and it goes on and on and on

Dh50 is all she is paid for 18 months’ work

7 January 2011, AJMAN — After 18 months of hectic work as a housemaid in a family of 11 people including a handicapped teenager, Zaina Kidani was at relief to go home.

At the airport, when she was handed over an envelope containing her salary for all these months, she was more than happy. But it lasted only till she opened it. Kidani received a meagre Dh50 note for serving the stateless citizen’s (Bedoun) family in Ajman.

The 26-year-old Ethiopian maid was recruited through an agency by the family. She was taking care of all the domestic work for the family, including nursing the 17-year-old handicapped son of her sponsor, who can’t take care of himself.

“They decided to send me home after I fell very ill and was unable to do the household work,” said a totally shattered Zaina Kidani.

While leaving, her sponsor said his son would give her salary at the airport. After dropping her at the airport, the sponsor’s son handed over an envelope and told her not to open it till she entered the flight.

“He told me to open it on the flight. But another maid from my country who works in a house near to the one I worked had accompanied me to the airport. She asked me to open the envelope before checking in. When I opened it, there was just Dh50. I then decided not to travel,” said Kidani.

It was harder for her when she returned to her sponsor. “My sponsor and his children beat both of us up and hurt my friend. They blamed her for not letting me travel with Dh50. A neighbour called the police after hearing us screaming and begging for help.”

Kidani and her friend were taken to the police station by the police patrol team. She is worried about her future now. “I have my flight ticket with me but haven’t got the salary. I am scared to go to them. If I don’t go, they would report me absconded,” she said. Kidani, who stays with a friend now, is planning to move legally to get her salary.

An official at Al Madeen police station in Ajman said that they had received a call last week about the maid being beaten up. The police team took the maid and her friend to the police station. The sponsor of the maid denied beating her and her friend up. Both the maids were sent for medical checkup to determine the physical abuse on them, the official clarified.