Like Misno, Yayuk Ismiati is another domestic worker who draws upon art to facilitate communication. She’s an ambassador for Pathfinders, a local charity dedicated to supporting children born to domestic workers and empowering their mothers towards a bright future. Ismiati has worked in Hong Kong for 17 years and created her arts and crafts group Sunflower last year with fellow Pathfinders ambassadors to address pregnancy discrimination. “There is a strong social stigma on the idea of pregnant domestic workers and it’s really hard even for them to be informed about it, so we thought of attracting them by using crafts,” she says through a translator.

At Sunflower workshops, Ismiati encourages participants to make simple crafts such as bracelets or keychains while teaching them about their rights in Hong Kong related to pregnancy. The light-hearted environment of this activity creates a safe space to address difficult topics, share stories and get support on issues such as employment rights. Ismiati also attends employment rights workshops held by the Hong Kong Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) and local charity Christian Action, and relays much of the information she learns from there to the women in her workshops.

Misno also shares Ismiati’s resourcefulness in learning, noting she benefited hugely from the workshops organised by local charity Help for Domestic Workers. “Help offers so many workshops for us, like ones on knowing your rights, learning about employment contracts,” she said “But the most memorable for me is the mental health first aid workshop.”

Misno added the workshop helped her communicate better and be a better listener around issues of mental health and emotional well-being. “I feel like I can become a better person and give back to my community more.”

But how do they make time for these activities when they have only one day off per week? Misno agrees that finding time is indeed a challenge. “We know that in Hong Kong we can learn so much but we only have one day per week, so it’s a struggle to schedule our timetable to make time for learning without feeling [overwhelmed] by it.”

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For Ismiati, the challenges revolved around language and cultural barriers. Being from Indonesia, she had to adjust not just to the words but also to the tonality of the Cantonese language. Another challenge was practising her religion: she says she had to work up the courage to talk to her employers about her daily prayer requirements and having to fast during Ramadan.

“All migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong have several challenges—not just the work and environment but also the labels society gives us,” Misno says. “To overcome these challenges and labels, I’m trying to advocate for the inherent worth in all individuals. Even though we are domestic workers in Hong Kong, we are so much more than that, there is so much potential in all of us—maybe more than we’re aware of.”

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