More than just child's play at Dubai's Ritz-Carlton

The Life: Raquel Perez, a Ritz Kids Club attendant, at Ritz-Carlton Dubai, talks about a day in her life and the importance of having friends here to counter homesickness.

Raquel Perez, a kids' club attendant at The Ritz-Carlton Jumeirah, teaches paper crafts to Lisa Rudnikovskaya, 7. Sarah Dea / The National

Raquel Perez is a kids' club attendant at The Ritz-Carlton Jumeirah Beach Residence in Dubai. An accountancy graduate from the Philippines, the 42-year-old mother of two teenagers has been working at the hotel for six years. Here she describes her typical day:
7am
I wake up and pray, followed by stretching. I make some coffee with milk and have cereal and hot milk for breakfast.
9am
I start work and after opening the Kids' Club I make sure it is well organised, accident-free and clean. I check the activity list for the day. For instance, Mondays are our "Beach on the Rock" day and we make sandcastles and try to pick up shells from the beach. We bring the children to the beach area. We are two attendants and sometimes there are unruly children and it is a big problem. We try to talk to them and convince them not to be rude to other children and be friendly. If they are still not convinced we have to call their parents because it is not good for the other children. But we try our best to control them first.
10am
The children start arriving around this time. We explain the policy to the parents and guardians. On an average we have 10 children on a daily basis, though not all at the same time. On Mondays, we do shell painting and go on a nature hunt. We take all the children on a walk around the hotel and pick up falling leaves, for instance, to use for the next activity. If the children are bored, we do some running as children like running. We do not allow the children to eat here for safety and hygiene reasons; we don't want the children's room to smell like a kitchen.
12pm
Parents usually pick up their child for lunch. We have lunch in our employee dining area and get the lunch free from the hotel. I eat cucumber and vegetable salad and some fruits, either bananas, apple or orange with yoghurt. I always drink green tea after lunch. I try to balance my diet for healthier living.
1pm
I go back to the work area. Sometimes the children are still sleeping in their rooms, and when the club is empty I prepare for paper crafts or leather cutting. In the afternoon I make calls to members of the hotel, who can also leave their kids at the club, about when they are bringing their children back to us. Afternoons are not very busy, especially during summer time.
6pm
I get back home to our accommodation in the Gardens in Dubai. I take a short rest and do some exercise or go for a walk. Sometimes I play badminton or go swimming at the facilities in our accommodation. On my day off work, that is Sunday, I chat over the internet or Facebook with my parents and two children. I have a 17-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter. I cannot call every day as it is expensive and Dubai is four hours behind the Philippines. But with them I had experience handling children, and know how to handle them. I love working with children.
8.30pm
I share my apartment with three other girls from the hotel, two Filipinas and one Indonesian. We always cook during dinnertime. We make fish, meat or mixed vegetables and eat together. We also call our friends for dinner and usually it is six or seven of us who eat together. They include Thai, Indian and Kenyan friends. They all work at the same hotel but in different departments. I did not know them before and met them here at work, and we became good friends. Because we are far from our place and country, we need to find friends so that we do not get homesick.
11pm
I pray and go to sleep by 11.30pm.
 
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