CHODAWU demonstration for domestic workers' rights in Tanzania. IDWF/Flickr. (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
My name is Lulu Abdallah Omar and I am 27 years old. I was born and raised in Zanzibar, Tanzania, where I currently live with my grandmother and my grandfather, as both my parents passed away 23 years ago. I studied primary and secondary school in Zanzibar, in a school called Sunni Madrassa. Having done well in my exams, I was offered the opportunity to continue my studies and do A levels.
My parents weren’t able to pay for the school fees, so I decided to find a job instead. In 2007, I started working as a domestic worker. First, I worked for an Indian family in Zanzibar: I cleaned their house and took care of their children for five years. Then, I joined a union that advocates for the rights of domestic workers called Conservation, Hotel, Domestic and Allied Workers Union (CHOWADU). It is the only trade union in Zanzibar that deals with domestic workers and it has been registered as trade union since 2001 under the Trade Union Act.
