Freedom

by: Saturnina De Los Santos Rotelo “ Cute”

Freedom is a controversial word.

I love having the freedom of my own space, my own place. I like doing things on my own terms, and not really having to think about anybody else’s schedule. As a migrant worker, freedom is a word that I’m longing for.

Freedom is word that lots of people want or wish for. Maria is a domestic helper whom I meet in the market, where we talk about what she misses. While we are having tea and prata she tells me about a lot of things that she misses after working in Singapore for many years.

With teary eyes, Maria tells me how she misses eating without having only 15 minutes to finish her food, and eating without someone calling her name to do things before she finishes. She misses the freedom to go sleep after she has finished her work, without having to wait for her boss to finish watching T.V. because she sleeps on the sofa in the living room. The freedom to wake up when she wants to, instead of at 5:00 am every morning as her employer tells her.

Maria misses the freedom of speech, to reason with her employer when there is a misunderstanding, or when she does something not according to her employer’s wishes. She needs to give an explanation, or apology, but ends up verbally abused if she talks back.

Maria misses the freedom to have a whole Sunday off, to go church, unwind with her friends without doing the work first before she leaves the house at 11:00 am and before she goes home at 6:00 pm to work again. She should be happy; some of her friends are not allowed to have a day off.

Freedom for a domestic worker is limited, if she has it at all. Everyone loves freedom, but a lot of people don’t understand the meaning of the word, or refuse to understand it. They let other people suffer, just so they have more freedom themselves.

So my dear migrants what freedoms you are longing for?

             “The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom is courage”