Balikbayan Boxes

Tens of millions of Filipinos work abroad. Around half of these are women who serve as caretakers, nannies, and housekeepers who leave their family and friends behind to care for strangers. These expats are known as balikbayans, a Tagalog word for “to return to one’s home country”.

An extensive shipping network allows millions to stay connected to the friends, relatives, and children they rarely see.They send elaborate care packages called balikbayan boxes, some 5.5 million a year, to their families back home.

Photographs by Xyza Cruz Bacani
Text by Joy Shan

Read more: The California Sunday Magazine

Thanks Bruce!