My name is Otilia Huayta. I came to this country also with my daughter. Her name is Carla Wara. I arrived in this country on October 28th. I came with a woman diplomat. We signed the employment contract back in Bolivia; we didn't do it here in the United States.
Once I arrived here in this country, my ex-employer told me that my contract was just figurative; that it didn't mean anything. My salary was $200 a month. My daughter also received a salary of $15 a month for taking care of their little girl.
They mistreated me psychologically. They caused me great harm. They yelled at me, they yelled at my daughter. They were alwaysbossing her around, telling her she should or shouldn't do certain things.
My workday schedule was from 7 a.m. and didn't end until 11:30 or 12:00 at night.
Food was very scarce. All the food was counted. Because they were a family of eight, they always counted the food so there was enough for eight people. That is, eight pieces of chicken, or fruit, or bread, or any other kind of food. The food was always counted. They didn't account for us. There was no bread for us. And most of all for Carla. She could never bring a good meal to school. Her lunches were very poor. People noticed this at her school.
My room, where I lived, was a hallway where people came in and out of the house. The bad thing, that I didn't like, that made me very afraid, was that the son of my employer always walked around through the hallway half naked. I had a great fear of him.
I left… well actually I was rescued by CASA of Maryland on June 2. My lawyer Alexis and the police came. Everyone. They all came. The diplomats refused to give me my things back, not even my passport. My boss had kept my passport at her work.
We waited a long time for her to come back to the house. [So we could ask for my things.] They [the police and lawyers] had arrived around mid-day and my ex-employer didn't show up until 6:30 in the evening. We waited almost half the day, waiting for her to give me back my belongings. It was something very painful, hurtful… I have felt very bad because of all the things that happened.
Learn more about Otilia and her petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights >>