By
Daisy CL Mandap
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Indonesian worker-activist Eni Lestari shares how the Mission helped empower her |
Through the years, the Mission for Migrant Workers has
done more than just give legal advice and shelter to distressed foreign
domestic workers in Hong Kong; it has also helped empower them so they could
help others in turn.
This was what renowned Indonesian worker-activist Eni
Lestari said in a testimony she gave at the 42nd anniversary
celebration of the Mission on Mar 19, at St John’s Cathedral in Central.
Lestari, a former Mission client herself, spoke of how
her life was transformed after she started working as a volunteer for the
church-based group while pursuing an abuse case she filed against her former
employer.
“Through the Mission I realized I have the power to change,
not just myself - I won my case because of the Mission - but I also used that
knowledge to reach out to my fellow Indonesian workers (and tell them), ‘You
can change your life, but you have to learn your rights.’," said Lestari.
It was with the Mission’s help that Indonesian migrant
workers in Hong Kong became organized, added Lestari, who now chairs the
International Migrants Alliance, and was once invited to address the United
Nations Summit on Refugees and Migrants.
She called for continued support for the Mission so it
could continue to help and empower, and treat migrant workers as partners in
ensuring the rights of all migrants in Hong Kong are protected.
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Cynthia Tellez and Fr Dwight dela Torre thank Mission's supporters and partners |
In her welcome speech, the Mission’s general manager Cynthia
Tellez said it was a good time to celebrate the non-government organizations
she helped found 42 years ago.
“(But) the celebration of anniversaries matters when significant
events happen. The beginning of the end of the Covid season makes it an event
worth celebrating,” she said.
It was during the three-year pandemic that the Mission once
again proved its capacity and willingness to go the extra mile for the community
it serves.
Told of the growing number of FDWs being thrown out of
their employers’ homes or boarding houses after they contracted Covid, the
Mission, along with its shelter, the Bethune House Migrant Women’s Refuge, went
on high alert to look for a place to stay for the abandoned workers, and had
food sent to them on a regular basis.
At the same time, the Mission worked with various
migrant support organizations to press the Hong Kong government to give more
help and support to workers afflicted with Covid, and protect them from
discrimination.
Tellez said the event also gave the Mission the chance
to recognize and honor all those who have helped them through the years, from the
staff and board members and those on their advisory board, to donors and the migrant
workers.
She also made special mention of “kind-hearted
employers” who were recipients of the Mission’s Happy Homes Awards.
“You and your families are beacons of hope that
sections of Hong Kong society are moving in the right direction or nurturing
respect and harmony,” she said. “Thank you for showing the way for many Hong
Kong households.”
Also among those who spoke and extended well wishes to
the Mission were Daniel Feldman, chairperson of its Advisory Board and Colin
Cohen, senior partner at Boase, Cohen and Collins, the solicitors’ firm which
has worked with the Mission on a number of landmark court cases, including the
challenge to the 14-day rule for terminated FDWs.