Dubai: Elisabeth, 37, works as a maid in Dubai. A Kenyan mum with three children back home, she recalls how her alcoholic husband abused them all — both mentally and physically, until she decided to part ways and migrate to Dubai. Today, she takes comfort in the fact that she can send her kids, who are in the safe custody of her sister, to school, while she herself dreams about finishing a course in cutting lenses for optical glasses, so she can make a life-long income out of it.
Long way
Sri Lankan Anu is also a 37-year-old maid who has come a long way. Back home in Colombo, she suffered at the hands of an abusive husband who dumped her and their two children. “In my heart, I die a thousand times a day because I am away from my children, but I need to be here to provide for them,” she said, even as she boasted about her daughter doing well and winning awards at school. She also feels blessed that she has built a new home for them after it was destroyed in a flood.
Like Elisabeth and Anu, five other domestic workers from Dubai with similar stories to tell have become the talk of town after an unlikely project at Gulf Photo Plus in Alserkal Avenue at Al Quoz recently put them in the spotlight.
Thanks to communications firm FleishmanHillard Middle East and the Sameness Project, a social initiative, these women were part of a project called Soles & Stories that was conceptualised to mark FleishmanHillard’s 70th anniversary, culminating in the Gulf Photo Plus exhibition.
As Camellia Bojtor of FleishmanHillard explained, “The seven domestic workers from the Philippines, Kenya and Sri Lanka were provided a pair of shoes to design as a creative outlet for their self-expression, to tell their hopes, dreams, joys and pains. Their works of art were displayed alongside their portraits shot by acclaimed Emirati photographer Amani Shali. The items were sold with proceeds going to the maids, who then generously pledged to donate part of the funds to the Dubai Women’s and Children’s Foundation.”
She said each worker was given a plain pair of shoes and they were free to depict their lives in the manner they thought fit. The outcome was revealing. For example, the shoes painted by Evelyn, a 41-year-old nanny, tellingly captured the ups and downs of her life. A Filipina mum of three, she was forced to leave home in search of a job as her husband was up to no good. Ten years on, she is happy that she has been able to educate her children who appreciate her sacrifice and hard work, while she herself is pursuing courses in art and photography in her free time.
“I painted a part of a girl’s face and a butterfly on one shoe as I found my true colours like a butterfly. I also portrayed the family with whom I am working now as they mean a lot to me. On the other shoe, I showed a girl’s hands holding a broken heart, which reflected the pain of my past,” said Evelyn.
The stories of the other maids are equally touching. Filipina Rose, 39, who lost her father when she was four and grew up in abject poverty; Kenyan Helen, 32, who still cannot forgive her father because he remarried after which she had to drop out of university; 50-year-old Disna from Sri Lanka, whose husband left her and her two kids; and Maya, 37, from the Philippines who is sweating out here so her mother can put food on the table. But as these women eke out a living in Dubai, their lives have seen a turnaround, infusing a sense of purpose and confidence in them. “It was so good to be at the exhibition. Everybody was looking at us and talking to us. I’ve never felt so important in my life before,” said Anu.
