We Are Caring, a leading ethical employment agency for domestic workers and families in Singapore and Hong Kong, and Uplifters, a non-profit organisation supporting domestic workers with online education, are partnering to offer a free online caregiving course to all foreign domestic workers. The DBS Foundation supports this initiative.
Mary Jone, a foreign domestic worker in Singapore, took the course: “The course is very convenient for those with busy schedules. They can do it during their free time. It’s helpful and gives us some important knowledge, especially if you are taking care of elderly people, babies, or people with disabilities.”
While employers depend heavily on their domestic workers, finding them with the right skill set can be challenging, especially when they have caregiving duties.
On the other hand, foreign domestic workers have fragile financial situations and must meet their employers’ expectations to retain their jobs.
Face-to-face caregiving classes are ideal but may be too costly or difficult to arrange. Moreover, to make their migration successful, domestic workers must also learn communication and self-care skills to cope with the distance from their loved ones and money management skills to avoid loans and scams and prepare for the future.
To address the unique needs of both employers and foreign domestic workers, We Are Caring and Uplifters joined forces to design this 100% free and flexible online course. It includes:
- Setting realistic expectations regarding employer requirements and how to foster a mutually beneficial working relationship.
- foundational skills like task organisation, time management, good hygiene practices, effective communication strategies, conflict management, and handling emergencies, including basic first aid.
- Baby care basics, focusing on feeding, routines, settling, and safety.
- For elderly and disability care, the course addresses respect, safe lifting and moving, promoting independence, and caring for individuals with cognitive disabilities.
- Overcoming common migration challenges, including coping with the distance from their families, understanding their rights and responsibilities, and managing their money well while avoiding loans and scams.
Uniquely, this course is offered online and free of charge—something no other organisation currently offers. Although the course was launched in July 2024, the impact data already speaks volumes. 193 foreign domestic workers have already completed it. 99% would recommend this course to friends, and 85% said it made a BIG difference to their lives.
The next 2-week course session starts on November 15th 2024, and foreign domestic workers can already sign up here: Caregiving Basics for Migrant Domestic Workers (uplifters-edu.org) or through Uplifters Facebook Page Online Courses by Uplifters.
This course takes approximately 6-7 hours to complete. It’s no issue if domestic workers miss a day; they can easily catch up. The course is designed so students can study at their own pace, there are no meetings at set times. Students simply need a basic smartphone, internet connection and the motivation to learn.
Uplifters’ teaching method combines a practical approach to learning with one-to-one peer support. Students have immediate support from a class chat led by a trained, fellow domestic worker who generously volunteers her time to facilitate the class.
Course impact so far
- 91% of participants* now feel they fully understand the responsibilities of a caregiver vs. 75% before.
- 78% of participants feel they know exactly what to do if the person they are caring for has a health emergency (e.g., difficulty breathing, severe bleeding, fainting, etc.), compared to 40% only before.
- 89% of participants feel confident taking care of a baby, understanding their needs, and avoiding accidents, compared to 69% before.
- 73% of participants now feel confident about caring for older people or people with disabilities, compared to 39% before.
*Survey administered to 193 course participants before and after course completion
Testimonials
“The course gave me more knowledge and ideas about taking care of infants and the elderly and how to manage dangerous situations and how to communicate to my employers. It’s also helped me understand that we need to care for ourselves to do our job properly. About money management, it’s given me a lot of ideas on how to manage my salary and have savings every month. Know what I want and need and especially how to say No to my family’s requests for money if it’s not important.”
Cristine Marie, a foreign domestic worker in Singapore
“I enjoy having this course because it helps me a lot, e.g. how to deal with my stress, homesickness and budgeting my salary, how to take good care of an infant up to an elderly and those persons who need special help and care.”
Mary Joy, a foreign domestic worker in Singapore
Completion certificate
A certificate of completion is awarded upon completing the course and passing a final online test. (Uplifters does not provide official educational certification. All certifications given are to certify successful completion of the courses offered according to the rating and grading standards of Uplifters.)
Free course
The course is entirely FREE and offered to any migrant domestic worker, both pre and post-departure. It is also suitable for domestic workers who currently do not undertake any caregiving duties but may want to consider their first steps into caregiving.
Get in Touch with Uplifters
All courses are tailored to migrant domestic workers’ unique needs. The courses are online and delivered via a mobile-friendly platform. Lessons are both in text and audio, making them easy for non-native English speakers to understand. It has a community-led approach, with alums, domestic workers themselves trained to support new participants in WhatsApp class chats.
Since its inception in 2018, more than 9,500 domestic workers have benefited from their courses.
Learn more at www.uplifters-edu.org. For more information, email hello@uplifters-edu.org.
Get in Touch with We Are Caring
Since 2016, the ethical agency has provided over 6,000 debt-free jobs (no salary deduction), enabling domestic workers to save more than SGD 4 million in excessive placement fees.
We Are Caring mobile application allows families to easily find and hire a domestic worker by having convenient access to thousands of helpers with complete profiles, including employment history, reference letters from past employers, online chat and smart matching.
A pioneer in ethical recruitment, We Are Caring is the first company worldwide to achieve in 2023 the IRIS certification, the label for ethical recruiters of migrant workers implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM, United Nations).
We Are Caring is also a training provider of the Employers’ Orientation Programme (EOP), the mandatory online course for first-time employers in Singapore. Learn more at https://www.eop.sg.
