All for a cause

Marietta Dias, head of Action Committee of Bahrain Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS), Kingdom of Bahrain.

I tell people the reason I do this work is because I know that the migrant workers we help are unskilled and have no idea about the nature of their jobs.

My mother, Margaret, was a Malayali and father, Sohrab Khushro, was a Parsi. They were very formal in their own ways. I am their only daughter.

I had a very happy childhood. I studied at St Joseph's Convent in Bangalore and graduated in 1960. Though I was a good student, my parents couldn't afford to send me to college.

My upbringing was such that we were taught values both in school and at home. We grew up to respect everybody. Back then there weren't terms like 'human rights' or 'anti-trafficking'. I believe life always gives you the opportunity to treat people in a fair manner.

As the head of the Action Committee of Bahrain Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS), I was among the 12 activists selected worldwide by the US for exceptional commitment in fighting human trafficking.

As a Bahraini passport holder with Indian roots, my life post-retirement is dedicated to improving the lives of migrant workers.

My life in Bahrain

I met my husband, Bernard Dias, now 75, in Bangalore, India. We married in 1964. Bernard and his family all hold Bahraini passports as his family had relocated to Bahrain from Bangalore in 1919. As his wife, I am also privileged to hold a Bahraini passport. Bernard and his siblings were
all born here. So did our two sons and daughter – Francis, James and Sabrina.

Work and retirement

I ran a nursery for about a year and then in 1967, I joined Gulf Air. Subsequently, I was transferred to Bahrain Royal Flight in 1985 and worked there until retirement in 2003.

After that, I worked briefly as an administrator in a company but gave it up after six months to join MWPS. (Bernard retired in 1999.)

About the MWPS

The MWPS is the first society of its kind in the region to be registered formally and acknowledged by the government of Bahrain. At times, we are invited overseas by embassies or organisations like the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) which has its regional office in Cairo. They conduct seminars and training sessions related to the field.

The latest seminar was on anti-trafficking and shelter management. These are the issues that NGOs like myself and others deal with. In Bahrain, half the migrant workers are unskilled and have no idea about the nature of their jobs. In the past three years alone, 250 women have been sent back to their native countries after being maltreated in terms of remuneration or because of physical or mental harassment.
Being able to deal with people in such situations calls for certain skills.

I don't always expect everything to be smooth sailing, but I am glad that I receive plenty of cooperation from the people I deal with. Having lived here for a very long time, I know what to expect and how far to push. This is very important to achieve positive results.

My homeland

At times, I feel bad because I haven't been able to maintain ties with India. The circumstances weren't right for me as my husband's family had very little connection with India.

I don't go to India very often but I keep hearing that the economy is doing very well. From the little interaction I enjoy with Indians it seems to me that the country has progressed a lot in the past few decades.

My family

My son Francis passed away in 2006 after suffering from Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI). The condition, also known as Brittle Bone Disease, is a genetic disorder characterised by bones that break easily, often from little or no apparent cause, and where the patient may have just a few or as many as several hundred fractures in a lifetime.

Though he was wheelchair-bound and suffered more than 150 fractures on his hands and legs, he was always a very positive and happy person. Despite being unable to attend any formal school due to his condition, he was a self-taught individual. He worked for the Yellow Pages for 12 years.

My other son James is married and has two children, and they are settled in the US. My daughter Sabrina lives
in Bahrain with her husband and daughter. We are fortunate in that we are a very close-knit family.

My children are proud of my work and have always been
supportive and encouraging. My daughter would often comment that she and her brothers had to "give up their beds". This was because I would turn my home into a shelter for the workers.

Snapshot
My proudest moment was when I was recognised as one of 12 international "heroes" for my "exceptional commitment" to fighting human trafficking by the eighth annual United States State Department "Traffic In Person" (TIP) this year.

– As told to Andrew Rodrigues, a freelance writer based in Bahrain