she misses her

It’s been about a month since Juliet left us. Thankfully, we didn’t have to suffer that much for long because Mama was here, and less than a week after that stressful day, our new nanny joined us. So far, we haven’t encountered any problems with the new nanny. Actually, we’ve known her for a few years already because her previous 2 employers were our members in our CFC and KFC households, so basically we know we can rely on her to take good care of our girls. Fingers crossed that she’ll stay with us a long time.

However, this post isn’t about our new nanny. This is about what happened last night.

All of us were in bed (Caila, me, Sophie and Hubby…in that order) and the lights were already out. Sophie and Hubby were already fast asleep and I was already dozing off. Suddenly, I heard a sniffle beside me, and to my shock it seemed my eldest daughter was crying. When I asked her why she was sad, her sniffles grew louder. I was afraid it would wake up the little one, so I pulled her near to me, gave her a hug and gently asked her again. In between sobs, she answered “I want Yaya Juliet.”

Oh shoot! I did not see that coming.

So I said the only thing that I could think of. I told her “Anak, di ba Yaya Juliet went away? She didn’t say goodbye and I don’t know her number. Maybe she went back home or she went to see her friends.”

Still, she told me sadly “I want Yaya Juliet. I miss her.”

Augh! “Di ba you like your new yaya? Sabi mo nga sa kanya the other day na love mo sya.”

She shook her head and answered “No, I want Yaya Juliet.”

This went on over and over until I didn’t know what else to say to take her sadness away.

Finally, I just kissed her forehead, wiped her tears and said “Shh…it’s going to be ok” while embracing her tightly. Caila became quiet after that until she finally fell asleep, either from crying or from sleepiness or both.

I really don’t know what to make of what happened. Caila never did that when Ate Cel left, and Ate Cel was her nanny for more than 3 years whereas Juliet was with us for just 7 months. I’m guessing it’s because Juliet treated her more like a playmate than a ward, and whatever Caila wanted (or didn’t want to do), Juliet just let her be. Ate Cel, on the other hand, was more authoritative and wouldn’t let Caila fool around.

Haaaaaaayyy!

has your maid absconded? (part 2)

In my earlier post, I didn’t explain how we cancelled Juliet’s visa and reported her as absconding at the Immigration Department. I hope none of you have to go through what we did, but just in case you do and you don’t know how to go about it, here’s what we did:

Visa Cancellation
At one of the typing centres at DNRD (the one located along Trade Centre Road), I informed one of the typists that we wanted to cancel our maid’s visa. He asked me to give him the following:
     • Maid’s original passport
     • My husband’s passport and visa copy (because he’s the sponsor)
     • Dhs100
After a few minutes, the man gave me the documents with the typed form, Hubby signed the indicated space at the bottom, and we headed to Hall 2 of the Immigration building. Hubby showed the papers to the man at the counter, who then gave him a number token, and waited. Once his number flashed on the screen, Hubby went to the designated counter and gave all the documents to the officer. The officer looked through the papers, scanned the barcode of the typed form, stamped CANCELLED on Juliet’s visa, and gave the original passport and 2 printed Cancellation papers to Hubby. That’s it.

Absconding Report
At the same typing centre at DNRD, I told the typist that our maid ran away and that we had cancelled her visa the day before. He asked me where we lived, when she ran away, and what was the sponsor’s (Hubby) mobile number. Then I gave him the following:
     • Maid’s original passport
     • My husband’s passport and visa copy
     • One of the printed Cancellation papers that the Immigration officer gave us last night
     • Dhs22
After giving me the typed form, the typist told me to proceed to Hall 15 (the building opposite the Commercial Bank of Dubai). Upon entering, we went to the Customer Service desk. The officer told Hubby to sign on the form, scribbled on the paper, and told us to pay Dhs360 at the counter just opposite his desk. The payment was for Deportation Fees (Dhs230) and Absconding Application Fees (Dhs130). Having done the payment and getting the sticker receipts, we went back to the Customer Service desk where the officer took the receipts and stuck them on the form, took Juliet’s original passport, and gave us a printed paper with some information that said Absconding at the top. We were then told that if she returns or if we see her again, we are to immediately take her to the nearest Police Station for them to handle. As for the Dhs2,000 security deposit that we had paid when we applied for her Employment Visa, we’ll only be able to get that back if and when she leaves the country.

Some of you are probably wondering if Juliet returned or if we’ve received any news as to where she is now. Well, she hasn’t gone back to the apartment. But from what I’ve heard, she went to POLO-OWWA yesterday and that’s where she is now. If she’s there, the UAE government cannot do anything because those who seek refuge at the Philippine Consulate and the POLO-OWWA are protected by the Philippine government and its laws.

Oh well. It’s her life and she’s old enough to know the consequences of what her actions would be. Good luck to her, wherever she is now.

has your maid absconded? (part 1)

Obviously, ours has, otherwise I wouldn't be posting this.  And here’s how it happened...

