UAE | Employment
Filipina still looking for an elusive dream in the UAE
Since she came to the UAE in 2006, Rose has been picking up the pieces of her shattered hopes. Now, eight bosses later, she keeps hoping her day will arrive.
- By Marie Magleby, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 00:04 June 28, 2008
- Image Credit: Illustration: Seyyed de La Llata/Gulf News
Abu Dhabi: Since she came to the UAE in 2006, Rose has been picking up the pieces of her shattered hopes. Now, eight bosses later, she keeps hoping her day will arrive.
Rose arrived in the UAE with a visit visa after years of working in the Philippines and Saudi Arabia. She could have signed on with an agency in the Philippines to guarantee a job, but she had already been through a series of unfortunate events and preferred to take no risks. She wanted to meet her sponsor before signing.
She refers to most of her employers as bosses, not sponsors, because only one of them sponsored an employment visa for her.
The others sent her to Kish Island, Iran, every couple of months to return as a visitor, or the employment didn't last long enough to worry about it.
Hardships
Rose's never-ending job search has been laced with physical and emotional hardships, too. She was weary and in tears as she recounted her experiences.
She was sexually harassed more than once. She got an ulcer when she worked long hours and her sponsors did not provide enough food. Some sponsors provided no food at all, and two of her bosses never paid her a single dirham for her work.
Finally, in October 2007, she thought she landed a good job. Although her salary would be Dh200 less than the minimum, her new sponsor offered all benefits, and promised to pay her extra for looking after the two children.
But when it came time to sign the contract, she did not even get a chance to read it. "'Make it fast, we have to go'," she recalls her sponsor saying. She could only hope for the best.
Seven months later, she points to a scar on her face as she describes the children scratching her and pulling her hair. She worked more than her fair share of hours to satisfy her sponsor's demands.
She looked after the children until late into the night and woke up early to cook breakfast each day. She even used her experience as a nursing assistant to care for the family's medical needs, but never received the promised compensation.
Then, her sponsor gave her two weeks notice of an unexpected transfer and she was left jobless again. Rose values dignity more than money, which is why she is careful to choose her sponsor even if it means compromising her salary. "Dignity is important to me," she said.
On the job hunt again, Rose hopes that luck is on her side. When she regains control of her own affairs, she hopes to find a way to help other housemaids in similar situations.
"I really want to have an organisation to help the housemaids," she said. "I can help other housemaids and share my experience."
Marie Magleby is a journalist based in Abu Dhabi
Share this article
Related Articles
More from UAE Employment
More from UAE
Popular in UAE
-
Your pictures
Readers' pictures
The best reader pictures from around the UAE this week
Latest news
- DMA looks to infrastructure development
- Haj pilgrims from UAE get quality services
- There's something to sing and dance about in Sonapur
- Local students shine at Dubai media awards
- Charity trek to frozen heights raises Dh180,000
- Parents want pupils dropped off inside schools
- Community event to salute selfless citizens
- Time to properly deal with waste
- Focus on Guggenheim: Abu Dhabi keeps art lovers hooked
- Holidaymakers in UAE make a beeline to deserts during the cool season
- Five months later, same driver, same queue
- Metro has carried nearly 3m people
- Road work delay jams Deira
- Internet blamed for reading habit decline
- Youngsters arrested for violating decency laws
Community Reports
-
Keeping out curious cats in Abu Dhabi
Felines trapped in electrical substations create a nuisance
-
Construction site turned into dump
Sharjah residents using abandoned spot to dispose of waste
-
Stop disregarding road rules
Gulf News reader calls on authorities to curb reckless driving during rush hours in Mussafah industrial area underpass
-
Public transport is the way to go
Residents must stop complaining about feeder buses taking up parking space
