What Ann learned from the Custodian Project

Ann Amir is a beautiful girl who loves fashion and makeup and hair. She is a Copt with African roots in the Sudan.  Her words on this project are some of the most touching and poignant I have heard. Clearly, her soul is as beautiful as her face.

Ann Amir is in the back row, third from the left, with her hand to her chin.

The whole project aimed at experiencing the life of the custodians, and how they do their work every day. Actually, I thought of it more than that. I really liked to do their job for one day, or rather for couple of hour. I found that they are doing so much work even more than any other person who works in a higher level of jobs. Furthermore, they were not born to be custodians. I meet one of them who used to work in a law firm, but she moved to be a custodian for a higher salary. Perhaps not all of them have the same situation, but still, if they found another job with a good salary, they would be anything else other than custodians. 

Ann tries to clean the whiteboard in a classroom. It is not as easy as it looks.

Ann and Carrie seem to be enjoying their grueling assignment.

 

After doing this project, I feel like I want to apply it with everyone I meet every day. I would like to apply it with my doorman and see how my neighbors are dealing with him. I would like to apply it with the public bus or taxi driver and check how he thinks and how people act towards him. I would like to apply it with the office boy at my work. I guess if I could do this, I will show people surrounding them that these taxi drivers, doorman, or office boy, are people whom have their own feelings. Also, may be, I will be able to deliver a message that anyone of us might be in their shoes if we have the same situation as they do. 

Ann is third from the right front row.

Ann is third from the left, front row.

 Thank you Ann, for your heartfelt and thoughtful reflections. WMB

Thank you letter by the head of the worker's syndicate at AUC

Dear Dr

This is to thank you  and take our hats up out of respect to you for being humble and cooperative fulfilling the custodians project in your leadership course Summer 11. It is a remarkable  experience for us to see a faculty member  at a high level of knowledge and competence to carry out and participate in cleaning works and wear the uniform. Moreover, what you have done has a great impact to draw the AUC administration attention about the importance of our work to operate all university facilities to serve AUC community

Finally , we consider what you have done to us as a badge of honor

What Rabab learned from the custodian project

Rabab is a true revolutionary. She has a passionate spirit, and encouraged me to do this project, because she wanted to do something practical in our leadership class.

Rabab is wearing the pink hijab. Here she is with classmates before work.

In response to a team leader's letter she wrote

أعزائى حسام و فاطمة

 

شكرا لكم على سعة صدركم معانا و حبكم لعملكم كان واضح و حسستونا اننا جزء منكم

 

عايزين نقولكم ان عملك رائع و مهم و من غيركم لا يمكن نستحمل اننا نيجى الجامعة و لا نشوفها

 

ربنا يوفقكم و يقويكم

 

Rabab listens as she is trained by the custodians.

Training is never very fun, under the best of conditions.

 

Dears Hosam and Fatma

 

Thanks for your patience, and  loyal efforts.

 

You make us feel that we are part of your group.

 

Your guidance was  the secret of our success at that wonderful day

 

You both have great sense of leadership. Without your great efforts, it could be unbearable to come to the university

 

Wish you the best. Keep up this great spirit. Rabab. 

Hend, Shahad, Dr. B and Rabab get ready to clean some toilets!

It was a great experience. I learned that it is not enough to just feel sympathy about someone unless you put yourself into his/her situation. That is exactly what happened to me when i work as a custodian for less than 2 hrs.

Rabab cleans counters.

Their tolerance and patience to fulfill the tasks , as well as their efforts with us to teach the mechanism of work make me think that they themselves are the real leaders
Dear great and devoted custodians, in brief, our life without you is unbearable.

Rabab agreed with Dr. B that the gloves were inadequate.

Rabab interviews Mr. Mostafa about work conditions. 

Rabab socializes with custodians and students after the project.

What Bernardete learned from the custodian project

Dear all,
 
I think that the project meant so much for everyone. The most important thing was the initiative to do something; that is, to take action and get some teachings from this. Before we implement the project, I had some idea about how hard the custodians’ work was, because I usually clean my house.

Bernardete with classmates. She is second to left. 

 
I had idea that their job was difficult to do and somehow painful; however, I did not imagine how painful it was. Those people, most of them, have many tasks to do outside university such as take care of children, housework, and being spouses that require much of them, so I guess that because of the kind of work that are doing as cleaners, in the end of the day they fell physical and spiritually so stressed.

Amira, Amira, Shahad and Bernardete get ready to work. 

I respect their work, and this is one thing that I learned; respect and consideration. I never use so dangerous chemicals when I clean my house, but they do. Then, besides the use of some powerful chemicals to clean, I learned that the protection is very important to avoid any harm.

whistle while you work

 
I notice that the custodians are educated people, and to do this job they got training. I confirm what I just knew that the difference among custodians, students, and staff is only the division of labor, or “specialization”.

Bernardete mops the floor like a professional.

Then, there is nothing about superiority or inferiority. They work is valuable, and I learned that all parties that I mention here, they are parts of a puzzle which make the machine run university.  

Bernardete with custodians and students in the right front row.

I had a lot of fun, too.
Bernardete Gomana.

What Heba learned from the custodian project

I guess custodians' experience was so useful to me as I tried to put
myself in their places,which was very good experience to me . I tried
to learn how they are doing their job, which for me seems very hard
job to be done by one person.

Heba before the project. She is on the far right with hijab.

Heba scrubs the walls of a classroom.

 
The most difficult part when I asked one of the custodians to tell me how to clean the walls of the class that required from me to sit on my knees and use all my strength that I
have and press hard on the sponge  to remove the dirt that makes me
feel so tired .  I felt how hard their job is and I was really in need
to take a break although this thing does not take more than 15 mins to
do this, but I was so exhausted after I finished cleaning part of the
wall of the class not the whole class.

Heba on the left listens intently as she gets trained.

 
Then, I asked one of the custodians how many classes he/she cleans per day? He said almost 6 to
7 classes along with corridors and bathrooms. Omg!! I felt so tired
after I finished only cleaning part of the wall of the class what
about cleaning the whole class and other classes along with
bathrooms !! I guess I will fail to do this alone.

Heba, Carrie, Bernardete, and Nahla clean the classrooms. 

The most exciting part was when one of the staff saw me wearing their clothes,
he never asked me before about my job or even about my studies,but I
noticed how he was looking at me in a very strange look .When I met him
the other day, he talked to me in a very strange way and he started to
refuse to help me in printing some papers that I need although he was
doing this to me before he saw me wearing this clothes. Very sad to
notice that people act differently when they knew that you are in
lower position than they are. Absolutely I didn't mention to him that
I'm doing my master's degree and this was a project, I just kept silent and I
acted as if nothing happened.Well, I don't like to say that, but I think he deliberately did this to me. Really I don't know why ? Very weird attitude.

Heba with other students and custodians. She is second from right front row. 

What Shahad learned from the Custodian Project

Shahad asked to be assigned to the bathroom cleaning crew. She said 

"The custodians experience was amazing. I learned a lot from it. This experience helps me to be in other people shoes and even if they low positions their work are harder than others in the university. It helps to take of the barriers between people. Hearing from the custodians was also useful to know how they feel." 

Here are some photos of Shahad hard at work. Shahad was a meticulous and diligent cleaner.

Amira Ali, Amira Salama, Shahad AlHamdan and Dr. Bowman before cleaning commences.

Shahad tries to get used to her new gloves.

Shahad contemplates her duties.

Shahad vigorously cleans the granite counters.

 Shahad learns to clean the mirrors. Hend supervises. 

Shahad is a great cleaner, and diligently cleans the mirrors.

 Shahad scrubs out the toilets.

Shahad teaches Dr. Bowman how to scrub the counters.

 Are we having fun yet?

This is hard work!

What did I actually learn from the custodian project?

These are my comments. These are the things that I, Warigia Bowman, learned from the custodian project. I am waiting for some comments from my students, to see what they learned. But here are my thoughts.

Dr. Bowman with Leadership students before work commences.

First of all, I learned that my students can come up with great ideas on their own. The way I remember it, and I could be wrong, this project was almost entirely their idea. They started out by baking cookies for the custodians. We talked about the fact that baking cookies may not meet the community based learning guidelines, and we went from there. All I did was ask questions. So, the credit for developing this project goes to the students.

Dr. Bowman and students leave their privileged world.

Second, I learned that the work of the custodians is very difficult. I do clean the toilets at my own home, because in the US, we do not have house help. But usually, I clean the two bathrooms in my home about once a week. By contrast, the custodians have to clean seven bathrooms per shift. And that is only one person cleaning all those bathrooms. During the project, it took three of us to clean one bathroom. We had to empty the trashcans, clean the toilets, clean the counter, clean the mirror, and mop the floor. I cannot believe that one person does all of this in one day. In addition, I got the sense that the bathrooms had been pre-cleaned for us, the toilets were pretty clean already before I cleaned them.

Dr. Bowman scrubs the toilets carefully.

Dr. Bowman's glove disintegrates because the chemicals used in cleaning are so strong.

Third, I think the chemicals that the custodians are using are very strong. After I completed the project, I have had a nagging cough. We used R 1 and R3 to clean the toilets, R 7 to clean the counters, and something else to clean the mirrors. In addition, the gloves we were given were not strong enough. One of my gloves was burned through by the chemicals. After we complained, we were given stronger gloves. But I think it is important that the custodians wear good gloves, and that they are given masks as well. In general, it is my observation that Occupational Safety and Health at AUC could be improved. The custodians working conditions are not an exception to this.

Dr. Bowman tells Mostafa the manager that the custodians need better gloves.

Fourth, I was happy to have the custodians be the teachers and trainers, and for us to be the students. Actually, I learned many things about cleaning. I learned that putting the trashcan on the counter is unhygienic. I learned a new better way to clean the mirrors, I also learned how to use the water vacuum. The students in the class and the custodians are close to the same age, so it was fun to see them make friends.

Students sit laughing with the custodians. 

All in all, I enjoyed my experience, and I gained a new respect for the hard work of the AUC custodians.

WMB

Comments of three custodians who participated in the project

Here are the comments of three of the custodians who participated in the project. These custodians trained me and the students. They supervised our work as we did their job. Their comments were written in Arabic, and translated by Enas Abdel Azim. I thank her for her support. 

 

1. Hend Nabil Moustafa Soliman:

I would like to thank you Dr. Warigia for what you did, and I want to tell that I  have a wonderful feeling of your interest in custodians and their work and thiking of them. I am realy impressed of your act and it proves that not the whole community is avoiding us and there are some people who cares about our feelings and our efforts to serve the AUC community. In addition I wish to see other staff members and AUC students thinking the same way you did. Many Thanks

 

2. Seham Ashraf Abdo:

I am very happy with what happened cause it made me feel that my job is an important one in the society, and I wish if everyone in the university experience the same feeling as you did. Moreover your experience motivated me to do a better job and to be proud of myself. Many Many Thanks

 

3. Ahmed Al-Tantawy:

I am very happy with what happened cause this situation made me feel the respect and the interest of a faculty member towards my job. I got a very positive feeling about my job  and I feel now it is an important one as any other job at AUC. I wish everyone in the university have the same feeling that you showed to us and to our job.

 

Comments of Hossam Abou ElHoda: A Shift Supervisor

عزيزتى دكتور/ أورجيا

أولا أحب أن أشكرك و أشكر كل من شارك معك فى المشروع الذى قمتم به بأداء دور عمال النظافه لأنكم بهذا قد شعرتم بما يشعر به العامل من مجهود عضلى و نفسي و كم هو حجم المعاناه التى يعانيها العامل فى العمل فى مؤسسه بحجم مؤسستنا الموقره الممثله فى الجامعه الأمريكيه بالقاهره وأتمنى أن تكون تلك الرساله التى حملت على عاتقكم أن تصل لكل أفرد الجامعه من موظفيها وطلابها ودكاتره لكى يعرفوا أن العامل هنا يعمل من أجل راحة الجميع ساعياً بذلك وراء رزقه و ليس غير ذلك

أخيراً أحب أن أشكرك و أشكر المجموعه  فرد فرد

وأتمنى لكم التوفيق

 Dear Dr /Warigia

First I would like to thank you and thank everyone who participated with you in the project, which you have done to perform the role of the cleaners for you this may feel as felt by the worker lot of muscle and psychologically and how big is the suffering experienced by the worker to work in an organization the size of our venerable actress in the university AUC and I hope that that message brought to you by the reach of each singled out from the university staff & students and doctors in order to know that the worker is working here for the convenience of everyone seeking it behind his living and not the other
Finally I would like to thank you and thank the individual group member
I wish you luck

