Widening the way for …

She was only seven years old when she started the job, which she is still doing. But, the time has been changed so significant that it turned her to a trade union leader from a helpless domestic child labour.

Born in 1985 November in Jhapa, eastern Terai of Nepal, Sonu Danuwar is now president of Nepal Independent Domestic Workers' Union (NIDWU), the first trade union of domestic workers in South Asia. She has struggled a lot to get rights for herself and for all people working as domestic helps like her. She was little girl when she began to raise voices against labour exploitation of child workers.  She is still on the same path, but the path has been wider and easier.

Her father sent her to work in a man's home at Dhulabaari when she was seven years old. The man had dealt with her father to appoint her as babysitter. "But I had to do everything there from dishes to clothes", she remembers. Though she had tried few times to escape from brutal beatings from the man, she would be forced to continue the job from her father and family.

After some months of her father's death, she left the work place and returned to home. But the poor economic condition didn't allow her to be there. Soon, an unknown person from Kathmandu took her to the capital. He placed her to his sister's house to support for domestic works.

After two years in 1998, she found a women class near her workplace and asked if she could join it. But, the lady there named Mamta Pandey took her into another type of class - Non Formal Education (NFE) for domestic child workers, organized by CWISH, a NGO working for domestic child workers. This very meet to Mamta Pandey was probably the most important incident in her life so far, which led her to movements for labour. She regularly attended the NFE classes and admitted to the nearby school after three years.

The NFE had already bid farewell to her. But, she with some other NFE-students continued to gather together weekly purposively "to enjoy" sharing pains and pleasures.  "This very RAMAILO SHUKRABAAR (Good Friday) later turned into Gharelu Baal Shramik Manch (Domestic Child Workers' Forum - DCWF), as we got training on child club management", she remembers the past. 

Yes, there were many obstacles for her to join the Ramailo Shukrabaar and DCWF. It was really difficult to manage time between her domestic works and gatherings and clubs. "I pretended, before the employers, to continue the NFE classes for the six months after its closure", she reveals the secret of her struggle. When the employers came to know her activities about forums and labour rights, they asked her not to go to anywhere. But she had a strong desire to protect herself and her friends. Her other friends also confronted many problems. "The employers used to increase the works if they knew that we have meeting or any function for the day. Moreover, our school teachers would suspect that child club will ruin the study." She used to try her best to convince them, "Once I took my employer AAMA to CWISH and showed what I am doing for. After that AAMA has been quite supportive for me". She suggests the workers themselves to convince their employers about their rights and responsibilities. "While asking for the rights, we should be equally cautious not to ignore our duties", she says. Her experience has taught that some promotional activities like inviting the employers on the club functions, publicly acknowledging their support for living of child workers, and publishing their interviews on the wall magazines and magazines of child clubs help them to cope with the obstacles from employers.    

After some years, they formed Gharelu Shramik Manch (Domestic Workers' Forum - DWF) to further struggle for decency and rights of domestic workers.

In 2006, General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GeFONT) in cooperation with CWISH and Committee for Asian Women (CAW) conducted six-month training on unionization and leadership for domestic workers connected to CWISH. It was with the purpose to form a trade union of domestic workers.  After the training, she had developed passion to "do something more". Consequently, the Nepal independent Domestic Workers' Union (NIDWU) got its existence in February, 2007 under the leadership of Danuwar.

And, what has she got after crossing these high walls? "For me, it gave me frequent chance to foreign visits", expresses happily recollecting the countries which she visited. "I have become international leader for domestic workers", she says. Now, Sonu is chairperson of Asian Domestic Workers' Network (ADWN) and joint-vice-chairperson of International Domestic Workers' Network (IDWN). But, is not great in correspondence with what her "class" has got. Now, there is no concrete law which defines domestic work as "work". "But, if some friend receives tortures and exploitations, we are there to fight for him/her", Danuwar ensures. For her, the greatest achievement is ILO's plan to issue Convention on Domestic Work. According to her, the convention will be issued in 2012.

She is still a domestic worker, with responsibilities from dishes to clothes. But, she has additional duties to serve the interest of all her friends. And, she believes she can make it well. "…because I have determination to work regularly. Regularity is what that made success for me."  Yes, there were many like her who were working as domestic helps, and there were many who attended the NFE classes. But, they couldn't continue the struggle. But, Sonu is still on the way.

Yet she feels that "many things are yet to do." She has a dream that every domestic worker will get identity, decency and all facilities that other professionals get as workers, including fixed leave and wages.   But when? "Wait until we get the ILO convention. After that there will be tangible and apparent changes. If you can't see the changes, we will make it", the confident leader tries to convince all workers hoping for good.  Best wishes, Sonu!