♪ ♪ this is taipei, the main city of taiwan.

overloining one of its quieter stress is e h harny homom foundati,, a halfway house for a lnerabab group of people. inside the sanctuary, things are not so quiet. not surprising as this is home to 150 children all under the age of six. their mothers are all migrant workers from abroad. the woman in charge is nicole yang. she set up in the 1980s originally to assist people with hiv. her work started ten years ago. >> translator: one day i received a phone call from a migrant w worker from indonesia. she said she was heavily pregnant and asksked for help. because she hadn'tt seen an obstetrician until then, she

endured a a very difficult labo and e ended up losing the baby. i discovered that many pregnant migrants workers from a abroad d gone thrhrough similar experiences. this made me want to help them. >> that help includes maternity care. the pregnant women arriving at the home often have no one else to turn to. staff take them to hospital for checkups a and ensure a safe delivery. >> if mothers want to continue to work in taiwan after delivery, harmony home looks after their children until they return to their homelands.

>> we follow the efforts of an npo working in the shadows of taiwanese society to help migrant mothers all their children.n their children.d their children. taipei railway station. every weekend a steady stream of migrant workers arrives from all parts of the city. they head for the main concourse, but they're not going anywhere. this is their time off and they gather here to eat, drink, and enjoy the company of friends.

>> taiwan officially opened the door to migrant workers from overseas in the late 1980s. many came to fill the vangsz in construction sites. they also work in nursing and care giving. today their number has reached 700,000, that means one might worker for every 13 residents.

taiwan's labor ministry oversees the recruitment of this workforce and is responsible for their welflfare. the support services including a telephone counseling hot line exclusively for migrant workers. it operates around the clock. staff offer advice in five languages, i including indonesi and vietnamese. they handle about 1,000 calls a day. common issues include unpaid wages, long hours, or being forced to do jobs not includude in the contract. if needed, the ministry will send an official to the work site to investigate and hopefully find a solution. migrant workers are covered by public health insurance and have access to basic medical services. benefits like that encourage many workers to renew contracts

or change jobs. the current system allows them to stay in taiwan for a maximum of 14 years. but there are gaps in the safety net for migrant workers. one of them is support for women who become pregnant. in 2002, a new law came in making it illegegal to fire employees because of pregnancy. what makes the situation difffficult i is whenn female ln care takake into consisiderat n care t takesers get pregnanant. thesese care takers won't b be to work once they become heavily pregnanant. also, it't's not so easy for thr employer to find a replacement, so a lot of emploloyers are sayg they are in dire need of assistance when ththey are in sh a situtuation. >> some 380,000 female migrants

from abroad work in taiwan. about 250,000 of them are in the nursing care industry and most are from indonesia. despite the law prohibiting employees from firing pregnant workers, there have been many cases of women expecting a child to be suddenly dismissed. in some cases, women will run away when they get pregnant, fear of deportation is a common reason. many of the women are supporting family back home. others owe money to brokers who helped them obtain a work visa. desperate for income, they secretly give birth and go back to work. >> translator: workers don't get the support they need because the system to protect them is

incomplete and laws are not fully enforced. >> in this uncertain environment, harmony home is the only private organization in taiwan looking after expectant mothers in the migrant community. operating with limited resources, yang depends on careful organization and dedicated staff. eight staff work alongside the mothers. they work in shifts and take care of the children 24/7. this woman has worked here two years. born i in indonesia, she movede taiwan after m marrying a local man. she is the only staff member at harmony home who speaks indonesian, making her the first point of contact for many of the mothers coming here.

>> translator: we ask those who have come here and given birth to spread informationon about u through social media. we wanant expecting migrants wh have difficulties to feel free to come here for help. >> medical support is a key service at harmony home. staff escort new arrivals to hospital for prenatal checkups. this wowoman, 25 years old, desperate for help, she contacted harmony y home four ds ago.a, 25 years old, desperate help, she contacted harmony home four days ago.y, 25 years old, help, she contacted harmony home

four days ago.u, 25 years old, r help, she contacted harmony home four days ago. during her checkup, dong companions her as interpreter. dr. chong teamed up with harmony home six years ago. he only charges half of the usual examination fee.

>> it's a boy. >> most women they don't come harmony homee for help have nevr seen a doctotor for exexaminat. it's quite dangerous. we doctors worry about mothther bodies and it's risky for us as well. so w we don't usually accccept mothers. there's a high risk of these women bleeding heavily aftfter delivery, havaving abnoli high blood pressure during labor, or developing a higigh blood s sug level. it is realllly dangegerous for moththers and babies. >> ayu came to taiwan with her husband in february 2015. their plan was to save money to build a house. her husband found work at an egg

sorting factory and ayu worked as a living caretaker. three years after arriving in taiwan, ayu learned she was pregnant. . >> ayu ran away from the employer's house. she hid in her husband's dormitory for two months. that was when she heard about harmony home from a friend and came to came to ask for help. she says after the birth she would like harmony home to help look after her child so she can go back to a nursing job.

