Disclaimer: I have re-read this blog before posting and it's a bit haphazard in the sense that one thought brings another and another. A lot of stuff I want to share in a little space. I hope this is educational as well as eye-opening, and I hope it makes you want to be more aware (if you already aren't) of many of the issues going on in the world, and what many people endure day-to-day or have endured in recent history. Thank you.
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One weird experience I finally had here in Oman is the exposure to prostitutes. We had gone out for after dinner drinks with our friends here and ended up at a hotel bar. Besides being full of men (Omani and expats) as the night wore one, more and more Asian women dressed in tight and short dresses with HIGH heels and lots of makeup showed up. They were clearly alone and stood or sat by themselves sipping on a drink, waiting to get the eye from a man. Colin has seen it before going out with some guys for a few male outtings, but I had not been exposed yet. I have always been aware that they are around. Despite being Muslim and following strict religious laws, most middle east countries have sex workers, and the locals part take in using them. No matter where you are in the world and how conservative it may be, a sinful underworld will always exist. We humans are all the same, religious or not.
Before we moved here, we had a great breakfast with some friends from church, the Berrams, and their friends who all worked in the middle east. One man was Lebanese and grew up in the middle east. One of his comments I won't forget was something like this. "There are two things that run peoples' lives in the middle east; money and sex. It's the same as anywhere else, just like in the US."
While many prostitutes make the decision to do what they do, many of the prostitutes are trapped in the system by having no other way to make money or being forced into it to pay off a debt. My friend here was telling us she recently watched a documentary about prostitutes around the world and many of the stories are the same. They were told they would be brought to a better life and that person would help get them to the country. Once there, they are told that they must now repay that "benefactor" for all the costs incurred to him to bring her there. She will work for years until it's paid off. Most likely, it's a very high amount, trapping the woman into the work. Oman wasn't mentioned in the documentary, but surrounding countries like Saudi were. I also took a few minutes to type in "prostitution Oman" in google search and quickly found articles in local news websites about prostitution busts by local police from the past few years.
Related to prostitution is hired help and the abuse of cheap labor. Nannies and maids abound here. Construction workers, those working on farms, in factories, in malls or businesses as janitors, whatever. About 1/3 of the population in Oman is expat workers. These workers get trapped in the system too of having to do hard labor (the work locals don't want to do) for years to pay off the fees and expenses used to bring them here by their visa sponsors. I've heard many of them have to work at least two years to repay that money and start to make money themselves. The reality is that a form a slavery exists here. Although there are labor laws here that protect expat workers, in the end, the slavery comes in the form of cheap labor, long hours, and working under someone else (a sponsor who they are in debt to and I would say owns them in a sense). Not to say there aren't expats working here and are treated well and make money quickly, but there are many MANY who are not. It is a sad fact of this part of the world.
The other sad part is that I have no doubt that many of these men and women leave families and children behind to make money and try to provide them with a better life. They don't see them for years (although I know nannies are provided to go home at least every other summer and some go every summer) and under their work visas, they can't just fly home if needed, like in the event of a family death or emergency. I know they can call or use in the internet to stay in touch, but physically, they are separated.
Most nannies here have a family or children at home and working overseas as a nanny is way better financially than staying at home. The system in place is that you go abroad to work and earn money while your parents raise their grandchildren. Once your children are old enough, they many come and work too as a nanny, and then you can go home and raise their children, now your grandchildren. Eunice, our nanny to-be, is 30 and has a 10 year old son at home being raised by her mother. Isla's nanny, Marilyn, who has often cared for Aberly too when I was subbing, has a 9 year old son raised by her mother. Nannies here strive to work for European or American expat families because they know they will be treated and paid much better. Their hours will be less and more balanced. Eunice currently works for a Sudanese family who although treat her well from what we know, probably pay her just a bit more than half of what we will pay her for a monthly salary.
The system is sad but for many of them, they may not realize how unjust the system is. It is what they know and many of them seem very happy (I know this is not always true but in general). The nannies always have a smile on their face and don't complain, the construction workers play games in the evenings and smile and wave whenever we pass by. They live otherwise normal lives here working, going to the store, riding taxis/buses to work, have cell phones, eat meals... Unless you were made aware of the system as we have learned over time, you wouldn't necessarily know it existed.
