Nanay Anita Sasaki: My Most Unforgettable Story

How They Did it – Stories for Migrants by Migrants

I would like to tell you a story which I cannot forget in all my life. It is about the first time a mother and her few-month-old baby came to me to ask for my help because they were undocumented. They had absolutely no money with which to pay the rent on their apartment, their utility bills, to buy milk and food. The mother had no means of earning a living for the plain and simple reason that she had nobody to take care of her baby. The only job she could get was in the nightlife or in an “omise.”

At that time, I was not yet the holder of a permanent resident visa myself so I could not serve as a guarantor for them as required w by the Bureau of Immigration. So I had to ask Tatay, my husband, to help me to guarantee them.

When we arrived at the immigration office, the immigration officer even thought that I was being paid for this. I had to tell him that no, I was simply there because this mother had no job and here in Japan if you do not work you do not get paid. In fact, even my accompanying them there to the immigration office meant that I had to absent myself from my own workplace and forego my salary for that day and all subsequent days that we were required to go to and from the immigration office. I even had to dole out the mother’s train fares. The officer then asked me why I was doing this and my answer was: 

“I AM JUST LENDING A HELPING HAND TO THIS MOTHER AND CHILD, GIVING THEM A LIFT ACROSS THE BRIDGE SO THAT THEY WILL HAVE A NEW LEASE ON LIFE AND BE ABLE TO START AFRESH PAGE IN THEIR BOOK. THE MOTHER DOESN’T KNOW WHAT THEIR RIGHTS ARE SO I HAVE HAD TO ASK FOR HELP FROM THE AUTHORITIES TO FIND OUT IF THEY CAN STAY.” 

For me, that was also the beginning of my education in helping others, especially our countrymen. When that most awaited of all days, the day that their visas would be released, came, there was a typhoon and it was raining cats and dogs. The mother worried that I might not be able to make it out that day because of my difficulty in walking with my hip prosthesis. But if I made a promise, then for sure I would be keeping it and I was there. Not even the rain could keep me away. It was my first time to see the mother’s face looking really very happy when her visa and that of her child were handed to her. She ran to me, saying, “How much do I owe you? What can I give you in return? “ My answer to her was, 

“NOTHING. WHEN I SAW HOW HAPPY YOU WERE WHEN YOU RECEIVED YOUR VISAS, I MYSELF ALSO FELT SO HAPPY THAT NO AMOUNT OF MONEY COULD BUY HOW I WAS FEELING. BUT I HAVE ONLY ONE REQUEST: THAT IF EVER SOMEDAY, SOMEONE WOULD ALSO NEED HELP FROM YOU, THEN PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO PASS ON WHAT I DID FOR YOU TO THEM BECAUSE I DO NOT LIKE THIS TO END WITH YOU. PLEASE DO WHATEVER YOU CAN TO KEEP THE FIRES BURNING AND I WILL BE VERY HAPPY.” 

This was and still IS my request to everyone to whom I have extended my hands in help.

Nowadays, those who have been approaching me are not mother and child but young adults who I do not even know, and yet, I am so moved by their plight that I open the doors of my humble abode to them and share all that I have with them.  Even now that I am ready to retire from work.  In the past when I still had work, I could only share money for train fares with others.  But now, I can share with them the roof over our heads, whatever food we have on the table, my time, wisdom, and my unlimited love.

“HINDI MO KAILANGAN MAGING ISANG MAYAMAN O MAY MATAAS NA PINAGARALAN UPANG MAKATULONG SA IYONG KAPWA.” – 

N A N A Y    A N I T A

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