October-December 2012
F
MOVERS activity
The publication of materials welfare capacity building as well as promotional work to bridge the educational and informational divide were the main achievements for the past three months.
MMCSN UPDATE
The Chinese-English website of the MFMW launched
or the period of October to December, the Migrants Mutual Care and Support Network project of the Mission for Migrant Workers (MFMW Ltd.) under the Love Ideas, Love Hong Kong program of the Li Ka Shing Foundation continued on its course of spreading the positive message of making Hong Kong a truly caring society to all members of the community including the foreign domestic workers (FDWs).
The main feat that the MMCSN project was able to accomplish was the establishment of a Chinese-English website that contains resources and information crucial to the promotion of understanding between migrant workers and the local people. The website with the address www. migrants.net will be the main webbased informational and education portal for migrants, local supporters and other parties interested on the concerns of migrant workers in Hong Kong. It will be supplemented by the MMCSN Facebook page that is updated with photos and short description after every activity under the project. A dedicated Chinese staff for the project was hired to translate materials for the website, translate other promotional materials published and
Photos of the MMCSN Women Life Experience workshop
October-December 2012
MMCSN UPDATE
Participants holding and waving the handout on violence against women
be published, and reach out to local organizations for the future activities of the MMCSN. Ms. Isabel Chang, a fresh graduate from Lingnan University, has shown her enthusiasm to help achieve the thrust of the project, initiative to further improve project components, and most importantly, concern and care for the plight of migrants. Aside from the website, a promotional poster was also printed. This will be distributed to schools and local organizations to encourage their support to the project.
Meanwhile, developing the capacity for mutual care and support also continued with trainings and seminars. Three paralegal training sessions were conducted among Filipino and Indonesian migrant workers while six Women’s Life Experience seminars were done. The topics for the seminars included sharing about the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 189 or the Decent Work for Domestic Workers Convention, sharing of experiences between local women and Asian women, discussion about violence against women, and discussion to establish the MOVERS
English & Bahasa Indonesia versions of the Know Your Rights Plus pamphlet
Reader-friendly handout of the Violence Against Women
Isabel Chang, Chinese staff managing the MMCSN booth with a friend
Migrant Counseling and Care Centers situated in various parts of Central area of Hong Kong
organization among Indonesian migrant workers. In order to enrich the trainings and seminars, capacity-building resources were developed and released. Two versions of the Know Your Rights handbook – English and Bahasa Indonesia – were published and were distributed first to migrant organizations that are establishing their welfare committees and implementing their welfare programs, secondly to members of the MOVERS organization, and
thirdly to individual migrant workers interested to know more of migrant-related labour, police and immigration policies in Hong Kong. Aside from the KYR, a reader-friendly handout on violence against women was also produced and given to migrant workers. The MFMW also produced and distributed an updated brochure of the organization. As an expression of mutual care and support, Migrant Caring Centres were established five times
to – with four small-scale and one medium-scale – to cater to the welfare needs of migrant workers. Needed materials for the MCC especially for counselling were produced. T-shirts that promote the project and the message for caring were also produced and distributed to those who deliver the services in the MCCs.
October-December 2012
MMCSN UPDATE
On December 30, a medium scale activity with eight MCCs was conducted. The services offered were: free internet for communication with the family, taking of blood pressure, measuring blood glucose, determining body mass, massage and reflexology, dental check-up, and consultation and treatment with Chinese medicine doctors. Hundreds of migrant workers were served by the various MCCs established. The December 30 event also served as a platform to launch the KYR English and Bahasa Indonesia versions and the Chinese-language website. In summary, the past three months of the MMCSN were devoted to creating materials and structures that will be used all throughout the project implementation. Alongside the production work, other components of the project necessary for achieving the objectives set were also conducted. With these achievements, the MFMW Ltd. is looking forward to even bigger successes as we continue the project for the year 2013.
This report is prepared and submitted by the Mission for Migrant Workers (MFMW Limited). You may check the MFMW MMCSN Facebook at MFMW-Love Ideas Love Hong Kong projects.