The face of Filipina housemaid Desiree Condino lights up when she recalls the first baby she ever looked after in the UAE, more than nine years ago. Condino, 38, joined an Egyptian family when the mother was seven months pregnant. “Baby Youssef was born into my hands,” she says. “I took care of him a lot. It was so hard for me to say goodbye.”
Condino, a single mother with a 16-year-old daughter back home in Manila, left that job five years ago to work for an Emirati family. But unusually, she’s still in contact with Youssef and his parents on Facebook, and still visits their home occasionally. “When Youssef sees me, he hugs me and says: ‘You can come back here, Tata.’ They call me Tata. I cannot go back because they have a different life now, but I’m so happy that I’m still in communication with him. That’s very important to me.”
Condino’s most recent employers agreed to cancel her visa a few weeks ago, and now Condino has only limited time to find a new employer before she has to return to the Philippines.
Condino nervously clasps a laminated piece of paper in her hand with the number five on it. It’s a Friday morning in a lounge of the Dome@Rawdhat community facility in Abu Dhabi, where Condino is attending a “speed-interviewing” event, which has been organised to take some of the stress, and time, out of finding the right maid for a full-time position. When Condino’s number is called, she will be interviewed by a series of mothers hoping that she will tick all (or at least most) of the boxes on their home-help wishlist. The mothers have each paid Dh250 to the event’s organiser, Gina Dillon from Texas, for the opportunity to meet about 20 maids during the two-hour session.
“I thought holding these events might solve the issue of housemaids not turning up to interviews because they’re afraid to go alone or of getting lost on the way,” Dillon says. She also runs the Facebook group UAE Housemaids, which has more than 15,000 members. “A lot of sponsors bring their kids along too, so the maids have a chance to meet multiple families and they don’t have to accept the first offer that comes to them. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
This is the third fortnightly event Dillon has held since August, and she also has plans to hold sessions in Dubai. The next session is today in Abu Dhabi.
The concept works in similar fashion to Western-style speed dating. When their number is called, each maid gets two minutes to dazzle each potential sponsor. At the end, three maids are shortlisted by each sponsor to go on to a second interview at their family home, assuming the chosen maids agree.
Hiring home help can be a gamble, as Dillon, 51, knows only too well. When she arrived in Abu Dhabi four years ago, she hired a maid to help with household chores and to occasionally babysit her son, now 12. After three months, Dillon’s maid returned to her home country to look after her ill father, and Dillon and her husband lost their Dh6,000 visa deposit. Dillon’s next hire was also sent home, but not before stealing US$10,000 (Dh36,732) of jewellery. “When she’d been gone for three months, my son realised his iPod was also missing,” she recalls. “I hadn’t wanted to live a life where I have to lock things up. I wanted to be able to trust my maid.”
The incident prompted Dillon to set up the UAE Housemaids Facebook group in 2013, not only to match-make maids with potential sponsors, but also for UAE residents to post their domestic dilemmas to gauge public opinion. “Having a maid is not something that most expats coming to the UAE are familiar with, so they don’t always know how to behave appropriately or the legal processes involved,” says Dillon.
The most common questions posted to the group are about salaries. “There are currently restrictions on agencies bringing in new housemaids from the Philippines, so we’re just recirculating the housemaids who are already here,” says Dillon. “That means the housemaids are more demanding now when it comes to salary, and families here aren’t used to that.”
The minimum monthly salary is Dh1,500, with most maids now expecting Dh2,000 or more, according to Dillon. She says it can go as high as Dh5,000 for a highly qualified “house manager”.
A new report by MoveSouq.com found that the annual cost of hiring a maid is at least Dh32,000, once insurance, annual flights and sponsorship costs are factored in. There are other considerations, such as the time and correct procedures to ensure the hiring is legal. The steps include a trip to a typing centre for the initial visa application, submission of the application to the immigration department and payment of a deposit, medical check-up, obtaining an Emirates ID card, filling in the labour contract, and finally, back to immigration for the final residency visa. The process typically takes 30 to 60 days.
Dillon believes that living and working conditions for maids have improved in recent years. “I think because it’s harder to hire housemaids now: the maid is more valued, and people then treat them better,” she says.
One mum attending Dillon’s event is Kate Ross, a Dutch expat who moved to the UAE two weeks ago with her husband, their children, ages 6 and 8, and a golden retriever called Max.
“I don’t like cleaning at all,” she admits. “And there is much more of a need for domestic help in the UAE because cleaning takes longer than back home. We have a five-bedroom house with a pool here, and I’m already stressing about the dust, which seems to get everywhere. And we have these light tiles on which you see everything. Now I have kids running into the house with sand on their feet, and a wet dog.”
During the interviews, Ross quizzes the maids on how they are with dogs. “Max is friendly, but he’s big, and I need somebody I can leave him with.” Ross says that the maid she’s looking for is at least 35 and not afraid to assert discipline when needed. “I want someone who can tell the kids off when they’re jumping on the sofa,” she says.
Ross calls out for maid number five, Condino, to come forward. Condino tells her she has experience in babysitting, cleaning and cooking, “but my ironing is not perfect”, she admits. Ross appreciates her honestly. “Ironing is important, but if that’s the only thing I have to worry about, I’m happy,” she says.
A succeessful ending
Lydia Brow, who is from Ireland, had never had a maid before. But with a 4-year-old daughter and a baby due in two months, Brow’s husband persuaded her that now would be a good time to get some extra help around their apartment, next to Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi. Brow attended two of Gina Dillon’s “speed-recruiting” events, interviewed more than 30 ladies and eventually settled on Maricris Deslate, 40, from the Philippines.
“We’re still getting to know each other, but I think she’s a catch,” says Brow. She was impressed by Deslate’s willingness to engage with Brow’s daughter during the interview. “Unlike most of the other maids we interviewed, Maricris instantly spoke to my daughter. She seemed very enthusiastic, her English was good, she was polite – and since then, she’s fitted in with us very well.”
Like the majority of maids who’ve attended the speed-interviewing events – perhaps reflecting a growing trend – Deslate is a “live-out” maid, who pays for her own accommodation. Brow says: “Maricris has a cousin here, so she values her freedom, and we don’t have a suitable bedroom for her anyway.”
Brow admits her family back home consider her “extremely lucky” to have somebody come six days a week to help with the chores. “I’m getting more help than I could ever have dreamt of at home,” she says. “But it’s a bit strange getting used to not having to do housework.” As an artist, Brow plans to use her newfound free time to fire up her creative juices again. “I’m going to try to get back into painting, because I’ve got time to focus on what I really enjoy doing now.”
Brow admits that hiring Deslate has been a big adjustment for her daughter. “She wasn’t used to having anyone else in the house other than me, but Maricris has taken the time to sit down and play with her, and they’re slowly building up a bond.”
Brow is trying to appreciate the extra help she’s getting, without becoming too spoilt. “Maricris is so keen to help me, but I have to tell her she doesn’t need to carry 12 shopping bags while I carry nothing. My daughter still needs to carry her own lunch bag and pick up her toys. I’m still the mum, and it’s important for me to spend time with my daughter.”
Another “speed-interviewing” event will be held on Friday, October 14 at 3pm at the Dome@Rawdhat community facility in Abu Dhabi. For more information, visit the UAE Housemaids page on Facebook.
weekend@thenational.ae
