A Father Away From Home

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Have you ever tried working away from your family for far too long? In my case, I am working as an engineer for a Japanese construction firm which specializes in building of process plant for oil refineries. This sometimes requires me to work out of the country for far too long. My first assignment out of the Philippines was in the year 2001 in Algeria. Specifically in a place called Ourhood which is located in the Sahara. We are to build an oil export and storage facility in that area. The plant was the first one to be built in that place. Mind you it was the nastiest place I've ever been. Everywhere you look is sand. i was supposed to be assigned there for a period of 18 months. But before my vacation came, I had asked my immediate superior that I won't be coming back from vacation to finish my assignment. I explained to him and fortunately he was kind enough to understand and gave an "End of Contract" in my demobilization paper instead of "Terminated" or "Resigned". So many things bothered me during my stay there. But the largest factor would be homesickness. Being away from the family for too long can take its toll. It seems to me that it is not a very appropriate idea, even if it means having a good pay (for Philippine standard of living anyway). I guess that families are not built to be separated.