Enrich – Enriching and Empowering Women
August 24, 2010
Project : Enrich – Migrant Worker Training Programmes
Location: Hong Kong (www.enrichhk.org)
Project Leader : Kim Cheung
Contact: kim@newdayasia.org
Funding status : Approved
Budget : HK$50,000
Corporate Funding Partner : None
Foundation Partner : None
Enrich : Background
In Hong Kong, there are an estimated 250,000 foreign domestic helpers. Most of them are women who left their families in their home country in order to earn higher income, raise their standard of living, and provide a better future for their children. This group are often victims of high debt and overspending due to circumstances which they can avoid if equipped with the right information. They require financial education on how to manage their finances and ensure that the money they earn will provide them and their families with a better life and hopefully, a good retirement in their country.
Mission:
Enrich’s mission is to establish a sustainable organization that empowers lower income women in Hong Kong to take greater control of their lives, secure their futures, and raise their standards of living.
Key strategies to achieve our mission:
Enrich values the importance of the following strategies to achieve its mission:
1. provision of practical and impactful education and training on personal finance and confidence and communication for migrant workers & ethnic minorities;
2. outreach work to different migrant groups and organizations; and
3. institutional development where continual training for staff and volunteers will provide sufficient human resources to continue the work we do.
Enrich Funding Request
The funds requested will be used by Enrich to deliver 25 workshops (in the second half of 2010 and into 2011) on 1) personal finance and 2) confidence and communication to migrant workers in Hong Kong. Training is conducted in the native language of the participants. The training costs include preparation, organization and promotion of training as well as recruitment and training of new trainers. Enrich’s project coordinator will then work with Hong Kong charities and religious groups to organize and promote workshops to their members. A training evaluation is conducted at the end of each training and the information collected is processed by the trainers and the coordinator. The training is continually being reviewed and improved at the end of each training session.
Intended Benefits of Project
Migrants and ethnic minority workers usually have very little training or support in managing their finances. Borrowing money at high interest rates and buying on credit are common practices which results in many of them being perpetually in debt. Immediate and competing needs, plus difficulties in keeping account of what is spent and saved, results in over-spending on phone bills, bank transfers, gifts and impulsive buying. Few have savings or retirement plans. Many go home after years or even decades of hard, lonely work to face the sad reality that in financial terms, they are no better off than when they left.
Basic training in personal finance can make a big difference in their lives. With the knowledge and motivation to calculate their financial situation, make and implement a budget and a savings plan, get out of debt, decide on priorities and deal with family pressure, they can have much greater control over their lives. Having a personal and workable financial plan can determine the time frame and conditions under which they consider current and future work opportunities.
