Domestic workers generally have little access to training and education. Majority lack tertiary education and very few have access to job related training. DWAZ offers online and physical trainings for its members. The trainings are holistic and are aimed at addressing the domestic worker as a whole. Training ranges from technical skills, soft skills, tertiary training and even personal skills. To those wishing to further their education, we also assist in various ways. We acknowledge that some might want to improve or further their education and we provide the guidance needed.
With the objective of producing and providing professional maids who not only get the job, but get the job done, the Domestic Worker Center is an innovative idea, the first of its kind conceived with a unique focus on maids and the domestic work profession.
Funded by International Labour Organisation (ILO) under the Skills Mismatch Challenge grant, DWC is a facility which offers a comprehensive service package under one roof, whose premises are designed and furnished to resemble the modern day home, the perfect work environment for domestic workers. Central to its existence is the need to provide crucial but lacking on-the-job learning and training for
domestic workers, offering an experience which will ensure that all who are trained will be capacitated to match the requirements and expectations of their work as employees.
We are developing a curriculum, tailored for the domestic work sector, to be accredited as an official course and offered through vocational training centers. We embed information communication technology through the internet in learning and training. Thus an online platform which mirrors the physical Center is envisioned. Here, domestic workers from any part of the country, the continent and part of the globe can benefit from the training services we are offering.
The Center is also a safe haven for not just domestic workers who may find themselves in desperate situations and circumstances. As DWAZ we know and understand the plight of domestic workers, that we are fully geared advocacy and promotion and protection of their rights, the reality that they are vulnerable and fall victim to different forms of abuse, exploitation and mistreatment, necessitates the establishment of a safe place where they can be accommodated and assisted accordingly.
DWAZ endeavours to offer advice and support to members on matters related to their employment and personal welfare which may affect their service delivery capabilities and general well-being. We are committed to bettering the lives of the domestic workers even outside their work. As such, we engage in various empowerment programs that’s are done by the members. These include ‘stokvels’ whereby members come together and save money to buy groceries, save money or buy household items and share after a certain period. Members also help each other with access to land for building or farming. A number of programs are done as long as members agree on what to do.
We believe in working together with others and admit that we cannot do everything alone. Our objective is therefore to forge appropriate and meaningful partnerships with the government, corporates, individuals and similar international non-governmental organisations for the realisation of the organizations’ objectives