Jesus the son of a Kelly called Maria
Merry Christmas! Every year I make a manger that is my interpretation of where Jesus would have been born if he had been born that same year 2018.This year I imagined that Jesus was born a son of a "kelly" in the room of the cleaning of a great hotel. I hope you like it and help you see what Christmas represents.
I have made a lively video of the manger with the narration. Here's the video of the manger and then you will find the text.
Today, the Hotel Betlem has witnessed an unexpected event. Maria, one of the room-cleaning workers, commonly known as "Kellys", was working despite her advanced state of gestation. She, like all others, has virtually no labor rights and earns a miserable salary. Everyone knows that if they stop working or take a single day off they will be dismissed in all likelihood.
Maria arrived last March from Ecuador looking for a better future for her family. A few months ago, a person dressed in white announced that she was pregnant and she was amazed. She did not expect it, but she accepted the situation and decided to face it. Her husband, knowing it, made every effort to come but did not get the visa.Today, Maria felt ill when she was working. He had childbirth pain and gave birth to her first child in the cleaning room of the same hotel with the help of three of her "Kellys" colleagues, one of whom, coincidentally, worked as midwife in her country.
The rest of the cleaning and service staff have just approached the birth of the child. For the WhatsApp group of the "Kellys", the news and photos of the baby have spread very quickly. Now more and more colleagues and friends are arriving to the hotel, , after finishing their workday at hotels, offices and private homes. A friend has made a WhatsApp video call to the baby's father in Ecuador, so he could meet his son and talk with his mother. The people have brought clothes, diapers and cleaning products for the baby in support, because "if they touch one of us, they touch all of us!", as they say.
Journalists have gathered at the hotel, where the management initially did not let them in, knowing the conditions in which the women work. However, they subsequently facilitated their work and also announced that they would let Maria stay two days in one of the rooms. They even brought food out of the restaurant.This change of attitude has made people think that this child could be the savior and the mother has named him Jesus, which means "the savior."
In the street hundreds of colleagues and friends are demonstrating in support and demanding fair conditions for the sector in which they work, a fixed and stable contract, not being externalized,, a humane treatment and the same labour rights than other workers. They are also gathering financial support to pay Maria's days off because their type of contract does not cover them.
The city has mobilized for the fact itself, but especially for the conditions with which these women work, especially in the hotel sector.
We do not know what will happen after December 28th when all this media boom has passed and we won’t talk again about these victims of our system, that systematically forgets all the caring work. Even so, today it has been announced that on January 6th three authorities will visit Maria: the representative of the hotel employers, that of the unions and the mayor of the city. It is not ruled out that they decide to definitively address this fact and do what it takes to ensure that these women and all those who work invisibly for the comfort of the whole society have decent wages, fair working conditions and a humane and dignified treatment.VIDEO: http://bit.ly/Nadal18PessebreYTB
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