Housemaids Training

In this week (18-21 April), 15 housemaids are attending a training in the Ankesha woreda, in Awi zone. The main objectives are to reduce their vulnerability and to increase their awareness of work and women rights. These housemaids are between 12 and 27 years old, three of them are illiterates and four girls are attending the school according with their employers. They live with their employees and they work for 16 hours per day, from 6am to 11pm. Only the girls who are attending the school work 10 hours per day. On average their salary is 40 birr per month (less than 2 euros per month). The employee of Women Affair Office, who collaborates with CVM to select the housemaids, told me that it was hard to find the girls for the training because their employees are afraid of the possibility that the housemaids take conscience of their rights and demand best work conditions.

The training is about HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention, to improve the knowledge about reproductive health. In fact, often, these girls are abused by their employees, or they could become sex workers to increase their incomes. Other subjects are women rights, in order to avoid abuses and early marriages, and work rights to encourage the report of violations.
The trainers' approach is very active, they involve the girls in group discussions, preparation of flip chart and they continually ask them their opinions to improve their understanding. In this way it's also possible help the girls to take conscience about their capacity, in fact, they play a key role in the course and become self confidence.

At the end of the training, the girls are going to establish an association, to share with the other housemaids their experience, to protect themselves and promote their rights. The main roles (as president, vice president, casher and secretary) are already assigned by a democratic vote. They will meet 2 times per month and develop their own plan of action, getting the free choice about/on their projects.

Benedetta Sercecchi (CVM Volunteer in Ethiopia)