Comments by Fatma Soliman: A Custodian Team Leader

عزيزتى د / وريجيه

                                       أود أن أشكرك على المشروع الذى قمتم به و بأدائكم دور عمال النظافه الذى أعتبره أنا شخصياً رساله لكل فرد من أفراد الجامعه لتوضيح دور العامل و مدى أهميته فى الجامعه ليتم تغيير النظره إليه و يتم النظر إليه على قدر أهميته لهم و أيضاً أن يصل الإحساس بالمجهود المبذول من العامل و الذى ظهر على أدائكم أثناء المشروع و ظهر أيضاً من خلال اللقاءات مع أفرد المشروع الذين أثنوا على العمال كثيرا و على المجهود و كيفية تحمل ذلك على مدار اليوم و أيضاً كمية العمل المطلوبه منهم و كيفية إنجازها على ما يرام
أخيرا أتقدم إليك بكل الشكر و التقدير لك و لكل من ساهم معك فى هذا المشروع و أتمنى لك أن تكونى سباقه فى مثل هذه الأمور
و تفضلوا بقبول فائق الإحترام

فاطمه سليمان
BECقائد فريق العمل بمبنى الـ   

                              

                               

Dear Dr / reggae

                                        I would like to thank you for the project, which you have done and Performing role of cleaners, which I consider myself a message for each member of the university to clarify the role of the worker and how important the university is changing the perception of him and is seen as much importance to them and also to reach a sense of effort exerted of the worker, who appeared on your performance during the project and also emerged through interviews with those who singled out the project praised the workers' lot and the effort and how to carry it throughout the day and also the amount of work required of them and how to accomplish just fine.

 
Finally, I extend to you all the thanks and appreciation to you and everyone involved with you in this project and I wish you the racer that you may be in such matters. 

 
And Yours

Fatma Soliman
Team leader in BEC Building

Initial suggestions regarding how to improve the custodians' working conditions

Here are some suggestions by Amira regarding how to improve the working conditions of the custodians. I will be soliciting suggestions from other students on their thoughts, and will also be writing down my own ideas. 

1.      Develop an evaluation form whereby custodians can evaluate their supervisors and team-leaders the way students evaluate their professors. The evaluation should be taken seriously and considered in future career advancement.
2.      The career track of custodians should be revised and increase at least the levels of employment by which they can get promoted every 3 or 4 years or based on their performance.
3.      The AUC kinder-garden needs to reconsider its policy regarding the enrollment of the custodians’ children.
4.      After everyone submit his/her personal thoughts about the issue maybe we can develop a report that should be sent to Dr. Lisa Anderson for review.

General remarks regarding the custodians

1.     These remarks were written by a student who conducted several of the custodian interviews, Amira. She did a lovely job, and compiled a very thoughtful report. Here were her thoughts after concluding the interviews.

1.      I was surprised that none of the custodians mentioned anything about increasing their salaries even though I asked them indirectly about it several times.

2.      All the custodians really need to be treated with dignity. All they asked for was to be treated as human beings.  
3.      They were really happy with the project and each one of them individually told me that they hope that all the students at AUC can do this as well so that they get an idea of how hard their work is.  
4.      If we can’t get everyone at AUC to do a similar project they would appreciate it if we disseminate the video and they believe it would give staff an idea of how hard their work is and that we’re all the same.  
5.      They were extremely happy with the fact that we were wearing the uniform; because obviously that is the way many staff and faculty categorize them as inferior.
6.      The main requests of the custodians: equal treatment, their voices should be heard if they complaint about a supervisor or a team-leader, they should have the same rights as staff.

Things custodians do not like about their job at AUC

Two of the students interviewed custodians in private. These interviews were conducted off camera. These were the things the custodians do not like about their work at AUC. 


