We raise awareness amongst Lebanese people in schools and universities and at different events of the sufferings of domestic workers under the kafala system.
We participate in demonstrations and protests requesting rights for domestic workers and help in the organisation of such events. Anytime Lebanese protest the kafala system and call for its abolition, we are there in solidarity.
We hold events to create a sense of solidarity and community by creating safe spaces for the celebration of feast days. On those days we visit hospitals and shelters and take them our national foods and celebrate with them.
We work with a lawyer in Lebanon and in Ethiopia to pursue justice in cases where there was physical and/or sexual abuse and/or false accusation of theft, and to bring cases against traffickers. This is something we intend to pursue more. When legal advice is needed we refer women to a lawyer.
From 2017 to 2019 we provided shelter for more than 25 women who had been homeless and were running from abusive employers. We covered the costs of their food, clothing, phone calls, rent, transport, medical assistance and helped them find jobs. Some are now home and some are still working in Lebanon contributing to the financial assistance and counseling of other victims. We also donated clothes and sanitary products to domestic workers in shelters and hospitals.
We have made a series of 6 educational videos in Amharic which address the problems and issues which are of concern to us e.g. MDW rights, racism, financial management, and social media bullying.
We have created a brochure in Amharic which includes a bus map and info on how to ‘share location’ and we are planning to translate these into other Ethiopian languages so that women working in villages can get help more easily and travel safely to Beirut.
We design and implement workshops on financial management; sexual harassment; social media; bullying; workplace safety; racism; sexual reproduction health; MDW rights; how to protect ourselves when helping victims of abuse and procedures for working on cases. These workshops are based on our personal daily experiences and knowledge of what the issues and concerns faced by domestic workers are.