It's been a hard thing for Colin and I to stomach at times. It even is hard to have a nanny sometimes, knowing that despite how well we will treat her, we are still allowing the system to continue. To buy local food, we know that it is cheap because of workers paid low wages to pick it (i.e. Mexicans in the US). We live in homes built by these immigrant workers who probably have never built a home when they first arrive. And on and on.
And I could go on and on. Living abroad has opened our eyes to how much goes on in this world that many Americans are sheltered from or never are aware of. Life is hard for the majority of the world. Many countries have lived through atrocities and still do. Children suffer at the hands of the system. People work their entire lives producing the food we eat and we never think twice about how that rice came to us.
I will close with some suggested books or sites to check out that either Colin or I have read or have heard good things about. Sorry for the 'downer" blog but it's something close to our heart and I see the unintentional "unawareness" that many Americans have for what goes on around the world and also the effects of how we live in the US (been there myself!). And as Christians, I believe it is our calling to be aware of the what goes on in the world and all of God's creation. We should be the Samaritan and stop to help or listen to the brother or sister in need. I know we can't help each one, but knowing about them and caring about them, and making changes in our lives make an impact. Imagine if we all didn't upgrade our cell phones every two years. That would mean way less demand on the rare and dangerous to mine metals used in them. Stuff like that.
If one thing, please take the time to go to this website and take the survey. The rest is up to you. slaveryfootprint.org/
"First They Killed My Father" by Luong Ung
"A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah
"The Breadwinner" and series by Deborah Ellis
"Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia" by Carmen bin Laden
"Sold" by Patricia McCormick
"Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser
"We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow we will Be Killed With Our Families" by Phillip Gourevitch
"Omnivores Dilemma" by Micheal Pollan (I suggest the junior version, easier and quicker to read)
"Kaffir Boy" by Mark Mathabane
"The Translater" by Dauod Hari
"King Leopold's Ghost" by Adam Hoshchild
"Eaarth" by Bill McKibben
"Silent Snow" by Marla Cone
http://www.aljazeera.com/
http://www.globalissues.org/
----------
One weird experience I finally had here in Oman is the exposure to prostitutes. We had gone out for after dinner drinks with our friends here and ended up at a hotel bar. Besides being full of men (Omani and expats) as the night wore one, more and more Asian women dressed in tight and short dresses with HIGH heels and lots of makeup showed up. They were clearly alone and stood or sat by themselves sipping on a drink, waiting to get the eye from a man. Colin has seen it before going out with some guys for a few male outtings, but I had not been exposed yet. I have always been aware that they are around. Despite being Muslim and following strict religious laws, most middle east countries have sex workers, and the locals part take in using them. No matter where you are in the world and how conservative it may be, a sinful underworld will always exist. We humans are all the same, religious or not.
Before we moved here, we had a great breakfast with some friends from church, the Berrams, and their friends who all worked in the middle east. One man was Lebanese and grew up in the middle east. One of his comments I won't forget was something like this. "There are two things that run peoples' lives in the middle east; money and sex. It's the same as anywhere else, just like in the US."
While many prostitutes make the decision to do what they do, many of the prostitutes are trapped in the system by having no other way to make money or being forced into it to pay off a debt. My friend here was telling us she recently watched a documentary about prostitutes around the world and many of the stories are the same. They were told they would be brought to a better life and that person would help get them to the country. Once there, they are told that they must now repay that "benefactor" for all the costs incurred to him to bring her there. She will work for years until it's paid off. Most likely, it's a very high amount, trapping the woman into the work. Oman wasn't mentioned in the documentary, but surrounding countries like Saudi were. I also took a few minutes to type in "prostitution Oman" in google search and quickly found articles in local news websites about prostitution busts by local police from the past few years.
