Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

In an exclusive interview last week with the Asian Journal, Sarah said, "This is actually my fifth time here in America over the past years. I have been getting invitations from different Filipino churches to speak about my story. I am really happy to do this, to give hope to people, to tell them that whatever situation they may be in, God has a way out. It says in Jeremiah 29:11 that God’s plans are for us are never to harm us, but to give us hope and a good future."

Sarah was born and raised in a Muslim community in Sultan Kudarat, Mindanao. She was the fourth of a family of fourteen children, half of whom died in childhood because her parents had no money for medical care. With 7 children living in incredible poverty, Sarah worked as a maid for relatives just to be able to go to school in return for a wage.

But that only got her through fifth grade. At the age of 14, lying about her age, she left to become a domestic worker in UAE.

Sarah was continuously subjected to sexual harassment by her employer and his sons.

She resisted their sexual advances until, just a few weeks after she arrived, her employer tried to rape her, holding a knife to her throat. Sarah fought off her employer, killing him with the same knife he used to stab her. She was immediately imprisoned and an Islamic court convicted her of murder, sentencing her to death by firing squad.

An international outcry led by then Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos resulted in the reduction of her sentence to one more year and 100 lashes, plus payment of $40,000 "blood money" to the family, which was paid for by a Filipino-Chinese businessman. After two years in prison, Sarah returned to the Philippines on August 1, 1996 to a heroine’s welcome.

In 1997, her compelling story was made into a film, The Sarah Balabagan Story, which starred Vina Morales in the title role. The money Sarah received for the film was sent to her family and used for home schooling to secure her high school diploma. She took computer classes and voice lessons and embarked on a brief career as a singer.

After a couple of unsuccessful relationships, Sarah became a single parent to three children. The pressures of having to raise her three children, taking various classes, and regularly sending money to her family in Mindanao caused Sarah to suffer depression. Perhaps it would have been better if she had been shot in the desert, she thought.