The Indian Maid

Julie can’t read or write. She has never been to school. She has worked since she was eight-years-old.

But she knows English and Arabic.

"When I was eight-years-old my father took me to live with my uncle’s family in Bombay. I didn’t know I was going to work for them. I did all the housekeeping: cleaning, cooking, laundry, ironing and baby-sitting. And he hit me. My auntie also hit me. The more they beat me the more stubborn I became. I was just a little kid, and they didn’t allow me to play. I was their servant. When they had guests in the house, I was told not to call her aunt. “You must call me Ma’am.” So I stood up in front of everybody and shouted AUNT!”