At some point in time, you've probably had the pleasure of meeting someone from the Philippines. It could have been a nurse at the hospital or a software engineer at a pub in the Valley. But what you might not have realized is that the person is likely among the 15 million Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who've left home to work in more than 190 countries around the world so they can support their families.

When I came to Yahoo!'s Southeast Asia territory a few years back, I became keenly aware of the OFW phenomenon and how it impacts Filipino families. Nearly every person I meet in the Philippines knows someone living overseas. And while this amazing global migration has made the Philippines a more global community, it has also created some emotional hardships, exacerbated by lack of affordable and easy-to-use communications tools.

I know what it feels like to be separated from friends and family. After all, I'm an overseas worker too, and I've been separated from my family for 18 years! It's not easy keeping in touch with loved ones over various time zones with our busy lifestyles. I'm sure many of you can relate to sending a simple one-liner email just to let people know you're thinking of them.

The ease in which I use email, messenger, and photo-sharing services — and all of these on my mobile phone — encouraged my team and me to see how we could apply these tools to help OFWs.

This month, Yahoo! Philippines launched Pinoy Connect, a Yahoo! for Good initiative to help OFWs connect with their families. (BTW: "Pinoy" is a commonly used term for people of Philippine descent.) The objective is to encourage new and would-be Internet users in the Philippines to take advantage of iCafés and school computer labs to connect with OFW family members abroad, and vice versa.

I think we're really on to something that will have a big social impact in the Philippines. A recent Yahoo!-OMD commissioned study revealed that 33% of Filipinos believe the Internet — specifically instant messaging — improved the relationship between parents and children. Also, with the Yahoo! Time Capsule, I witnessed a fury of online activity as Filipinos uploading nearly 7,000 photos, audio, videos, text messages, etc. In fact, the Philippines was the third most active country-community participating in the project, after the U.S. and Mexico.

Pinoy Connect includes a downloadable bilingual "passport" that shows you how to use free services like Yahoo! Mail, Messenger, Photos, Groups, and Mobile services to stay in touch. Pinoys can also register for updates from the Overseas Worker Welfare Administration (OWWA), which prepares and looks after OFWs abroad. There's also a video tutorial narrated by famed Filipino American comedian Rex Navarrete, whom you may remember from his story about Maritess the Filipina maid.

I look forward to strengthening more family bonds as Pinoy Connect evolves. Stay tuned.

Reza Behnam
Managing Director, Yahoo! Southeast Asia