As a Cultural Vistas Fellow, I am interning in Hong Kong SAR, China this summer as a Case Officer at Mission for Migrant Workers. The non-profit organization located in Central was founded in 1981 as a response to the large number of maltreatment and unfair labor practice cases Filipino migrant workers face. As a Case Officer, I work directly with migrant workers who have questions or cases regarding their worker's rights. The Mission commits to its Christian ideals of Justice, Charity, and Love which feels just like our Villanova home. On Sundays, many migrant workers are off from their domestic jobs and can be found socializing, resting, and eating on the sidewalks of Central. I had the opportunity of observing one of the Mission's programming events where staff members worked with other Filipino organizations to inform the domestic workers about their rights, offer free massages and blood pressure readings, and entertainment such as karaoke. The women workers are so full of life and fun, they don't even mind the heat and humidity!
Along with working with empowering people, Hong Kong has gifted me so many breathless sights, such as the view from the top of my dorm building at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, located at the top of a mountain (pic #1). The other Cultural Vistas Fellows and I went to the Dragon Boat Festival at Stanley Pier (Pic #2), where rowers from all over the world compete. We also visited the beautiful island of Macau, which is essentially a gigantic Las Vegas with a special black sand beach! (Pic #3) Adjusting to the weather is a small price to pay for such a memorable experience!
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| Nora in Macau. |