Last Monday, Hubby and I went to the Immigration Department to cancel Juliet’s visa. After almost 7 months, we had had enough of her attitude, forgetfulness, and plain stupidity to put up with her any longer. She may have been hardworking, but she was not someone we could rely on to take full care of our children while we were at work. So as I was saying, we cancelled her visa and we informed her that she would be flying back to the Philippines on Friday night.

As you can expect, Juliet was upset and shocked at our sudden decision. However, since she had told us more than a month ago that she wanted to quit (she stayed because we asked her to and we told her that if she really wanted to leave, she would have to return to us half of the money we had spent for her visas and ticket to enter the country), we thought that she’d be relieved at least.

Yesterday morning on my way to work, I received a call from Mama saying that it seemed Juliet had run away. Only her (packed and locked) suitcase and a bag of laundry was left of her stuff. She didn’t tell Mama that she was going out or anything. Mama just suddenly noticed that she wasn’t in the apartment and that most of her things were gone. I immediately informed Hubby, and then I tried to call Juliet’s number. It was switched off. After several tries throughout the morning, it finally rang. She answered but she didn’t say anything, just listened. I started talking, telling her that she needed to go back to the apartment. She ended the call. I called again, but it just kept ringing. And then after a few more tries, the phone was switched off. Several minutes later, I called and it rang. Again she answered without saying anything. I was really angry by then so I practically shouted at her and threatened her that if she didn’t return, we would go to the police, Immigration and the Philippine Consulate to report what she did. After my outburst, she ended the call. Instead of calling her back, I just sent her an SMS repeating what I just told her.

After that, I called Juliet’s sister in the Philippines. She had no idea that we had cancelled Juliet’s visa nor had they spoken recently. Naturally, she was shocked, disappointed and embarrassed when I told her what her sister did. She kept apologizing on her sister’s behalf. Even after the call, she sent me a very long SMS to apologize, and practically begging me not to hurt her sister if she returns. I assured her that we wouldn’t, and we would let her know if Juliet did go back to the apartment.

Sometime later, Hubby called. He said that all the people he spoke with advised him to report what happened to the authorities to clear his name. We may have cancelled her visa already, but if she’s still in the country and if something happens to her or if she gets caught doing anything illegal, Juliet is still his responsibility because he is her sponsor. He immediately went home to get her documents, and went to the Police, the POLO-OWWA office, and the Ministry of Labour. It was at the MOL where someone told him that since her visa was already cancelled, he had to go to Immigration. Hubby was already getting agitated at the situation and having to go to all these offices. Fortunately, when I explained the situation to my manager, he quickly understood and let me leave work early. So at 2:45pm, Hubby and I were on our way to the Immigration Department. On the way, he told me that he had called a couple of Juliet’s friends (numbers that we got from her mobile phone). All of them denied speaking to her and/or seeing her recently. Not at all convinced that they were telling the truth, he made sure they knew we were going to report her as absconding, and if caught, the person or people who helped her would be liable and charged accordingly.

Upon arriving at Immigration, we went to one of the typing centres, explained what happened, and gave them what they needed. After a while, they gave me the paper with the attachments and pointed where we needed to go.  We went to the hall, gave the documents to the officer, paid some money, and handed over our absonding maid's passport.  As soon as we left DNRD, we both let out sighs of relief, knowing that in spite of everything, our family was safe and our names were cleared if anything happens to the lady we hired from Minalin, Pampanga.

absconding

out with the old, in with the new (part 3)

No, we didn’t buy something this time, but we did have to shell out a lot of money (and still have to because the entire process hasn’t been completed yet). After I gave birth last September, Ate Marycel told us that she wasn’t going to renew her contract anymore and she would only be with us until her contract ended. When we asked why, she simply said that her sons and husband were asking her to go back to the Philippines. For that reason, we didn’t ask her to stay simply because family is always the first priority; they need her more than we need her.

renewing our nanny’s visa

Unlike the normal residence visas issued to employees of companies which are valid for 2 or 3 years, the visas of maids and nannies in the UAE whose sponsors are expats are only valid for 1 year. And even though there’s a grace period of one month to renew a UAE Residence Visa after it expires, we decided to process the renewal of Ate Cel’s visa as soon as possible to avoid anything that might cause problems.

ta-ta yaya cha-cha

Last Saturday, after just 6 weeks with us, we let Yaya go (by mutual agreement). It was a tough decision to make coz there were many factors that we had to consider like who would take care of Caila while we’re at work, the large amount of money we had to pay for her 2-year visa, and so many other things. But if letting go of her would put a stop to the constant harassment we were getting from her local sponsor, then that’s what we had to do.

We had been on a rollercoaster ride of emotions for 2 weeks, and it became worse this past weekend, so finally, we decided to cut our ties with her. Anyway, she’s strong and we know that she has friends who can help her out more than we can help her. As long as our family is safe and we have our peace of mind back, that’s what’s important.

Unfortunately, because of this, hubby and I had to make a decision...and like all parents, it’s definitely going to be very difficult for us to do.