1.      The way some staff & Faculty treat them as inferior or from lower-classes. They specifically mentioned that students treat them great and are usually very friendly. However, many staff members and some faculty don’t even look at them and several reported that they make them feel “invisible”. As they told me one of the staff members in the building repeatedly said that “she doesn’t want to see this uniform anywhere”.  The girls specifically told me, “we’re not just the uniform we wear, we are human beings.”
2.      If any theft happens anywhere, custodians are the first group to be accused. They specifically mentioned that they are not thieves and it is very humiliating to be considered thieves just because they are poor.
3.      Both foreign students and faculty treat them better than Egyptians do. Egyptian Staff specifically was the center of their complaints, some don’t want to look at them and others talk to them in an extremely arrogant way only to give them commands.
4.      They are not allowed to evaluate any of their supervisors or team leaders. If a team leader is being unfair and they go ahead to complain they best thing that can happen is that the custodian will be transferred to another work station but nothing will happen to the team leader even if all the custodians working with him complain.
5.      They mentioned the “Elevator Incidence” and how some faculty and staff wouldn’t allow them to get into the elevator with them. They no longer ask for permission, if they see faculty or staff in the elevator they would just wait there until it’s empty. They also told me about how Dr. Warigia is really friendly with them and that she once called them in to join her in the elevator, this made them extremely happy.
6.      The chemicals they use in cleaning are extremely strong. The guys told me about an incidence were one of their colleagues was almost suffocated after smelling one of the chemicals.
7.      Staff always comes first. If they are standing in the line to get paid at the finance office, they have to wait until the staff gets their payments first even if they were there before them.
8.      All of the custodians interviewed complained about the buses. They are not allowed to ride the staff & faculty buses. Once their bus was supposed to arrive at 8 p.m.  it was 10:30 and the bus wasn’t there and so they asked if they could get on the student’s bus but the supervisor refused. They didn’t know what to do and were completely lost until one of the students insisted that they ride on the bus “we won’t just leave them there, we’re all girls” she said. The student refused to get on the bus until all the custodians get on as well. They appreciate her attitude very much. They also complained about the quality of the seats and that if a seat was misused they automatically blame the custodians even though it might have been that way even before they got on the bus. Also, the buses don’t have AC and some trips home last for 2 hours or more.
9.      The university used to give them meals that were horrible to the extent that they were thrown away. However, they reached a settlement by which the university cancelled the meals and added the money to their salaries. Now they bring their own food from home.
10.   There is no room for growing. Their job entails two levels and they are promoted to level 2 after around 15 years and then they only get a raise of 50 L.E.
11.   The women are supposedly allowed to enroll their kids in the AUC kinder garden however not one of them ever succeeded in doing so. Whenever they go they are told that there are no vacancies and the nursery will inform them once there is. At the same time they would accept faculty and staff kids automatically and without any waiting lists.
12.   Several workers live in the city of Menoufia which is 2 hours away from the AUC campus. They told me they had to lie in the interview about their living place because they only accepted workers living in Greater Cairo. However, now that around 30 of them live in Menoufia it might be possible that the university delegate a bus to them. They said they pay 6 L.E. daily to come to work out of their salaries.
13.   The deductions that are made from their salaries are huge considering that they get paid a gross sum of 1100 and around 300 L.E. are deducted for medicare and pension.

What do the custodians like about their work at AUC?

We interviewed various custodians about their work at AUC. We asked them what they liked, what they did not like, and what suggestions they have for improvement. Here are there answers about what they do like about their work. 

Things Custodians like about their work at AUC

1.      The team is supportive and understanding
2.      The team leaders are cooperative and treat them well
3.      The environment is good. They work in a nice place with decent people
4.      They are respected and they don’t have to deal with problems they face working in shops or restaurants such as harassment.
5.      Supervisors and Team Leaders take good care of them and especially their dignity; they take very seriously false accusations and reports of harassment.  They are allowed to call Mr. Mohamed Mostafa anytime if they face any problem and he works to get them out of it.
6.      Supervisors care about their health; they changed the floor mops to new ones that they don’t have to bend their backs while using.
7.      The English courses they are allowed to take is a great opportunity to all of them. The students that tutor them are great and bring them notebooks and pens. They also greet them whenever they meet even if it is outside campus. The students are very proud of how the custodians improve their language skills and treat them with respect. At the graduation, their supervisors attend as well as Dr. Brian and are usually really proud of them.
8.      The Labor Day party is great because they are allowed to bring their families and the university organizes a party for them. This isn’t done by many employers.
9.      The University gives then treats in Eid Al Fitr and Al Mawlad Al Nabwi which are the same for everyone staff and custodians.