A maid's life: Indian woman's heartwarming tale with her Dubai employers

Kamarun Nisha Begum (left) with the family that employers her in Dubai

A maid in Dubai is thanking her lucky stars that she found employment under a family that is taking good care of her. Kamarun Nisha Begum, a 38-year-old from India, was worried about working in the UAE after reading several media reports of maid abuse and no benefits.
However, Begum, now happily working for the Jain family for the past three years, is more than relieved that she decided to work in the country. Luckily for Begum, she was already receiving listed benefits when she started working for the Jain family in Bur Dubai two and a half years ago. She works for Veathika Jain, her husband and their two sons.
"I wake up at 6.30am and make breakfast for the kids and pack their lunchboxes. After that, I make breakfast for the parents. When they leave, I do the cleaning and cooking. By 12 pm, I'm free and can relax," she said.
The kids come back home from school about 3.30pm - at 2.30pm during Ramadan - and Begum has their snacks ready and spends time with them. "I give them snacks if they're hungry and put their lunchboxes away. After that, I'm free again and wait for dinner," Begum said.
Dinner at the Jain household ends at about 8pm, meaning she gets off the clock for the day. The next day, she wakes up at 6.30am again to prepare breakfast. Fridays are her day off and she receives 30 days off as part of her annual leave.
Veathika Jain said that Begum's expenses for food, toiletries, accommodation, hospital bills and airplane tickets for her annual leave are all taken care of by the family. "In April, she got really sick. We have given her insurance and we also took her to the hospital to get her treated. After her treatment, we gave her two weeks off to rest," Jain said. "She also took her 30-day annual leave afterward in India, which was fine with us.
"She has a lot of time off in between the day where she can rest. We are perfectly fine with that. She's been with us for a long time and we want to keep her."
Begum hopes that other maids also find employers who look after their needs. "I left my family to come work in this country. I miss them but working here makes me feel better because these people feel like my own. I like spending time with the kids," Begum said. "I hope all maids here can find good employers. But, this new law to help housemaids will help ensure that all employers are good to their maids. I think it will help a lot."
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com