>> this is gina, 32 years old. she came to taiwan in july 2014. her plan was to earn enough money to open a shop in her hometown. one year later, gina start going out with a worker she met on social media. soon she became pregnant. she was working as a caregiver in someone's house. she too ran away from her job. gina fled to the dormitory of the man she had been seeing.

she lived with him secretly for about six months. notified by her employer, authorities canceled her work visa and revoked her health insurance. that meant she couldn't see a doctor. a friend advised gina to get in touch with harmony home. she made her first visit there in march 2016.

one morning a month later, she started getting contractions. a staff member rushed her to a hospital, but her babies couldn't wait. she gave birth in the car, the proud mother of twin girls. the babies were often sick, so gina stayed on at harmony home to help look after them. later she returned to home care work, but without a visa, her situation remains precarious. she earns between $10 and $20 a day, but she doesn't have jobs every day. she is also on her own again. her boyfriend often came to see her at the home. but then his work visa expired. not long after he was arrested for wororking illegally and deported to his homeland of

indonesia. that was one year after their children were born. the father is now working at a construction site in indonesia, but he earns much less than what he used to get in taiwan. gina continues to work in taipei. once she saves enough money, she will go back to indonesia with their daughters. >> over t the past decade, harmy homeme has looked over 500 migrt workers.s.

bebecause they fled theirir workplaces, their work v visas have been canceled and they're now illegal residents. yang continues to the company the women, regardless of their legal status. >> i understand people have different opinions. some say police should keep a watch on harmony home and arrest mothers working illegally. however, we don't report this matter to police. if we did that, no one would come to our home any longer. unlessss we rescue and suppopor pregnant women, the lives of children would be at risk. our firirst priority is to o prt children, so when mothers come to us, we don't ask them whether they are legal or illegal

migrants. we don't judge whether they are right or wrong. we jusust focus on taking good care of children so that they grow up healthy. >> yang was born in southern taiwan in 1956. her mother worked in the design industry and, following in her foot steps, yang studied design after leaving school. in the early 1980s, she opened a graphic design studio in taipei. focusing on magazine layouts. a student she hired as a part timer contracted hiv. newspapers wrote about his case and revealed his name. prejudice against hiv carriers were strong at the time. the student felt cornered with no place to hide. >> translator: he was ostracized by all the people around him,

even his parents abandoned hihi. so i invited him to come to my place. he attempted to commit suicide. it was devastating t to see thi. i couldn't turn my back on him oror leave him alone like that. >> yang had him stay at her place and supported him as best she could. soon other hiv carriers came to yang's door seeking refuge. soliciting donations, yang set up a facility for hiv carriers and provided counseling and arranged treatment. harmony home was born. later, thanks to the improvement of hiv medications, the number of patients who needed the home's support began to decline. in the meantime, yang learned

about the hardships afflicting migrant workers, especially expecting mothers. harmony home took on a new challenge. yang's charitable activities can be traced back to a sad incident during her childhood. when yang was 10 years old, her father's business failed. he fell into depression and committed suicide. >> translator: it was such a crushing experience. having to go through that kinin of hardship made me determined to do eveverything i can to eas the pain and agony of people in distress. >> above all, that means communication.

>> t the person y yang calledd mother who left her child at harmonony home. she's working as a live-in caregiver. sometimes mothers stop seeing their children. yang does her best to restore contact. but if they don't come to see their kids for more than two months, yang is fororced to infm the city government. the social welfare department considers these children as being abandoned. they first move them to a children's nursing home. from there they decide whether to send them to an orphanage or pu them up for adoption. she's seen 40 children takenen away by the social welfare department. they never return to harmony home. this day was the day for a

monthly health checkup for the children. doctors and nurses check the condition of 150 young residents. it's a comprehensive examination. the medics look for sore throats, inflamed ears, abnormalities in the hearts and lungs. or malfunctioning joints. taipei city started sending doctors and nurses a year ago. the local government is covering the cost. the city government issues a health handbook for each child. the handbook means they can get vaccinated just like other children in taiwan.

part of handbook is translated into indonesian. it's a valuable resource for the mothers, but it hasn't solved all the health problems. >> translator: there is not enough space for all the children at harmony home. dishes have to be shared and that makes it easier for infections to develop. some children develop bronchitis or o other respiratory diseases. other children havave skin problems. these conditions require immediate attention from doctors, sometimes hospital treatment. wewe share inforormation with t home t to help improve hygiene therere. >> in order to improve this situation, the city government has made harmony home an offer. it can use a public building. the space is large and the rent is low.

yang plans to move 30 of the youngest children here aged two or under. first renovations are neneeded. the newew home wilill give spacd will have moree toilets and babathrooms, meeting the city's standards for child care facilities. that will allow yang's group to receive subsidies from the city. the renovations take six months. yang is already hard at work raising funds mainly from individual donors and is confident she can hit that target. >> translator: i've always dreamed of running a children's

home recognized by the city government and meeting all the lawful standards. receiving subsisidies will impre the environment for the children even more. >> even though motothers might working ilillegally,y, we need protect the children. migrant women with children don't get the support they need because the system to protect them is incncomplete and l laws not fully enforced. from now on, we, as the administration, need to support and cooperate with harmony home. >> almost every day donations arrive at harmony home. the boxes contain all manner of goods from diapers to home appliances. everything needed to keep the

young r resents clotheded, fed, and happy.y. on this day, the gifts include 500 kilograms of powdered formula, enough to feed the infants for one month. >> translator: she raised the donations to pay for this. >> this is wang eye. she spread the word on social media. more than 200 citizens donated. >> in a show of gratitude, yang is presenting certificates to some of the donors.

>> translator: the red ribbon shows support for hiv carriers. >> a happy child wearing a red ribbon. it's a fitting portrait for harmony home, 30 years of charity and a woman who refuses to turn her back on those most in need. >> translator: i don't think illegally staying mothers put excessive pressure on taiwan's sociciety. besides, sooner or later they will leave taiwan. children are innocent. i want people to give t them ca and affection until they can go home with their mothers. i believe the day will come when harmony home will no longer be needed. ♪

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