"The doctor said that my baby is gone. I'm really sad. He already has little hands and feet. I was so looking forward to the arrival of his new life." Annie wiped her tears silently. It was the 12th day after she lost her baby.
The original intention was to look for siblings
26-year-old Annie is the youngest daughter in her family. Her older brother and sister have been in Taiwan for 17 years, and they had lost contact with their family since Annie was a child. They seldom went back home because of work, and Annie only knew that her sister married a Taiwanese here. "My dream was to come to Taiwan to find my older brother and sister. I wanted to see them again and tell them that everything is fine at home." Annie talked about her siblings with eyes filled with hope.
Annie, who came to Taiwan to work as a caretaker, did a completely irrelevant and unlicensed job. Her working hours started at six o'clock in the morning and did not rest until midnight. She had to run back and forth between the four stores every day. In addition to greeting customers, she also had to clean and maintain the environment tidy. "Once, a customer asked me for a long time and didn't buy anything. The boss was very angry because he thought I lost a business. I could only cry secretly after I went back." Annie told us that her living place every night was the top floor, a covered warehouse full of sundries. When it rains, the ceiling would also rains, which made the hot and humid climate in Taiwan even more tormenting.
Pain and helplessness after the accidental loss of a child
Since Annie's siblings had been away from home for a long time, she has been looking forward to having her own complete and close family since she was a kid. Unfortunately, her physique is not easy to conceive. She has tried many folk remedies for seeking children but failed every time. While she was planning to return to Indonesia with her husband to prepare for pregnancy, she was forced to Hold off because of the epidemic.
Finally, not long after arriving at the shelter, Anne was pleasantly surprised to find that she was pregnant. The excitement of welcoming a newborn life infected all the migrant workers and staff in the shelter, as if it gave everyone a shot in the arm during these difficult days. Like Annie, everyone is eagerly looking forward to the birth of a baby. However, once Anne went out to buy maternity clothes, she was hit by a car speeding through an intersection with flashing yellow lights. It made the four-month-old baby leave.
Under the torture of being a bereaved mother
"I am in great pain. I feel that I did not protect my child well. I even chose a name for him with beautiful meanings."I am in great pain. I feel that I did not protect my child well. I even chose a name for him with beautiful meanings." According to Islamic precepts, the body cannot be cremated. For Muslims, It is extremely cruel, especially for a four-month-old baby who already has hands and feet, and also his face was almost formed.
Nevertheless, under the epidemic situation, it was impossible for Annie to send the baby back to Indonesia for burial, nor could she afford the high cost. All she could do was persuade her family with tears in her eyes. We accompanied Annie to go through all the formalities and saw the light of being a mother fade from her body.
Still looking forward to rising from the ashes
Faced with a huge workload and the pain of losing a child, Annie still strives to maintain her confidence in life and Taiwan. She told us, "At least I can see my brother and sister here. It has fulfilled my dream of coming to Taiwan." All of them are migrant workers who came to Taiwan with their dreams. Even in the face of various harsh environmental conditions, they still strive to survive and improve the plight of their families.
We can always see a warm smile on Annie's face every time we meet. She's only 26, so young that it's almost impossible to imagine how she could go through with all of these. She faced the labor exploitation of working outside the long-term permit, the mental burden that weighs people on the verge of collapse, and the pain of losing a loved one, watching her grit her teeth and walk through bit by bit, even bystanders like us can't help but feel heartbroken for her. Mental injuries are always the hardest to heal, but they are also the most important task that we want to undertake on the long road of migrant worker rescue.