#WeAreMigrants Feature: Jo Ann D. in Singapore

Jo Ann D.

Singapore

Foreign Domestic Worker age group: 40 to 49 years old

1. What YEAR did you first become a migrant and what was the REASON behind your migration?

1995 To be with my mother

2. What was the BIGGEST CHALLENGE that you've had to OVERCOME as a migrant?

Homesickness

3. What makes you PROUD to be a migrant?

Being a Migrant Domestic Worker, I was able to send my 3 children to school and my 2 eldest are Professionals already and my youngest is still in The University.

And being a Migrant Domestic Worker, I was able to make my dream to real - seeing my name in a book as a writer contributor and because of this, I was one of the featured writers in the Singapore Writers Festival 2018, leading the Filipino Migrants Community in a guided tour at the National Gallery Singapore as I was trained and a Best Friends of the Gallery volunteer. My Artwork label is hanging also at the Gallery depicting Barong Tagalog. Has written an article for the Gallery and was translated into Tagalog, Bahasa and Burmese. And I won’t forget where I started, a regular contributor writer of HOME MyVoice blog.

4. Tell us about a migrant-focused organization whose work you love and why!

HOME Singapore - This organization work for the well being, justice and empowerment of migrant workers and trafficked victims in Singapore. It fights for equality, non- discrimination and dignity for migrant workers.

This feature is one of the entries to our #WeAreMigrants Contest - in celebration of International Migrants Day 2020.