Related to prostitution is hired help and the abuse of cheap labor. Nannies and maids abound here. Construction workers, those working on farms, in factories, in malls or businesses as janitors, whatever. About 1/3 of the population in Oman is expat workers. These workers get trapped in the system too of having to do hard labor (the work locals don't want to do) for years to pay off the fees and expenses used to bring them here by their visa sponsors. I've heard many of them have to work at least two years to repay that money and start to make money themselves. The reality is that a form a slavery exists here. Although there are labor laws here that protect expat workers, in the end, the slavery comes in the form of cheap labor, long hours, and working under someone else (a sponsor who they are in debt to and I would say owns them in a sense). Not to say there aren't expats working here and are treated well and make money quickly, but there are many MANY who are not. It is a sad fact of this part of the world.
The other sad part is that I have no doubt that many of these men and women leave families and children behind to make money and try to provide them with a better life. They don't see them for years (although I know nannies are provided to go home at least every other summer and some go every summer) and under their work visas, they can't just fly home if needed, like in the event of a family death or emergency. I know they can call or use in the internet to stay in touch, but physically, they are separated.
Most nannies here have a family or children at home and working overseas as a nanny is way better financially than staying at home. The system in place is that you go abroad to work and earn money while your parents raise their grandchildren. Once your children are old enough, they many come and work too as a nanny, and then you can go home and raise their children, now your grandchildren. Eunice, our nanny to-be, is 30 and has a 10 year old son at home being raised by her mother. Isla's nanny, Marilyn, who has often cared for Aberly too when I was subbing, has a 9 year old son raised by her mother. Nannies here strive to work for European or American expat families because they know they will be treated and paid much better. Their hours will be less and more balanced. Eunice currently works for a Sudanese family who although treat her well from what we know, probably pay her just a bit more than half of what we will pay her for a monthly salary.
The system is sad but for many of them, they may not realize how unjust the system is. It is what they know and many of them seem very happy (I know this is not always true but in general). The nannies always have a smile on their face and don't complain, the construction workers play games in the evenings and smile and wave whenever we pass by. They live otherwise normal lives here working, going to the store, riding taxis/buses to work, have cell phones, eat meals... Unless you were made aware of the system as we have learned over time, you wouldn't necessarily know it existed.
It's been a hard thing for Colin and I to stomach at times. It even is hard to have a nanny sometimes, knowing that despite how well we will treat her, we are still allowing the system to continue. To buy local food, we know that it is cheap because of workers paid low wages to pick it (i.e. Mexicans in the US). We live in homes built by these immigrant workers who probably have never built a home when they first arrive. And on and on.
And I could go on and on. Living abroad has opened our eyes to how much goes on in this world that many Americans are sheltered from or never are aware of. Life is hard for the majority of the world. Many countries have lived through atrocities and still do. Children suffer at the hands of the system. People work their entire lives producing the food we eat and we never think twice about how that rice came to us.
I will close with some suggested books or sites to check out that either Colin or I have read or have heard good things about. Sorry for the 'downer" blog but it's something close to our heart and I see the unintentional "unawareness" that many Americans have for what goes on around the world and also the effects of how we live in the US (been there myself!). And as Christians, I believe it is our calling to be aware of the what goes on in the world and all of God's creation. We should be the Samaritan and stop to help or listen to the brother or sister in need. I know we can't help each one, but knowing about them and caring about them, and making changes in our lives make an impact. Imagine if we all didn't upgrade our cell phones every two years. That would mean way less demand on the rare and dangerous to mine metals used in them. Stuff like that.
If one thing, please take the time to go to this website and take the survey. The rest is up to you. slaveryfootprint.org/
"First They Killed My Father" by Luong Ung
"A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah
"The Breadwinner" and series by Deborah Ellis
"Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia" by Carmen bin Laden
"Sold" by Patricia McCormick
"Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser
"We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow we will Be Killed With Our Families" by Phillip Gourevitch
"Omnivores Dilemma" by Micheal Pollan (I suggest the junior version, easier and quicker to read)
"Kaffir Boy" by Mark Mathabane
"The Translater" by Dauod Hari
"King Leopold's Ghost" by Adam Hoshchild
"Eaarth" by Bill McKibben
"Silent Snow" by Marla Cone
http://www.aljazeera.com/
http://www.globalissues.org/
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