CAUSE

Helping helpers

Being Neighbourly x Enrich

Author/ Being Neighbourly
28 August 2024

Shine de Castro is retelling the moment when her former boss in the Philippines found out she was leaving to work in Hong Kong. She said, “But this is what we’ve been fighting against in our work — mothers leaving their kids to work abroad.” She smiles ruefully at the memory of her ironic position.

But for de Castro, the opportunity to work in Hong Kong, helping her countrywomen was too much of an opportunity to pass by. She says that although her own family has no personal history of domestic service, she felt a calling to help, though leaving her 11-year old daughter in the care of her brother and his family has been a challenge.

According to de Castro, her Philippine compatriots find themselves in Hong Kong, suddenly earning more than a senior manager in the Philippines for their work as domestic workers and “they are overwhelmed. They face enormous financial pressures, to pay off debts, send large amounts of money home or to lend money to family members and friends.” She adds that they are often vulnerable to financial exploitation in the form of scams or unfavourable loans. As a result, they might work for decades with little or nothing to show for it.

A registered NGO since 2007, Enrich is an award-winning charity promoting the economic empowerment of migrant domestic workers. Their mandate is to empower women through financial and empowerment education, which the charity delivers through workshops in English for the Filipino and other ethnic minorities; and Bahasa for the Indonesians. It offers five workshops across the categories of Financial Education; and Empowerment.

“Around 54% of domestic workers come from the Philippines, 42% come from Indonesia and 4% from other countries including Thailand, India and Nepal.” Most domestic workers come to Hong Kong in order to support immediate and extended family they leave behind. They make up 10% of the labour force in Hong Kong, and the SAR relies on them to meet its growing needs.

According to the Enrich website, the Hong Kong SAR government has estimated we will need 600,000 migrant domestic workers to fill the elderly care gap by 2047. The current number is 340,000.

In a sentiment shared by many of us in Hong Kong, de Castro adds, “Financial matters can be difficult to manage, surrounded by the temptations of whatever money can buy in the city’s ever-present shopping malls.”

A Science educator by background, De Castro joined Enrich over two years ago as Community Engagement Manager, charged with maximizing the charity’s impact through social media and growing its reach. Under her watch, the charity now boasts a heavier footprint with 19K followers on their Facebook page.

In recent months, de Castro’s role at Enrich has rotated to programme development and fundraising, “a different ballgame”, especially given the difficult economic climate. That said, she shares that the charity’s workshops on money management are simpatico with some of the financial institutions in the city, who have been agreeable about associating with Enrich and have reached into their coffers to commit and make available the charity’s programmes.

A more recent focus of the charity has been its online ‘Med-Talk’ Series, a collaboration with medical experts that was initiated in the belief that a healthy mind is essential for a wealthy life. The 3-part programme covers nutrition, exercise and self-care to prevent stress and burnout and shares practical approaches and lifestyle changes to support better health, the importance of which the charity underlines in its free mental health resources.

In a work sphere so little regulated, there is much need for the work of Enrich.

What’s the best work advice you have received?

“I was born and raised in Tondo, Manila, where most informal settler families are concentrated and I have seen firsthand the different faces of poverty and how fighting it cannot be simply solved with money alone.

Before moving to Hong Kong, I was a Business Development Manager for a social impact tech startup. We trained women from underserved communities in basic AI skills.

I also started a sustainable weekend market in Manila that served as a platform for MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) from various parts of the Philippines to sell their own brands.

At Enrich, I am able to help uplift the lives of economically disadvantaged women through the power of financial and empowerment education. As the old saying goes, you educate a woman, you educate a family — you educate a nation.”