Service Workers

My heart goes out to all of the people that are in this country to strictly do a service for someone.  I came here to do a service, but it was at my own will.  I am not here because I need to do this for my family to survive or because I am paying off a family debt.  I can take days off work and I come and go as I please.  I can't say the same for other service workers (i.e. cleaners and nannies).  This week has been the "tug at Toya's heart" week.

Situation 1: a coworker of mine (disclaimer: this coworker is so sweet and nice and by no means am I trying to make her out to be a bad person) brings her baby to school everyday.  I am not sure why, but he is fun to have around.  His nanny sits with him in our lounge for the duration of our school day.  Our lounge is no fun.  There is no television, one computer, and no snacks.  Therefore, the nanny sits in there alone with the baby all day.  Other than us going in and out, and when the mom checks on the baby, the only source of entertainment she has is her phone.  Talking to this nanny, I found out she is from the Philippines and came here to serve a contract as a nanny.  She left behind her four-year old son. The contract is two years and I have not figured out if she is able to go home while under contract.  When she speaks of her son, she tears up, and states how much she really misses him.  This nanny works seven days a week and does everything for the baby, meanwhile her own child is in another country.  Yesterday I walked into the lounge and saw the nanny looking at her phone, wiping away tears while the baby slept.  I don't do well with situations like this so I tried to ask her if she was ok but she just kept saying yes.  I feel so sorry for her.  Being a nanny is a popular job around here.  My coworker treats her nanny fairly, but I cannot say the same for other people.  In stores, I have witnessed children hitting their nannies or talking back to them.  Meanwhile, the parents act as if it the nanny's sole responsibility to raise and discipline their children.  One of my student's has a nanny that looks to be about 16 years old.  At the beginning of the school year he refused to come into the classroom.  It became her responsibility to console him and sit with him in class so that he felt comfortable.  She also carried hi book bag and was basically there whenever he called.  This is the same child that often holds his bag or trash in the air for me to take.  It turns out that he is really a good kid, but it is not uncommon to be raised with a sense of entitlement in this country.

Situation 2: the cleaner at school is from Africa.  I arrived at work early this morning, and she came into my classroom.  She was on the verge of tears as she told me a story about how they are trying to transfer her because it was reported that she does not do her job.  This is not true at all because she does more than her job.  She moves tables, collects money, carries teacher's bags from the front of the building to their classrooms, and anything else they call her for.  However, she said that one of her coworkers reported something about her, and the supervisor came after school one day to shout at her.  She told me that in her country, they talk to people first, that she can only be herself, and she does not understand why anyone would be so disrespectful.  She told me that she has been crying and praying throughout the night and on the bus ride to school that she can just complete the last six months of her contract so that she can go to a neighboring country (she cannot go home but did not explain why) until she picks up another contract.  I didn't know what to say to her.  I do pray that everything works out for her.  I am not sure why she chose me to talk to, but I am glad I could at least be an ear to listen.

I am not a very emotional person at all but when it comes to children and people I think are being mistreated for no reason, I get really sensitive.  Both of these situations this week made me extremely sad, and I did not know what to do or say in either situation.  My first thought was to cry with them, but what good would that do?  What good is anything I say or do in a situation like this?  That's what makes it even worse......there is nothing I can say or do.  This is the way the system is designed, and the money they make to send home is very important to them.  SMH.