Florinza Santos with Abdel Kareem Al Kayed, UAE Exchange country head for the UAE; and a host.
DUBAI: Florinza Santos, the 31-year-old nanny who recently won a BMW car in a raffle draw by a remittance center, will keep half the amount of the car’s sale for her kids and spend the other half to pay for debts and repair their kitchen back home in Ilocos Norte.
“Advice ng employers ko ay wag munang sige lang ng sige sa pera dahil madakling maubos yan. Mag-save daw ako para sa mga anak ko kasi maliliit pa sila.” Santos said. (My employers advised me to take it easy on the money. They said I should save the money because my children are still very young.)
“Kalahati ipapadalako pambayad utang at pangpagawa ng kusina naming; yung kalahati itatabi ko,” Santos said. (I’ll send half the amount home to pay debts and have our kitchen done; the other half I will save.)
Santos have five children – a 15-year-old; a 12-year-old; eight-year-old twins and a one-year-old. Her husband is a farmer.
Santos, who has just been in Dubai for the past 11 months said she had sent thrice at UAE Exchange which has launched the promo. She said it was her employer who would usually send the money to her family but for the third one, which caused her to win the BMW through the raffle draw.
Santos had wanted to go home but changed her mind. “Direct-hire kasi ako ng mga employers ko, wala akong ginastos sa pagpunta ko dito. Nahihiya naman akong iwan sila,” she said. (I was a direct-hire. I didn’t spend any money going here that’s why I feel uneasy living them.)
