Introduction: Migration as Moral Catalyst

One afternoon I was called to watch over ten-year-old Hanna, whose parents had recently migrated to Spain to work as domestic helpers for the same employer. As I entered the house, Hanna announced that she wanted to go to the sari-sari store (‘convenience store’) with her younger cousin to buy chichirya, or ‘junk food’, like soda and chips. Asking if I wanted some, I declined, explaining that I only had a large bill for 500 Philippine pesos, or ten us dollars, and that it was my allowance for the whole week. Dubious, Hanna questioned me: ‘Is that really the only money you have? How do you get money if your parents don't send you money from the us?’ I replied that my money came from my sariling ipon (‘own savings’), which she did not seem to understand as her own money came from her migrant parents. Instead, she pressed on, asking if I received a salary from volunteering at the local nongovernmental organization (ngo), called Atikha Overseas Workers and Communities Initiative, Inc., or Atikha for short, and its children’s psychosocial programme. ‘No’, I said, explaining that to volunteer was to provide free services or to work for free. Hanna, still confused, wondered out loud, ‘How do you get around, how do you move, if you don't have money? ‘ Here, unaware of the stigma of talking about money and the morality rooted in volunteerism, Hanna simultaneously ties one's physical movement to financial resources while giving money power and life.