I traveled to Manila in the Philippines in the summer of 2024, doing archival and ethnographic research on Overseas Filipinos Workers (OFWs). It had been fifty years since the Philippine government under President Marcos instituted the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) sending Filipino workers overseas to sustain its economy. They worked as seafarers, domestic workers, chauffeurs, educators etc. in Asia, in the Middle East, in North America, and in Europe. Along the pivots that come with all traveling experiences, I fatefully met with Filipino-Palestinian refugees in Little Gaza in Manila.

More about my journey can be found here in a rough transcript of a presentation delivered at the inaugural Edward Guiliano Global Fellowship reunion on October 5, 2024.