Ameerah Mc Donald is just 30 months old and weighs 52 pounds. She was born with a rare bone disease in one of the legs and also suffers from seizures.
Her mother, Aisha Sabur, 32, is a single parent and struggles on a daily basis to find the funds to take her child to the Princess Elizabeth Children’s Home in Woodbrook and other various health institutions for treatment.
The burden has become overbearing for the mother of two, forcing her to intensify her search for a job so that she can properly take care of her family, including her ailing 63-year-old mother Halimah and her elder daughter Aliyah, 11.
In her desperation, she was told by a Government minister last month to go to the National Maintenance and Security Training Company (MTS) in Aranjuez as they were currently hiring. However, when she got there, Sabur claims she was instead humiliated in front of scores of other employment seekers and told because she was Muslim and wears the hijab she would not be employed.
The statement, allegedly made by a senior female MTS official during the screening process, caused Sabur not only sheer disappointment but much hurt.
Speaking with the T&T Guardian at her humble home located miles off the Main Road in Cumuto, in a forested area parallel to the train line, Sabur said she now felt all alone fighting for survival.
“There is nobody to assist me and to give me that guidance. MTS made it look like I am a terrorist,” Sabur said.
“I have two children and I am seeking employment for them, not to put on fancy clothes and fancy shoes. I don’t know if my baby daughter will live to see six years. I don’t know if there will be a cost for the surgery they say she is now needing. It is possible that she could be diabetic and be developing kidney problems.”
Sabur said on April 19 she went to speak to Minister of Public Administration and Communication Maxie Cuffie as she was told he helped people seeking jobs. She said she did not meet him but was interviewed by his office manager and told to go to the MTS’ offices.
“I called MTS office the next day, April 20, and was told that they have screenings on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I told the woman who answered the phone that Wednesday would be perfect for me. I also told her that I am a Muslim and wear the hijab and asked her if that would be a problem. She told me no, that once it could roll back behind the head so that the beret can fit on the head properly it would be ok,” Sabur said.
She added: “When I got there on April 20 for the screening, as I was about to write down my information I was pulled aside by a woman (name called) and told that MTS has rules and regulations, one of which they don’t hire Muslims with that “thing” on (referring to her hijab). I asked her if there are Muslims working here and she said to me ‘yes but they don’t wear that (the hijab) because they take it off to work.’”
Sabur said she insisted she was a practicing Muslim and would not take off her hijab, but added that she really needed the job.
“The woman said to me that if I want the job I would have to take off my hijab. When I told her I cannot because it’s against my religion to do so she said ‘well you cannot get a job here.’
“I began to cry in front of everyone, because it’s the manner in which she spoke to me in front of maybe 70 people who came for screening. She was very rough and disgusting towards me. I felt humiliated and very hurt.”
Sabur said she returned to Cuffie’s office on May 2 and told him of her experience. He assured her he would contact MTS officials and get back to her in a day’s time. However, up to yesterday Sabur said Cuffie had not contacted her with any feedback.
Sabur said her life was very hard but she is struggling to make ends meet and a sustainable job with a satisfying income would go a long way to helping her achieve this goal.
She said taking her daughter to the Princess Elizabeth Children’s Home was a task by itself, in additional to the financial constraints of over $80 a day in travelling.
“I used to use my mum’s car but its axle broke and I cannot drive it any more, but I don’t have money to have it fixed. So I now put my daughter in a wheel barrow and roll her out to the main road, which is about two miles away, because she is too heavy to lift up, so that I could get a taxi out of Cumuto to Arima and then to Port-of-Spain to take her to the home for her frequent medical check ups.”
Sabur has received further bad news about her daughter’s health.
“The disease on her left leg causes the legs to bend apart and at first the doctors thought that a cast would help. Now they are telling me that it’s worse and that her hip is now being affected and that they would have to do surgery,” she said.
She added: “For Mother’s Day and an early Eid gift I am praying for is for Allah to bless me with a proper job so that could maintain and take care of my family. My children are my main concern and I am fighting to survive for them.”
Sabur has since met with officials at the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) and is expected to submit a comprehensive report for a pending investigation on the matter.
Contacted for comment on the allegation, MTS’ chief executive officer Lennox Rattansingh said he was made aware of Sabur’s experience via a conversation he had with Cuffie.
Rattansingh said they had already launched an investigation into the matter, but added that MTS did not have any policy to discriminate.
“I have already spoke to the Human Resources Manager on this. In fact, I have a corporate secretary who works here and wears the hijab,” he said.
Rattansingh said they would also be meeting with the board soon to look at creating a uniform suitable for hijab-wearing women.
Cuffie, meanwhile, said he was shocked when he heard of Sabur’s experience and reassured the situation was being looked at.
“I called Mr Rattansingh to verify that the incident had taken place and enquired about the policies. He told me that he would personally handle the matter and conduct the necessary investigations to ensure that there is no other incident that could arise from the application of their policy. I am sorry that she faced an issue but I will keep on looking out for her,” Cuffie said.
