"I would much rather see my daughters safe, paid and self-sufficient than out on the streets earning money in less respectable ways, as so many of our women are forced to do."

I have been working in the household for the last 50 years. My daughters and now their daughters are employed as domestic help as well. We are not from an educated background; that privilege was not handed to us. But we did make well with what we were given. We are from the villages, where food, water and shelter can never be guaranteed. It is not easy to always "serve" people, if you look at it that way. But that is not how I feel. We have been lucky that our family's employers have always taken us in as family. I would much rather see my daughters safe, paid and self-sufficient than out on the streets earning money in less respectable ways, as so many of our women are forced to do.

Translated from Bengali

This online exhibition was created in December 2001. To reach Fariba Alam, email her at faribaalam@yahoo.com