Iloilo is Auntie Nora’s hometown.
As is very commonplace in Hong Kong, Auntie Nora was one of the many hundreds of thousands of domestic helpers that make the move from their home country to work as a nanny for households abroad.
She came into our family three weeks before I was born, up until after I left for my first year of university – 19 years.
We both talked about me going to Iloilo since I was a child, but it wasn’t till 2018 when I finally had the chance to fly out to visit her myself. An insider and outsider, I documented her and her family in this rural part of the Philippines, and I hope to continue doing so over the years.
Nora Sasota Saringo, the woman herself
A portrait of Virginia Sebuan, Auntie Nora’s aunt.
She has since passed away, and I regret not being able to send these photos back to her. I sent them instead to her daughter, Gracemae, who was not able to return to the Philippines from Hong Kong due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The infamous Boku pie!
Everywhere I went, Auntie Nora’s friends and family would ask me if I’d had Boku pie yet. I was so intrigued as to what it was - turns out it’s a traditional Filipino coconut pie made with young fresh coconut. I had many slices.
Auntie Nora used to tell me about caribous when I was little. I never knew what they looked like because they weren’t the classic farm animal you’d see in children’s animal books.
In Hamtic, I was so in awe of how powerful they are, roaming the streets of the village and the paddy fields – Auntie Nora and the villagers all laughed at me for wanting to take pictures of the caribous.
Auntie Nora’s daughter, Maria, and their neighbours
Angel and Zyrish, our neighbours
Jaime Sasota and Virginia Sebuan, Auntie Nora’s uncle and auntie. Jaime is known for growing the most delicious avocados in the village. Auntie Nora tells me many people ask to buy them off him, but he has always refused and gives them away to family and friends for free. The avocados are bigger than my face, and he gave me a whole suitcase to take back home to Hong Kong. Forever grateful for their generosity.
A portrait of Jaime Sasota and Virginia Sebuan.
One day, Auntie Nora and I went a walk around the village and she showed me the land that used to be her parents’. Mud seeped between our toes, and we walked together through the fields.