Hanoi Housekeepers Facing Difficult Times
Unfortunately, their dreams of financial stability have been shattered by an unyielding economy. When 51-year-old Vu Thi Thoa from Thieu Do Ward, Thieu Hoa District, arrived in Hanoi, she had high hopes of finding stable employment and earning a decent income to support herself and her family. Now, after spending almost a month in the capital city, Thoa has been primarily focused on finding work as a domestic helper. She has been spending her days at a job referral center in hopes of catching a break and landing a job opportunity. In Vietnam, domestic helpers are commonly known as “osins,” a term adopted from a popular Japanese drama series that aired in 1994. The series depicted the life of a housekeeper named Oshin, which resonated with Vietnamese audiences and led to the adoption of the term “osin” to refer to domestic helpers in Vietnam. Over the past several months, many osins and former factory workers in northern Vietnam have become unemployed and have had to migrate to Hano...