I was patient, but I ran after a year
I came to work because I have family.
I also have children, aged five and seven. I didn’t know anything about the UAE. They just told us that there were jobs and I came with an agency. I had to pay one million Ugandan shillings (Dh994). It was a community loan and interest was 40 per cent every month.
The family I worked for had 11 people. Working hours depended on the time they woke up. You had to be ready for anything. I was in a small village in Al Ain. The family was Egyptian and Emirati. The mother was Egyptian. The man and children were really nice but the madam was terrible. She was the kind of person who could shout for nothing.
I was paid Dh1,000 a month but they could take from this if I broke or dropped anything. I usually got Dh800 or Dh900. I had no phone. They didn’t allow it. I don’t think they will implement the new labour laws for domestics because the Government doesn’t reach inside the house.
If you don’t give a domestic worker a day off, when she wants to run, she will run. I can work from 5am until 10pm and this is no problem if I know that I can sleep at 10pm. But someone cannot just wake you up at 1am. I don’t know what happened to this madam because she was the kind of woman who could not feel happy if she saw you sleeping. I ran after a year. I was patient. I thought it would improve.
The madam took me back to the agent. I spent much time there and the madam did not come back. There, you sleep on the floor. I ran.