Personal experience has spoken to me, as it has to several Africans particularly those working in Arabic countries. This is my second time labouring in an Arabic country as a housemaid. The first experience was its own story, I will thus speak of the current job.
I was excited to work in this specific country because friends always alleged that the pay was way better than the first country I worked in. Their proclamations were soon proven correct when I got there, the pay was indeed better.
Everything was amazing and nice when my job was described to me, so, this, together with the better pay confirmed my choice would be the right one. However, as it is said that good things are short-lived, and we don’t always get what we expect, my excitement and good days ended a few days into my work.
My boss commonly referred to as “madam”, was at first veiled as a nice, cheerful and friendly person, she could support me and engage me in conversations with a smile. So the job was nice for me, for a few days at least.
Albeit, the veil fell off her face soon, way faster than a book page would be turned, this is common for any human. No one will pretend forever. Sooner or perhaps later, the true self gets revealed and that self stays.
Madam turned into a rude person, she was inhumane, treating me indifferently in every way for no reason.
She forbade me to make new friends and deprived me of the freedom to move around even when I wasn’t engaged in any work. Close to everything was taken from me starting with my freedom.
I was treated like a time bomb that is loathed with absolutely no trust at all. Even though I was always seen wherever I went, this was not enough for her, so, she installed cameras in all corners of the house and made it clear to me that they were for me.
This experience was the last I ever expected. I was compelled to act and be extra careful lest my breath or smile occurs louder, or, who knows what normal thing would offend her and throw me in trouble.
Work was not much for me, neither was it hard because we were only four adults in the house. The kind of home that would be a dream for any housemaid to work in. However, I got frustrated and demoralized by the toxicity of my boss. The once nice job became a toxic one.
This experience has taught me that no job is bad, too hard or toxic, but it all depends on how you get treated, plus the relationship you have with your boss. However easy the job may be, a toxic work environment will make it hard, awful, and tiring.
Conclusively, therefore, I beseech the youths, especially Africans, to look not only for nice jobs but nontoxic bosses and work environments. Always know your worth at work, so that if you ever get treated less than you should be, you have the energy to quit if you can. In my case, quitting is not an option as I am contract bound. This should also teach a lesson about which kind of contract agreements we should have with our bosses.
Barbra Mutesi.
Edited By Paul Karamuzi, Denis Wakigiri and Tim Asibuo
