By Daisy CL Mandap
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| A Covid-positive worker gets a care pack from the Mission/Bethune team |
Stuck in your quarantine hotel with your phone battery about
to die and your charger does not fit into the socket provided?
Find yourself positive for Covid-19 but you’re home alone
because your employers are away?
Have no fear, for the Mission
for Migrant Workers (MFMW or Mission) and Bethune House Migrant Women’s Refuge (Bethune House or Bethune), along with their
kindhearted volunteers, are always on standby to help.
This was experienced by one Filipina domestic worker who
upon returning to Hong Kong on Sunday from her vacation in the Philippines,
found out that she could not plug in her mobile phone because she did not have
the right charger.
Lian (not her real name) said she immediately called the
front desk at Rambler Garden Hotel in Tsing Yi where she is spending her
mandatory three days’ quarantine to try and borrow the right charger, but was
told they were not allowed to do as she requested.
No amount of pleading worked so she sent out a message of
appeal to The SUN late yesterday, saying there was only 9 percent charge
remaining in her phone’s battery.
“Good day, pakisuyo
naman po. Pa-post po at baka po may malapit dito sa aking quarantine hotel, ang
Rambler Garden Hotel. Baka may extra charger po kayo, pwede kong mahiram? Soli
ko na lang sa Sunday. Nanakaw kasi ang isang cp (cell phone) ko sa Pilipinas,
kasama doon ang charger,” said her message.
(May I ask a favor? Could you please help post this message,
in case there is someone near my quarantine hotel, Rambler Garden.
If you have an extra charger, may I please borrow it? I will just give it back
on Sunday. My other phone was stolen in the Philippines, and with it was the
charger).
Lian showed a two-prong charger that she had also brought
along, but which did not fit the hotel socket.
Her message was forwarded to Bethune House executive
director Edwina Antonio who promptly responded with, “Sige” and just asked for
more details about the worker, including her room and phone number.
At about noon today, Lian was pleasantly surprised to
receive not just a phone charger but also a “Covid care pack” from the Mission and Bethune
House, which contained food, drink and other quarantine essentials.
“Salamat po ng marami.
Sobrang saya ko, higit pa sa need ko ang dumating. May pagkain at maiinom pa,
salamat po,” said Lian.
(Thank you so much. I am so happy because what arrived was
more than what I needed. There was food and drink, thank you).
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| Express delivery to Lian at her hotel in far-off Tsing Yi |
What Lian did not know was that the two NGOs, which have
been helping migrants for the past four decades, have been hard at work the past few months in
extending help to migrants affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
From providing shelter and legal advice and support to
distressed migrants, they partnered with groups like Asian Migrants
Coordinating Body in delivering food, masks and medicines to foreign domestic
workers who were either in quarantine or isolation, wherever they may be in
Hong Kong.
This task became extremely important during the Omicron
surge early this year, when dozens of MDWs were thrown out of
their employers’ flats once they were found infected, were shunned by fellow
migrants in boarding houses, or were driven away from the airport when their
pre-boarding PCR tests turned out positive.
To this day, the two support groups continue to cook, pack
and provide support migrant workers affected by the coronavirus contagion.
“Tuloy ang assistance
namin sa mga naka quarantine na newly arrived at iyong mga Covid positive na
need ng care packs at isolated sa bahay ng mga amo,” said Antonio.
(We continue to assist newly arrived workers who are in quarantine and those who test positive for Covid and need care packs because
they are self-isolating in their employers’ houses).
According to Antonio, among those that they are currently helping
are two Filipinas who tested positive on Saturday while their employers were on
an overseas trip. They reported their infection to the government but were told
to self-isolate.
Another was a Filipina worker who was also at her employer’s
home, alone, when she tested positive.
Since all of them are forbidden from going out until they
receive word from the Centre for Health Protection that they are already Covid-free, they can only rely on outside help for their daily sustenance and other
needs.
Another recent beneficiary of the Mission-Bethune project
was an Indonesian domestic worker who tested positive on Monday night and at her request, was
moved to a shelter where she can undergo self-isolation.
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| Antonio (right) receives much-needed donation from Seeds of Hope of Yew Chung Foundation |
Apart from those with Covid-related concerns, Bethune House
is providing accommodation, food and other needs to 18 “clients” in its two
shelters – in Jordan and Sheung Wan.
Some of these clients help in the preparation and delivery
of the care packs, along with 10 other volunteers from migrant organizations.
There is also a local Chinese staff of the Mission who helps ease any language-related
problems that may arise.
On the care packs, the two NGOs also explicitly give thanks to the
Fu Tak Lam Foundation Limited for its donation “for emergency relief for the
Migrant Domestic Workers in Hong Kong.”
Volunteer-driven but inspired by love and charity, the
Mission and Bethune House have proven time and again that they will stand by
all migrant workers “anytime, anywhere” for as long as they are around.
Migrant workers who need help may contact the Mission’s office no, 2522 8264 or its
hotline, 9529 2326. Bethune’s hotline is 9338 0035. They can also be reached
through their respective Facebook accounts.
Donations are also welcome. Please click this link for details: https://donorbox.org/urgent-emergency-appeal-to-support-hong-kong-s-migrant-domestic-workers?fbclid=IwAR3LTqV80P1qadAtSav18pIynbMaSbmQPfMUUuZQiH6Y56bBwSfEnXx15h8
