Greater heights: Indoor flight experience lifts spirits of migrant domestic workers

A couple of domestic workers from H.O.M.E., a Singapore-based charity that ams to empower and support migrant workers who experience abuse and exploitation, were recently taken for an uplifting experience at iFly, an indoor skydiving facility.

“We hope through the experience of flight we are able to empower them to scale to greater heights,” said the CEO and founder of the facility.

Deshi Gill, the executive director of H.O.M.E. said, “I think the flight itself has allowed our domestic workers to feel appreciated.” The charity’s name stand for Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics, and was founded back in 2004 by Bridget Tan.

The three domestic workers shared a bit about themselves as well as how they found their flying experience.

For 47-year old Jetky Marie Amores who came from the Philippines and has been working in Singapore for 18 years, the experience definitely lifted her spirits. “My experience today was so fun,” she said. “When I flew very high, it’s like I wanted to fly more–i (felt like) I could fly more.”

Besides saying she enjoyed the indoor flying experience, 49-year old Betty C De Loretta, who is also from the Philippines shared her background story as to why she moved to Singapore. I decided to come to Singapore just because I need to support my family because when I was young, we were really down. (We couldn’t) even go to school and everything, so I don’t want my own kids to experience what I experienced. So I pushed myself to come to Singapore to work,” she said, before sharing that she has been learning different skills with H.O.M.E. “I keep learning different kinds of skills–cosmetology, computer,  and first aid…I feel happy sharing my skills–as long as I help (someone), I feel good.”

For 55-year old Farida Jahrom from Indonesia, who has been volunteering at H.O.M.E. since 2017., the flying experience was exhilarating. She also shared that when she makes friends with other migrant and domestic workers, she tries to get them to join H.O.M.E. aactivities.

Overall, the experience not only gave the three volunteers a break, but it also inspired them to reach higher.