HELMER: First and foremost, you are a wife and mother.
NORA: That I don't believe any more. I believe that first and foremost I am an individual, just as you are.
A Doll's House Act 3.

A Hong Kong housewife is like the thousand-hand Bodhisattva. From raising children, taking care of elderly relatives to doing housework, they embark on an unenviable multi-task mission of holding a family together against the odds of family disintegration and economic downturn.

Yet their efforts are unpaid, their contribution unrecognized, their future unprotected and their identity overwhelmed by family obligations.

"Women work very hard to manage the household so that her children and husband can live in comfort and harmony. But I don't think society recognizes our contribution," says Kwai-fong, a founding member of Hong Kong Homemakers' Alliance.

The alliance, a mutual help and advocacy group founded 10 years ago by volunteers of Hong Kong Federation of Women's Centers, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

Sponsored by HER Fund, the alliance recently engaged in a project, titled The Secrets of Nora in Hong Kong, which brought the plight of local housewives into the spotlight through a series of public drama performances inspired by Henrik Ibsen's classic A Doll's House.

Their performances, incorporating real-life experiences of participating members, portray the hidden pain and repressed suffering of local women entrapped in domestic roles that yield neither financial rewards nor social recognition, thus condemning them to subordinate roles in family and society.

Take Choi-yung, who ventured across the border in search for a better life in Hong Kong in the 1970s. Frugal and hard-working, she set up a Tai Pai Tong with her savings after marriage. Yet eventually she had to relinquish her business to take care of her two children.

"I am dedicated to raising my children, who are now grown-ups. Yet I worry about the future because I am excluded from the MPF scheme and I don't have any form of retirement protection," says Choi-yung.

"It is not that my children don't want to take care of me. But times have changed and nowadays young people could hardly earn enough to support themselves or to set up their own family, not to mention supporting their parents."

Hong Kong is lagging behind its foreign counterparts in terms of recognizing the economic rights of housewives. For instance, housewives in many European countries such as France and UK could receive pensions for bringing up children and caring for elderly relatives.

"Why society has to measure the value of people in terms of how much money they make? Our work is not without value just because it couldn't be measured in nominal terms," says Kwai-fong, adding the alliance will continue to strive for more rights for housewives, for instance the right to receive retirement pension benefits to the right to be included in transport subsidy scheme.

The project also includes a series of workshops and reading sessions during which members read and drew inspirations from Betty Friedan's feminist nonfiction classic The Feminine Mystique, which argues against the assumption that the proper role of a woman is to be a wife and mother.

"It [The Feminine Mystique] was written in America years ago, but here we are still suffering from similar problems raised by the book," says Kwai-fong, adding that in Hong Kong many women are still expected to find their identity through their family role alone. "We are being called by our husband's surname, such as Cheung tai, Wong tai and Lee tai. It's like we don’t have a self."

The rehearsals and performances, through which a wide variety of feminist issues from women's sexual freedom to their social status were discussed, provide members with a rare opportunity to flex their creative muscles while exploring their self-identity.

"A simple gesture on stage could convey multiple levels of meaning. I couldn't have learned that behind the domestic walls," says Choi-yung.

To Choi-yung, her debut stage performance represents her first step in her journey to self-actualization. Tears streamed down her face when she was asked to recite passages during the initial reading sessions. "I worried that people might laugh at me or looked down on me," she recalls.

In the end, all her hard work and determination paid off as she delivered a glowing performance in front of an appreciative audience that include her two children.

"I want to show to people that a housewife could step out of her domestic boundaries, try out something boldly, vent out her emotions and voice out her needs," says Choi-yung.

HER Fund received many valuable applications this year. However, owing to our limited funds available, we needed to make a hard decision. With the final approval from our Executive Committee, HER Fund is pleased to announce the annual grants for the Year 2011-2012. A total HK$293,320 will be granted to 10 projects. Please click here to read the grant details.

HER Fund granted Association Concerning Sexual Violence Against Women Anti Sexual Violence Resource Centre to hold a young girls' anti-sexual violence school education project between January 2011 to March 2011. Through gender awareness raising workshops, exhibition and art book production, students can re-frame the girls' identity and their unique value as an individual.

With the support of arts teachers in secondary schools, students created their own artwork on the theme after joining the awareness raising workshop. These artworks were showed in Cattle Depot Artist Village from 17th to 21st March to promote the gender equality message to the public.

"HER Fund has high operational efficiency and governance but urgently needs funds to maintain operation" as commented by iDonate. Indeed this is a true picture of HER Fund and we need your continuous support and donation to further our good work! Mingpao news covered this report from iDonate. please click here to read. (in chinese only)

iDonate is an online platform to provide charity information through rating the operational efficiency and fund needs.

HER Fund is honored to receive a grant of US$8,000 support by The Rita Fund. This is a general support grant to HER Fund that helps to raise our capacities on further mobilizing resources to support neglected and less-funded women's groups and projects in the community. If you want to learn more about The Rita Fund, please click here to read

Share Talent has a new series of classes. You can choose classes you like to colour your life as well as support women's work.

Now, we have Yoga, DIY Hand Cream / Facial Cream Workshop, Parent and toddler Putonghua, Commercial Putonghua, Line Dance, and Belly Dance by voluntary talent teachers. Also, we have Line Dance Tutor Certificate class, Sing and Dance in English class, Line Dance, and Yoga class by talent organizations. Please click here to search the classes information.

HER Fund is honorable to have support by Okamoto. Okamoto sponsors us both Okamoto Smiling Face Heat Pad and Okamoto Knee Wrap. All Income collected will be regarded as donations to HER Fund. Please Click here to ORDER NOW.