Hong Kong is home to more than 300,000 foreign domestic workers. And half of them come from Indonesia.
Most of migrant workers in Hong Kong spend their Sundays at Victoria Park...
“I’m here to develop my family’s economy.”
“I’m here to make money so when I go back to Indonesia I can be successful.”
“I’m here just to find money.”
But 29-year-old domestic helper from Indonesia Indah Apianti chooses to be here at the TCK learning centre. It’s an NGO in Hong Kong that provides classes for foreign domestic helpers in city.
It’s Indah’s only day off in the week but she’s eager to learn.
Today’s class is about asking for directions in English...
“English is important. It is very important in my daily life. I can teach my kids and also my sister and brother.”
Indonesian domestic helpers in Hong Kong started this class since last year in a group of up to 8 people.
Chris Drake has been passionate about helping foreign domestic helpers for many years.
Now he spends his Sundays as a volunteer to teach English here.
“It’s founded by the domestic workers themselves, really. So our slogan, which you can see up there is ‘From us, by us, for us. So I’m kind of in the background helping.”
The TCK learning centre was formed 10 years ago by a group of Indonesian migrant workers in Hong Kong. Now it’s also open for migrant workers from other countries.
The centre focuses in educating migrant workers with classes to develop their skills... from English to photography, and even finance management.
Chris Drake has been running the English class since the beginning.
“There are many skills and a very rich culture that the Indonesian domestic workers bring with them, to Hong Kong and the skills which they have which are not limited just to cooking and cleaning. Although for financial reasons of course, that’s what they tend to do, but they have many other abilities too.”
To a few domestic helpers, Hong Kong is just a stepping-stone in their ambitious pathways.
46-year-old Nariyah has been a domestic helper for over two years. She has dreams beyond her job...
“I want to improve my English then next time maybe I go to Indonesia. When I go Indonesia I want to be a, it’s not like real teacher, but like a kindergarten teacher.”
