Upgrade Your Household With These Classes For Domestic Helpers
Here are 10 domestic helper-friendly classes from caring for a newborn to cooking to personal finance management.
Annerley
With about 55 years of collective experience in entrusting their own children with qualified helpers, the staff at midwives’ clinic Annerley are dedicated to having helpers receive the right training to maintain a safe and happy household. For families expecting their first baby, the “My First Helper” package ($6,280) includes an initial consultation, an 18-hour course on how to take care of a newborn—taking into account emergencies where first aid and CPR are needed—and an additional 6-hour course on all the important changes when your baby grows into a rowdy toddler. A workshop on managing food in the household, food safety and general childcare is also included. 17/F, Tak Woo House, 17-19 D’Aguilar St., Central, 2983-1558, annerley.com.hk
Enrich
Founded in 2007, Enrich holds subsidized training sessions for migrant workers—usually the sole breadwinners who, in some cases, are working in debt to pay off placement fees. Taught in the migrants’ own languages, these workshops aim to empower and help individuals not only get out of debt, but gain financial literacy and, for those interested, entrepreneurship skills. Enrich currently offers four courses: Money Wise Migrants teaches about visualization, setting financial goals and planning better budgets; Investments for Migrants helps with building long term plans; Speak Up is a course on assertive communication; and Setting Up My Business teaches the practical steps before starting a business. Courses are held across town, either at the Enrich center, in Discovery Bay, or at the YMCA in Tsim Sha Tsui. 1102 Enterprise Building, 228-238 Queen’s Rd. Central, 2386-5811, enrichhk.org
In Safe Hands
Maternity and childcare agency In Safe Hands offers nanny, maternity nurse, and one-off babysitting or mother assistance services. Want to equip your domestic worker with skills to handle any emergency at home? In Safe Hands offers CPR and First Aid courses, held either in the client’s home or at physiotherapy center The Body Groupin Central. Baby massage classes, feeding and sleeping consultations are also part of the center’s other services. 2323-2676, insafehands.com.hk
Maid For You
Teaming up with midwives’ clinic Annerley, Maid For You offers helper courses tailored to the needs of a Hong Kong household, with anything from caring for newborns or toddlers, adjusting for your child to spend more time with your domestic worker (perfect for moms planning to return to work) as well as classes for food safety and first aid. maidforyou.com.hk
Matilda International Hospital
The Matilda International Hospital holds regular health education courses, with some directly aimed at domestic workers, equipping them with practical knowledge to better take care of young children. The full day, eight-hour childcare course covers hygiene and play, bathing, feeding and nappy changing, as well as the all-important topic of how to deal with a crying infant. Students will receive a record of attendance after passing a multiple choice exam and performance evaluation at the end of the course. Pediatric first aid is also another course option. 41 Mount Kellett Rd., The Peak, 2849-0111, matilda.org
Superhelper
Superhelper offers ongoing home management and cooking workshops for domestic workers. Home management courses cover everything from caring for and cleaning different fabrics, pet care, table setting, and more. As for cooking, classes include everything from vegetarian cooking to Western to Asian. The recipes sound pretty awesome—think ceviche, Mediterranean-style fish and cashew and herb-crusted lamb rack. Single sessions start from $500. 36A Island Rd., Deep Water Bay, 2812-0446, superhelper.org
The Family Zone
Run by Yvonne Heavyside, a nursing consultant and trained Health Visitor, The Family Zone offers postnatal visits and support on breastfeeding and helping to monitor newborns until 5 months old. It also offers an 11-hour course for foreign domestic workers to better care for babies and young children, equipping them with childcare, First Aid and CPR skills. All safety scenarios are covered and practiced in a real home. Classes are held across two Saturdays in Pokfulam, and come with a handbook, test and certificate upon completion. thefamilyzone.hk
Towngas Cooking
Towngas Cooking is known throughout the SAR as one of the authorities in cookery, and often has a focus on creative and healthy recipes. A six-course certificate course is available for domestic workers—it covers all the basics of Cantonese home cooking, including long- and quick-boiled soup, congee, steaming, stir-frying, shallow and deep frying, stewing and braising, as well as making a range of Chinese desserts. Classes are conducted in English and Cantonese. Shop 9A, Lee Theatre Plaza, 99 Percival St., Causeway Bay, 2576-1535, towngascooking.com
YMCA
At the YMCA, domestic workers can partake in all sorts of courses for personal development—from professional beauty courses to English or Cantonese lessons—or for better preparedness for at-home duties, such as baby care and caring for the elderly. Computer courses are available, from basic computer operation to Microsoft Access taught in Bahasa. Business-related skills such as bookkeeping classes are also offered, with some classes on personal and business finance management offered by the local financial literacy training center Enrich. 41 Salisbury Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui, 2268-7736, www.ymcahk.org.hk
YWCA Centre of Learning and Life Enhancement
You’ll find a whole host of cooking courses catered to domestic workers at the YWCA. They’re all categorized by types of dishes, so if you wanted your helper to master dishes such as baked chicken fingers or even Jamaican jerk chicken, then check out the “Chicken-Tastic” course. Fish-centric classes, vegetarian cooking, as well as dessert sessions, are also available. Classes start from $500. clle.ywca.org.hk
