Filipina maid bids goodbye to Dubai family after 29 years

Gulf News

Full Article here: https://gn24.ae/82e4ffea1bd9000  See more at https://gulfnews.com/videos   The last few days have been the hardest for Filipina expatriate Aurelia Villarta and the Tattarakis family. On Monday, after all, is Villarta’s flight home to the Philippines as she retires after serving the family in Dubai for the past 29 years.

Transcript

00:00You're not going to miss that, huh?

00:02Yeah, I know.

00:03So you will miss it?

00:04Yeah.

00:05How many?

00:06You know.

00:07But it started off beautiful.

00:09I arrived in Dubai in 1991 with this family.

00:12And then Christopher, I think, more than one month.

00:17And Jean-Michel, the second, the eldest, is three years.

00:24I took care of them while my husband was at work.

00:28My name is Chris Tadarakis.

00:30And I am the son of Diana Tadarakis and now also Aurelia Villarta.

00:36She is our housemaid of 29 years.

00:39She came and joined our house when I was, I believe it was one month old.

00:43So as far as I remember from being alive, she's always been around to help me grow and develop.

00:49I feel that I was very lucky to have Aurelia here with me to take care of my house and my kids.

00:57I work full time and I was able to go to work and not feel that my house was being neglected or my children were being neglected.

01:07They were well taken care of by her.

01:10And then I could, she did the hard work while I could come home from work and then play with them or do the fun stuff.

01:19And she did all that.

01:20She did the cooking and the cleaning.

01:22And then she allowed me to spend extra quality time with my children, which meant so much to me.

01:28After a few years, she just became part of our family.

01:32So we all grew together.

01:36I never thought of her as like a housemaid.

01:39I thought of her as part of my family and I treated her as such.

01:43And we care about each other.

01:46Oh, it's great because I treat them like family.

01:49They pull me so that they don't have to eat together.

01:54I don't want that.

01:55That's why.

01:56But they're happy.

01:58It's like I grew up with them differently.

02:01That's what I miss the most.

02:03Because I didn't have a hard time growing up with them.

02:10Because they're obedient.

02:11She introduced me to her friend.

02:13She's my second mother.

02:14She's always there for me.

02:44So that meant to me that she was enjoying her work and enjoying her atmosphere, which made me happy.

03:06She was a very big part of their life and she's also precious to me.

03:11I will miss her a lot when she goes.

03:15But I know that she needs to go now.

03:19It's her time to pursue other adventures and happiness in her country.

03:26And bring joy to her own family who probably miss her a lot.

03:31They are a wonderful family.

03:33They changed my life since I came here.

03:36My mother-in-law said that she will stay with us for 29 years.

03:42I said, people don't believe me.

03:44So nobody can break my record.

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