Life for child housemaid far from sweet

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Having failed to fulfill the requirements to pursue education at senior high school level, Riana, enrolled herself into a baby- sitting training center in her hometown of Brebes, Central Java. There her new life as a domestic helper began.

Riana was 16 years old when she got a job in Jakarta through an agency.

She has never realized however that being a housemaid would put her at risk of physical exploitation. She was paid Rp 600,000 per month (US$63), a bit higher than housemaids of her age, but she would be slapped in the face if she did not hear her employer calling her, or have her salary deducted for mistakes. The meals she ate were usually left overs from her employer.

"My employer was extremely mad one day because I could not clean the toilet bowl thoroughly. She hurled the cleaning bottle at my hand squirting me with the chemical substance and leaving me with blisters," she said.

Riana used to wake up at 5 a.m and go to bed at midnight, with no time at all outside.

"I was not even allowed to dump garbage outside the house," she said.

Beside her household jobs, she had to take care of her employer's children.

The abuse lasted for four months until Riana's father came and picked her up.

Recently the New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a report on working conditions of child domestic workers.

The report, based on interviews with 44 child maids in seven cities, underlined the vulnerability of child laborers to physical and sexual abuse due to a lack of legal protection from the government.

Activist Andri Yoga Utami in the book -- Domestic Workers (Pekerja Rumah Tangga) -- says that central and regional governments here were not dealing with child domestic workers in their policies and programs.

She said Indonesia had endorsed regulations that were already enough to fight abuse against child laborers, such as Law No. 1/2000 on the ratification of ILO Convention 182 on the worst form of child labor, Law No. 23/2002 on child protection and Law No. 13/2003 on labor.

Not all employers, however, mistreat their housemaids, however most work far longer hours than workers in the formal sector despite the free food and board they receive.

Nina Yuniarti, 16, from the Central Java town of Tegal came to Jakarta to seek a better life after finishing her junior high school last year.

"I wanted to earn as much money as possible in Jakarta to financially help my mother back home," she said.

Nina and her mother used to sell vegetables on the porch of their house.

Nina, the third child of five siblings, made a journey to Jakarta last year and worked as a domestic maid.

"I have been working six months since August 2004 to January 2005 with a salary of Rp 250,000 per month," she said.

Nina said that she got up 5 a.m and went to bed at 10 p.m. every day.

Her hard work paid off as she could now help her family at home with her pay of Rp 300,000 per month.

"I can send money to my mother -- about Rp 150,000 each month," she said, adding that she spent only Rp 100,000 per month on her daily needs.

What makes her happiest, however, is her employers, who had helped her start up her own business. She has just started a street stall selling roast chicken, hot dogs, chicken nuggets and meatballs from 3 p.m to 12 p.m. at the traditional market nearby her sister house.

"After graduating from junior high school, I wanted to continue schooling but my parents did not have enough money for that," she said. (004)