Minnie, an Indonesian lady who is always smiling warmly, will give birth in a month. With a big belly, she keeps busy after living in the SPA shelter. A few days ago, she cooked a pot of a Jawa Barat-style Lemongrass soup for migrant workers in the shelter, and everyone likes it very much.
This is Minnie's first pregnancy. She couldn't wait to see her baby soon. 27-year-old Minnie is from Annamyo, West Java. She used to work as a caretaker in Hsinchu. Her husband is also an Indonesian migrant worker from her hometown, and they have known each other since their childhood. Minnie came to Taiwan seven years ago. Her boyfriend at the time, who is now her husband, saved enough agency fees and also came to Taiwan to work three years later. They continued their firm relationship in a foreign land and ended the long-distance love run last year. Because of the epidemic, they could not go back to their hometown to register, so they held their wedding at an Indonesian snack bar, with many countrymen friends attending to bless them.
Minnie always makes her life decisions independently by herself. She has a younger brother who also went abroad as a migrant worker in Poland at a young age like her. Her first two employers assigned her to do excessive work outside her permit. One of them not only asked her to take care of a-ma, but also went to the market to help cut chicken during the day, and to cook for the whole family at night. The other employer made her do clean jobs every day at the construction company she owns. Even if the work is not all smooth sailing, after chatting with Minnie, we realize that she never judges people easily, in spite of the fact that she had met bad bosses in Taiwan. When Minnie found out that she was pregnant, her kind Taiwanese colleagues in the company would not let her carry heavy objects. She knows that there are different employers in Taiwan, just like migrant workers with many different attitudes.
She shared her experience and thoughts with us that the family background of each immigrant worker is different, and some parents worry about who their children will meet in Taiwan and how it could be peaceful to be born in an unfamiliar place. But she believes that adults should be responsible for themselves, so when she found out that she was pregnant, she discussed with her employer when she would end work, and took the initiative to consult with the SPA. After living in our shelter, with our company, she took regular prenatal checkups and received health education information.
Talking about that she is going to give birth next month, Minnie happily looked forward to it. She said that her husband had already asked the employer for leave and wanted to accompany her to welcome their first baby. They have already planned that her husband can bring the baby back to his hometown this year. Minnie will continue to work in Taiwan and save money to provide better education for their child. In the future, this family will be able to reunite in Indonesia.
The life of migrant workers in Taiwan tends to be at the childbearing age. They may marry and have children here. While they spend their youth supporting our long-term care, we can give back their opportunities to form a family, so that they will no longer fear losing their job opportunities, be able to welcome a newborn life, and have choices in life.