Studying The Sudanese Woman Of Egypt English Literature Essay
Most Sudanese adult female arrive in Egypt as refugees anticipating that the Muslim state will supply them with possibilities to happen a occupation, ain belongings, have a good life and most significantly, to get away the war in their place state. They arrive with marketable accomplishments, as their function as adult females in Sudan requires them to cook, clean and attention for kids ; hence, they are able to happen work as domestic retainers in the informal economic system. Arguably, such work pays them plenty to back up their households and this will authorise them. However, due to mistreatments, racial favoritisms, economic life criterions, and the fact that there is no room for promotion this sort of work, Sudanese adult female are in fact enslaved by informal economic system.
Sudanese adult female are in world enslaved instead than empowered for several grounds. The most important illustration is that informal economic system will forestall them from of all time happening or developing for a calling that they are passionate about. Unlike a individual who works at a company who has the opportunity to turn out themselves better and acquire promoted to a higher place by clip. Unfortunately, cooking and cleaning houses will non take to a publicity as the occupation does non necessitate a Sudanese adult female to turn out her intelligence by clip.
Another major ground that defines the captivity of Sudanese adult female in the informal economic system is that they do non hold medical insurance or a contract with the house proprietor to guarantee that they are protected in instance of an exigency. On the other manus, a adult female who works for a company and gets pregnant has the right to hold a pregnancy leave without the menace of acquiring fired or else it would be against the jurisprudence. Furthermore, a police officer who gets injured during a offense scene will seek medical wellness attention through governmental assistance. The informal economic system does non supply such advantages. A Sudanese adult female who works as a maidservant and decides to acquire pregnant can easy acquire fired because employers will recognize that gestation will maintain her from long hours of difficult work, and besides find it really easy to replace her.
In add-on, a house proprietor can reject giving medical aid to a amah who burned herself while cooking on a hot range. Besides, a individual who works at a bank is guaranteed to acquire paid the wage he is promised every month or else he has the right to register a suit instance on the Bank he works for. However, a Sudanese house amah who does non acquire her full wage has no legal grounds that can allow her her rights back.
Sudanese adult females who work as maidservants have no legal rights and their occupations to a great extent depend on the house proprietor ‘s character. Unfortunately, Egyptian adult females are known for their cruel and inhumane interventions towards maidservants by taking advantage of them ; hence, there is a really high possibility that a Sudanese adult female will work for an insensitive house proprietor. Many house proprietors treat their house amahs as captives in gaol by striping them from nutrient and H2O, striking and other signifiers of maltreatment, coercing them to work long hours, and even sexually hassling them. Furthermore, many Egyptians are utmost racialists and they either do non like to engage black adult female or they hire them and handle them with discourtesy because they view them as slaves. One illustration is from an article ( “ The Arabs ‘ worst dirty secret ” , The New York Times ) written by an Egyptian adult female named Mona El Tahawy where she witnessed an Egyptian adult female in the metro squeezing a small Sudanese miss which caused a ruddy cicatrix on the miss ‘s cheek. Mona managed to speak to the small Sudanese miss named Samar and found out that she works as a house amah and faces effects such as being deprived from holding tiffin or abused when she does non finish her undertakings. Samar admitted to Mona that she does non acquire paid a full wage that she promised the miss ‘s female parent to pay when she was foremost hired. Unfortunately, Samar ‘s parents are fighting to pay rent and supply their four kids with basic demands so Samar ‘s female parent does non hold another pick but to do her eldest girl work as a house amah. Such an illustration shows how Egyptians treat their Sudanese amahs with inhuman treatment regardless of their age. The house proprietor could be a small sympathetic with her Sudanese amah as she is highly immature ; alternatively she chooses to squeeze her and mistreat her as if she is non an equal homo being.
The book “ Voices in Refugee ” contains a chapter about a immature adult female Bahja who was frequently disrespected for her race in Egypt. Bahja suffered a difficult life in Sudan and chose to come to Egypt as she thought that she would be treated otherwise as it was a Moslem state. On the other manus, that was non the instance ; Bahja asked a patient in a infirmary where she worked as a amah “ Are n’t we all Muslims and Arabs? Do n’t we all live in the same state? ” The patient sharply replied: “ No we are non the same. You ‘re black and I ‘m white and you should acquire out of my state. ” A different illustration from the book is Ihsan, a Sudanese adult female who has been harassed by a member of the household she worked at. Ihsan left her state and travelled to Egypt because of sexual torment and other opprobrious actions that caused her to experience insecure in her state. When she foremost came to Egypt, she could non afford anything and lived in one of the poorest countries in the metropolis. She took a occupation as a house amah who cooked, cleaned and took attention of the whole house. The house proprietor did non give her clip to rest or even take a twenty-four hours off to see her sister. She had to be available any clip the household members needed her whether it was during the twenty-four hours or the dark. Ihsan bared the house proprietor ‘s inhumane interventions because of her despairing demand for money until one twenty-four hours, one of the most black incidents occurred to her. The household ‘s 21 twelvemonth old boy sexually abused her when they were all entirely in the house. “ He would frequently badger me and chat up with me in an inappropriate manner. I could non state him to halt or even state my Madame for the fright that she might non believe me, or that she might kick me out before I had been paid. But this clip her boy took it excessively far! ” That is non to keep an over generalized of the Sudanese instances in Egypt for that many Sudanese are really populating a reasonably comfy life on Egyptian lands.
Although many Sudanese adult females are treated as slaves in informal economic system and disrespected by their house proprietors ; there are a few instances of Sudanese adult female who have managed to stabilise their lives from such occupations. One illustration is from “ Voices in Refugee. ” Mariette is a Sudanese adult female who stated that “ non all Egyptians have treated me severely. ” Mariette worked for an Egyptian household as a amah. The household treated her with gradualness and provided her with apparels and nowadayss for her kids. Even after she had left her occupation, Mariette still kept in touch with the household and did non waver to inquire them for aid when she needed it. Another illustration is Ihsan who even though she was abused at the first house she worked at, her sister found her another occupation at the same house she works in for five hundred lbs a month. In add-on, she finds clip to make the things she loves such as lacing other adult females ‘s hair and singing while cooking in the kitchen. Such an chance has managed to stabilise her life criterions and has made her an optimistic individual who resembles peace and hope to other Sudanese Refugees who have non yet reached her extent. Furthermore, even though Sudanese amahs do non hold a opportunity in their occupations to acquire promoted, there are many house proprietors who pay them a higher salary by clip under some fortunes. For case, two old ages ago when rising prices in nutrient monetary values occurred, many house proprietors were willing to pay their amahs more money to afford a basic life criterion. Another illustration is that amahs who work in houses for over a long period of clip, are sometimes offered an addition salary overtime.
Egyptians vary in their understanding with Sudanese but what stays house is the Sudanese predicament for achieving occupation that legalize their lives. Sudanese Womans to this current twenty-four hours are held prisoners under an economic system that does n’t allow them security of their support. Yet they still endure the worst for the painful demand for money and basic demands. What is left for them is a drowned hope of a state that one time believed was traveling to supply them with a better life.
