What motivated you to start working with the MDW community?
I’ve always deeply believed in the power of education, especially for women. I first started volunteering as a mentor, where I got to understand deeply the challenges facing domestic workers and the sacrifices they make, but also how absolutely phenomenal this community is.
Along with another volunteer, I helped redesign Enrich’s mentoring program into a long-term program. I also became a trainer. When a position opened up on the operations team, I then became Senior Programmes Manager, and then a year later, Executive Director.
I’ve seen how our programs can completely change the trajectory of someone’s life, but crucially, I really believe that for women it is all about choice, and empowering a woman with a life skill such as financial literacy gives her the choice and ability to make informed decisions for her future.
I’m so grateful and thankful for the leadership of Ms. Lucinda Pike and the Enrich team. They helped me become an empowered woman. I learned a lot from tracking my expenses, how to save, budget, invest, setup a business, and plan for my future and family. With the help of my Enrich Financial Mentor, we reviewed and discussed the progress and challenges in my financial plans and goals. Enrich HK is a big help in my financial situation and priorities
– Joselyn Urmatam Bisquera, Enrich & Pathfinders Amabssador
What are some of the top experiences you have had working with the migrant community so far?
It’s so hard to pick! I am constantly in awe of our MDW community and their thirst for learning and growing. I’m always so grateful that these women have chosen to spend their Sundays learning with us. My favourite Enrich event is always graduation; it is such a wonderful celebration of all the hard work and achievements of this community.
The 2023-2025 Enrich Strategic Plan outlined Enrich’s Theory of Change based on your three key pillars: inform, empower, and influence. Can you please share the outcomes or impact it has had?
Since 2023, we’ve engaged in a number of positive and collaborative meetings with Hong Kong, Philippines, and Indonesian governments, focusing on financial inclusion for domestic workers and the immense value of the care they provide.
We’ve experimented with new projects such as our podcast, called Hear their Voice, hosted by Catalina Magno, featuring inspiring and empowering financial insights from our MDW community.
This year we launched My Extra Special Aunty, Hong Kong’s first bilingual children’s book illustrated by MDWs. Written by the award-winning filmmaker Joanna Bowers of Cheeky Monkey Productions, and illustrated by the incredibly talented Cristina Cayat and Noemi Caballero Manguerra from Guhit Kulay International. All proceeds of the book go to Enrich and Pathfinders.
Lastly, we’ve also run annual surveys in partnership with Helper Choice to highlight the challenges MDWs face.
With the help of Enrich’s program I had a better understanding of myself. I got to know my weaknesses which were blocking my way to financial stability. As a domestic worker, the first concept we had in mind when we entered this job was just to make a living. But through financial education, we become aware that life after our domestic job is more challenging, so we must take action and be ready for what is ahead of us
– Sofia Leoncito Angeles, Enrich workshop graduate
What advice do you have for MDWs trying to escape the cycle of debt?
The first piece of advice would be to join our Moneywise Migrants workshop! In this workshop we go through how to manage your salary and save money for your goals, including preparing a budget to account for things such as remittance, debt repayment, and so on, how to plan and track expenses, set financial goals, building an emergency fund, and manage your money.
We have a number of resources on our website that I’d always encourage everyone to look at. With financial education, careful planning of your budget and consistent progress, it is possible to repay some debts. The reality is that emergencies and life do happen; there is often significant family pressure from back home, and in Hong Kong, debt can quickly accumulate. Pre-existing recruitment debt, coupled with scams, can make domestic workers even more susceptible to debt.
We offer a free financial consultation service that provides one-to-one advice for migrant domestic workers in financial crisis. The reality is that debt can be incredibly stressful and we’re here to help.
What are you looking forward to in the future, both for work and your relocation to London?
At Enrich, I’m really excited that we’ve just started revamping the curriculum of our programs, as the world we live in is very different to that prior to the pandemic, and we want to ensure we are providing the highest quality of education to our wonderful community of domestic workers. In terms of my relocation to London, I’ll be arriving in autumn, so I’m looking forward to some time in nature and seeing the leaves change to beautiful autumnal colours of red and orange. Continually learning and growing is a key value to me, and something I never got around to doing in Hong Kong was learning how to drive, so I’m looking forward to learning how to do that in England!
Lucinda will be deeply missed! During her tenure as Executive Director at Enrich HK she has been an inspiration to so many. For me, there will never be enough or sufficient words to express the depth of my gratitude for her support and friendship over many years, including some of the most challenging times leading an NGO in HK
– Catherine Gurtin, CEO, Pathfinders
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