At an early age, she took the risk of applying overseas. She could not apply for Saudi Arabia where she could not be employed because she was then only 21. She had to spend the remaining eight months in Manila waiting for her 22nd birthday. It was in Lebanon where she landed a job and arrived on April 13.

When asked where her employers used to live, she said she did not know the exact address in Beirut as she forgot to photocopy her contract before she gave it to the agency, which then refused to even tell her. She was also not allowed to leave the house.

Hadjirudin and her employer’s family transferred to a hotel in Beirut when the war started. On the sixth floor, she could still hear the bombings. She hardly slept at night but her employer would not allow her to return to the Philippines.

When she saw on television how her employer’s house was hit by Israeli bombs, Hadjirudin was speechless. If they had not left, they could be dead, too, she said.

As the Israeli attacks in Lebanon intensified, Hadjirudin had her own battle inside her employer’s house. As days passed, she said she was getting little share for her food. “Ang hirap matulog na kumakalam pa tiyan mo,” recalled the teary-eyed domestic helper. “Tinapay na nga lang, kapiraso pa.” (It’s hard to sleep on an empty stomach. I was given only a small piece of bread.)

She added that her employer would even lock the door of the kitchen so she could not eat more than what she was given. “Kahit tubig hindi man lang ako makakuha,” (I can’t even get a drink of water) she said.

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