Bhing Navato is a domestic worker in Singapore for 27 years.
She has been a Helpdesk volunteer with HOME and she writes poems too. She is a member of Migrant Writers of Singapore and one of the winners in Migrant Workers Storytelling competition in 2018 .
She is one of the 27 writers featured in Our Homes, Our Stories, a book about domestic workers. A story contributor and one of the editors in CALL AND RESPONSE 2- a migrant book anthology.
As her passion in volunteering continues, she also became a volunteer as a Sister Guides at National Gallery Singapore.
Janelyn Dupingay (Jane) is a foreign domestic worker in Singapore and happily working with Huang family since May 2015.
She dedicated herself into volunteering since 2018 in different organizations that match up her advocacy of promoting equality and empowerment.
She is an individual blessed with extra talent in writing that led her contribute in different anthology books, e-magazines and has performed in various poetry events and festivals.
She is the author of a poetry book entitled ”LANGUAGE OF MY HEART.”
It all started with a dream,
A dream that was taken away,
Away from the expectations that it will fail,
Failure that I now want to break away,
Thinkin’ that justice is not easy, there is a cost to pay
So, at this time, hope is not a good place to stay,
I just want to run away
Leaving my homeland behind
To a country that I was blind
The place that I have known for possibilities
Turned out to be my land of turmoil
and bitterness
How unfortunate I am to be trapped in a misery
of a foreign land
Justice, where are you?
Are you still yet to be found?
Just like the dusk, nearing
the night where the darkness
Starts swallowing my heart and
my dreams shattered,
broken pieces scattered around
Like a flower that blossoms at spring season,
fragrant, thriving in beauty
But when the violent monsoon comes,
They languish, it falls off and the beauty is
destroyed
Life is full of surprises and uncertainties
As much as I wanted to go
through the streams of possibilities
Pain and suffering are toppling me down,
They are the inevitable tidal waves
of after quakes
I am intimidated
Causing me not to swim around
Because my life is like a boat
That is directed by a rudder
that when it breaks and it snaps,
Life will be lost, I don’t know where to go,
Nowhere else to be found
For all I wanted to be is to fulfill
my dreams and change my destiny
Leaving oppression behind, give a
good life to my family,
And kiss goodbye to poverty
But seems like lady luck
is not smiling at me,
For the justice that I simply wanna see,
To triumph over an instance
of mistaken identity is far beyond reach,
I am now in the state of apathy
So, help me God,
You are the Only Reason I see,
To hold on to this land,
To be the justice in every plea,
The Hope to every misery,
My Freedom and My Victory
By Emmy Flores
Emmy has been staying at HOME shelter for some time whilst her case is being investigated. She volunteers at the shelter and showcases her many talents in different ways. Recently she was part of an art exhibition for migrant workers.
Rest in Peace?
How many lives will be wasted
How many dreams will be tainted
How many Migrant Domestic Workers will go home cold and lifeless
How many hearts will shatter with distress
How many children will not be able to hug their mother
How many parents will miss their daughter
How many siblings will loose their sister
How many husbands will be left heartbroken
How much you pay for her as a commodity
How much is her worth to be your property
How much it takes to treat her fairly
How much respect to spare her freely
How much tears she'll shed for humanity
How long she'll beg for equality
How many times will she be denied of justice in this society
The answer my friend is the storm she carries with her to the grave
#rolinda77
Rara is a pseudonym. Rara is a domestic worker from Indonesia and has been staying at HOME shelter and writing helps her to cope with the problems in her life. The English version of her poem Matahari is her own.
He is my teacher, who taught me lessons about life
He is my king, who moulded me to be a warrior
He is the leader of the band, who allowed me to write my heart out
He is my first love, my first kiss and my only one
He was breathless, though I tried hard
He left me grieving so much for his death
My greatest critic and my dear debater
Left, without arguing what there is to come
The night I lost my first love, will always be remembered
How he fought the battle and won eternal life in heaven.
By Beckerbone Millado
#CarnivalofPoetry
#Fatherhood
#poetrybleeds
The Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME) is an anti-human trafficking organisation advocating empowerment and justice for all migrant workers in Singapore
MyVoice @ HOME : the place for Singapore's migrant workers to share their stories 