Aidha: Who we are

Aidha – Sanskrit for ‘that to which we aspire’ – teaches financial literacy and communication skills to migrant domestic workers and lower-income Singaporean women.

There are more than  316,900 migrant domestic workers living in Singapore. They come mainly from the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, India and Sri Lanka. They have made the difficult decision to leave behind their children and family in hopes of creating a better future. While their remittances provide much needed financial support to their families, most women return home with little to no savings at the end of their contracts. This causes them to face economic hardships and an uncertain future despite their years of hard work and sacrifice. Our education programmes aim to break this cycle of poverty by encouraging women to save, invest and to start a business to plan for their futures.

The results are far-reaching. Our impact data shows that monthly savings increase by nearly 80% amongst alumnae. They also double the number of productive assets they own and business ownership increases from 16% to over 45% amongst our alumnae.

But the biggest impact is the multiplier effect. We see students sharing what they have learnt with their family and friends back home. Our research shows that when we educate one woman, we change nine other lives. Since its start in 2006, Aidha has already impacted over 45,000 women, family and community members in some of the poorest countries in Asia. Click here to find out more about our impact data.

Learn more about how an education at Aidha can make a difference in the lives of women like Radliyah through the video below: