HK06: Grace Diano – Filipina Domestic Helper Journey from Saudi Arabia to Hong Kong

𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬:

“𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑜𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐷𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠… 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠, 𝑔𝑜 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ, 𝑝𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦… 𝐼 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑎𝑤𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑒 – 𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠.”

“𝐼 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑛𝑒𝑤.”

“𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑜𝑛𝑔 [𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑆𝑎𝑢𝑑𝑖 𝐴𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑎], 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑. 𝑂ℎ, 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑜𝑛𝑔. 𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔!”

“𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦. 𝐻𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑔𝑜 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑦.”

“𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑜𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐷𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠… 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠, 𝑔𝑜 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ, 𝑝𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦… 𝐼 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑎𝑤𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑟 – 𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠.”

“𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦… 𝑠𝑜 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒, 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠.”

𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞:

Grace is a domestic helper from Philippines, working in Hong Kong since 2014. She is currently working with her second employer, an India/American family.

Grace became a domestic helper to support her ageing parents back in Philippines. Her first job was in Saudi Arabia.

A constant learner by nature, Grace uses her free time to learn new skills. This led her to develop her passion for cooking, learn agricultural farming, acquire certification for Elderly care, learn swimming and take courses in Financial Management.

Grace is a great cook, a fitness enthusiast and loves to hike. Her dream is to open her own fine dining restaurant one day in her hometown of Samar in Philippines.