Job Discussion Forums

[Imdramayu]

Did you read this in the Saudi Gazette...? I'm hoping to hire a housemaid in Saudi. I hope I don't p*ss her off and she p*sses in my coffee. According to Wikipedia, "Urine Therapy" is becoming popular so maybe the housemaids were actually helping her sponsor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urine_therapy

Maids jailed for spiking tea

By Adnan Al-Shabrawi
JEDDAH � Two housemaids were sentenced to four-month imprisonment and 250 lashes each for polluting the tea of their sponsor with urine and menstruation blood. The District Court in Jeddah issued the verdict against the Filipina and the Indonesian housemaids. The female sponsor felt abdominal pain and disturbances after taking the tea. She went to a hospital where tests proved that she had microbes. One of the two housemaids admitted urinating in the tea and polluting it further with menstruation blood. The police have referred the case to the Commission for Investigation and Prosecution. � Okaz

[johnslat]

Considering the way far too many housemaids are treated there, I wouldn't be surprised if LOTS of families got some "extras" in their tea and other consumables.

[caballo]

Amnesty International's annual report on human rights in Saudi Arabia paints a very bleak picture. One area cited by Amnesty in its report is the treatment of migrant morkers. It notes that domestic servants are routinely unpaid and mistreated-both physically and mentally-by their Saudi employers. In fact, I heard of such mistreatment on the Saad Group compound where I lived. One Filipina told me that she had no off days and was not allowed to socialize with people at the compound. It is sad that domestic servants in Saudi Arabia are habitually mistreated and are without means of redress.

[Imdramayu]

Shall I say the below and open a hornet's nest? I say this from experience with sponsoring two housemaids in my previous Gulf home.

I agree that housemaids are poorly treated. If the madam can't work and stays home all day, she may vent on the housemaid. What with wasta and the housemaids low standing, she has to grin and bear it. So I mostly agree with caballo (except about the issue of socializing, days off, and outside freedom).

Believe it or not, sponsors do need to protect themselves (and housemaids) from negative outside pressure. A lot of time off, freedom, and socializing with other housemaids can help the housemaid b/c it provides an informal communication link and a way to relax. But it can open her up to meeting the wrong sort of people and getting involved in illegal/immoral activities. She could end up hearing about other people's situations, salaries and thus start comparing her own and feeling more miserable and complaining more. Or, she could see a lucrative activity and try to get it. This happened with our first housemaid. We gave her lots of freetime. She went and met the wrong people and ended up having two boyfriends, using our home to sleep with her boyfriends (when we were on vacation), then running away. With our second (current) housemaid, we didn't encourage as much socializing with others (until we feel we could trust her). Now we do so we introduce her to people from her own country.

Why do we have to meddle in her private life? This isn't Kansas. The sponsorship laws are different than they are in Canada/US. The sponsor is held responsible for the person's bad behaviour of the person who we are sponsoring. Until the laws change, sponsors have to keep a close eye on the people who they sponsor.

[scot47]

If someone peed in my tea I would want them lashed . A question of justice !

[veiledsentiments]

Ah but Scot... the question is what did you do to her to make her pee in your tea (gee... I'm a poet...)

This is similar to the fact that one should always be polite to one's waiter in a restaurant. Having them spit in your food is not an urban legend.

VS

[mistral]

I remember the old bag next door really "pissed" me off when I was a lad. Determined to to something, I sneaked into her back kitchen and peed in her iron! She managed to tie-dye her hubby's white shirts.

How come this topic got on Dave's Cafe? Must be the silly season.

[Imdramayu]

It's my doing, mistral, for starting all this silly talk about peeing and pissing people off. I just couldn't resist. Would threads like this attract or repel potential ESLers from working in KSA?

I'm glad nobody responded to my speech about housemaids in KSA.
Let's let sleeping dogs lie.

I remember peeing off Eaton's Centre highrise parking lot onto the sidewalk below when I was a teenager. I hit a flower seller's display and a bald guy. It was so funny. Now I look back and think.....WOW!

[Arab Strap]

[Mia Xanthi]

I think you're being too hard on baedaebok. He sponsored these employees, and thus he is responsible for what they do.

Most EFL teachers are completely unfamiliar with having live-in housemaids because it is something we could never afford back home. Usually it is the case that an EFL teacher bends over backwards to accommodate the needs of a household employee. Sometimes because of that, the employee takes advantage of the employer. It happens all the time, in any employer/employee situation. It just sounds to me like he was being cautious the second time around. He was not treating his housemaid as a lesser human being.

[Imdramayu]

Yes, thanks Mia, that is indeed the picture as it stands now. We like our new housemaid so much that we are going to try to arrange a visa for her to come and work for us while in KSA.