Harmonizer Steph

Hi, my name is Sam (short for Ebtisam) and I’m coming to all of you as a person who is in desperate need given my current situation. 

I’m half-Yemeni/half-Filipino, born and raised in Saudi Arabia. My father is from Yemen and my mother is from Philippines. Approximately 20 years ago, they both left their home countries and came to Saudi Arabia to work and start a life of their own. They eventually met, fell in love, got married, and had 3 kids; I’m the youngest.

We are not Saudi citizens, so every year, we are required to renew our residence permits. There are two ways to get a residence permit if you’re a foreigner here. You are either 1) under the sponsorship of a male family member (father or brother) or; 2) under the sponsorship of the company you’re working with. At the moment, my mother and I are under the sponsorship of my brother because my father is no longer around.

As years go by, the payment for the residence permit renewal keeps getting bigger. In fact, just a year ago, they added medical insurance into it. We have never had a medical insurance before and it’s going to be the first time we’re gonna have it because it is mandatory.

Anyway, the cost for the residence permit and medical insurance for both my mom and I ranges from 5,000SR to 7,000SR (1,330$ to 1,860$, in the US currency). My family was doing just fine before because we had our parents to provide for us. However, 5 years ago, my father passed away and just months after we lost him, my mother fell into a serious illness. We thought she was just experiencing a headache but it turned out to be a stroke. She was admitted to the hospital shortly but it greatly affected her bodily abilities such as her speech coordination and locomotion. Thus, for her safety, the doctors suggested that she should stop working and just stay at home.

Up until now, it’s only my siblings and I who provide for ourselves as well as for our mother. But a year ago, my brother has lost his job and I, unfortunately, lost mine 6 months ago. Since then, we have never stopped submitting our resumes and attending job interviews; however, no one really called back. So currently, our bills are all piling up and if we still don’t have enough money to renew our residence permit by the end of this month, we’ll get deported to her home country, the Philippines. (Originally, I should be deported to Yemen because my nationality in my ID is Yemeni but since Yemen is at war right now and I’m a dual passport holder, I can exit to the Philippines.)

A few years back we almost encountered the same problem, we tried to reach out to our uncles. They did help us at the time but decided to cut their ties with us after the incident. We don’t have a lot of family in here and I’d ask my siblings for help but they’re already in so much debt.

I have lived my whole life here in Saudi Arabia - my family and friends are here, my dad was buried here, and I’m about 101% sure my mother doesn’t want to live in the Philippines anymore because she has already built her whole life here with us. Also, she said that she’d rather stay in the place where my father was buried.

So please, I am asking for you to help my mother and I renew our residence permit so we could stay here. I may not be a Saudi citizen but I was born and raised here and I consider this my home; this is my home.

If you could spare few dollars (you can choose any currency) I’ll be eternally grateful.

You can send them via Paypal.

My e-mail: [email protected]