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TOGO: Clarisse Bilai, "I knew I deserved a better life than what I was living"

31 Dec 2008 17:21:52 GMT
Source: IRIN

LOME, 31 December 2008 (IRIN) - Clarisse Bilai, 29, has been working as what she calls a "house girl" for almost 10 years, living first with her aunt in central Togo in the town of Sokode before they moved to the capital Lome. Having left her birth country, Ghana, at age nine, Bilai helped clean her aunt's house while she made money as a street vendor until age 23. But she wanted more, she told IRIN.

"I decided to be a house girl to do something for my future. I left Ghana because we had money problems. I quit school when I left Ghana, and later followed by aunt to central Togo. But I could not continue living with my aunt. She and her husband stopped supporting my going to school. And if I did not make enough money from the fried dough I sold on the street, I could not eat.

"My aunt did nothing to help me. She insulted me in our native language from Ghana, Ashanti. But it is very hard to find a job here in Africa. If you do not know somebody, you basically cannot get a job yourself. So I stayed, until I could no longer. I knew all along that I deserved a better life than what I was living.

"I sold fried dough on the streets for years. She [my aunt] kept promising that she would send me to work in an apprenticeship. Another family who saw how my aunt mistreated me recruited me to work for them in Lome. There I had enough to eat and made US$36 a month, but I could not sleep. I worked there for one year, but I was always tired because I was allowed to sleep only a few hours a night.

"I was really tired. But I knew I wanted a better job to help my three brothers in Ghana. I heard about Welcome Agency [in Lome] from friends who told me it could help me find a good job where people would not insult me and would treat me well.

"For the past year, I have been working for a family in Lome where I earn $46 a month. My boss is an important director in some company here; he has never insulted me. I can sleep more, and I have two days off every month when I visit my aunt.

"You see, she is my family still, but I am happier where I am now."

pt/np

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