Indonesian training centre for domestic helpers

Posted on

name: atherine / age: 44 / profession: teacher / location: Swansea / weekday: friday / reference: In 2005, Isabella stayed in a training agency in Jakarta – with over 700 other girls, all waiting to be sent to Singapore, Malaysia or Hong Kong as a domestic helper. Such training centres are compulsory, as Indonesian agencies claim all their applicants are given cooking and hygiene classes. Most importantly, the girls are also required to learn English. However, Isabella experienced very harsh living conditions in the centre. The days were very long, the girls had to wake up at 5 am, and they could only rest at 11 pm. There were not enough beds, the food was scarce and very basic, with little nutritional value. The centre was locked, and the girls were not allowed outside. They were not allowed to use their phone either. This training centre has been closed recently because it was also found out that under-aged girls were being contracted as a domestic helper. Isabella stayed in the centre 40 days before being sent to Singapore. As she started working, she was then charged 2280 Singapore dollars by the Indonesian agency, which means that for the first 6 months of her employment, her full salary was sent back to the agent and she did not receive any money.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *