Haddy Jatta, 68, has been a cleaner at the University of The Gambia (UTG) since its inception in 1999.
Jatta has worked under different university management since 1999 and has seen a lot evolve at the university during these periods, yet her take-home as a monthly wage is just a paltry sum.
She recalled receiving eight hundred Gambian dalasis (D800) as her salary during her early days at the university. Despite this poor emolument, Jatta persevered and would continue to work at the university for more than two decades. Her story personifies the sheer perseverance and life of an industrious worker.
“My work at the UTG is better because if I sit at home, I will not get what I’m getting. I do the work to upkeep my family. I have been patient until my retirement, I am from a poor family. I can say I’m the better one amongst all of them because of the work I do,” she said.
Jatta is from a humble but less privileged family. Perhaps something that contributed to her longevity as a cleaner at the university. Like many across various sectors, her situation depicts a real scenario of living from hand to mouth. Yet, she would still extend generosity to other family members. “My elder brother is an Islamic teacher, and he lives in Cassamance. He has nothing and he depends on me. Whatever I have here, I share with him, one of my sisters resides in Brikama, she often passes by, and I share the little I have with her,” She revealed.
The fear of aggravating an already dire situation motivates Jatta to stay long in this job. She is often perplexed as to what to do next if she quits the less-paid cleaner job at UTG. “I have struggled for a long time now, but Allah doesn’t see me through to change the situation of my family,” she said.
“With my decades of service at UTG, 5 a.m. meets me there every day and I work with due diligence. If UTG doesn’t recognize my efforts, Allah will do,” an emotional Jatta said.
Professor Kah, one of the university’s former vice chancellors, contributed immensely to Jatta’s career at the UTG. Kah was hailed as an ‘exceptional’ and ‘development-oriented’ leader by Jatta. “During his time, he registered a series of developments. Our salaries were not good and eventually, they stopped giving us pay slips. When Prof. Kah came, he told us clearly that he couldn’t increase our salaries because he had a lot of work to do. He promised to increase our payment when he settled, unfortunately, it never happened because he doesn’t stay long,” she said.
Working as a cleaner at most places in the Gambia is largely underpaid and many wouldn’t endure the heat of earning low to the high demands of the real economy. This usually leads to many quitting their jobs for pastures greener elsewhere.
However, Jatta urged her co-workers to remain steadfast in the face of adversity. “I am pleading to my co-workers to be patient and do their work with honesty until their retirement arrives. Allah only rewards people through their actions. If they leave the work, they will not get the little they are receiving from the UTG,” She concludes.
Haddy’s years of dedication and hard work haven’t gone unnoticed. Her co-cleaners, lecturers and even the founding Dean of the UTG School of Journalism and Digital Media are full of praise for the Gambia’s main university’s longest-serving cleaner.
“She does a wonderful job by leading the cleaners at SJDM. When she revealed that she reaches campus at 6 a.m., I was baffled that she comes to school that early morning,” Nana Grey-Johnson, SJDM founding Dean said.
Haddy’s current poor financial status is aggravated by her single mother status, having no surviving child of her own to take care of her at this age like most of her peers. She spent all her earnings taking care of her siblings and their children- none of them attained higher education. “I was surprised to know that she is a single mother. She always talks about children, but I am surprised to know that those children are not hers,” Nana Grey Johnson said.
At her age, she is still bearing the responsibility of providing daily meals for those under her care, forcing her to continue working on a contractual basis after clocking 60 years – a normal retirement age in The Gambia.
Haddy’s co-cleaners are also going through a similar financial struggle, but at her age, they are worried about her health. “She is an elderly woman now and her legs are not as strong as before. This is one of the reasons the management is allowing her to retire,” said Bintou Sanneh, Haddy’s co-worker.
With hopes dashed out, Haddy, just like her co-cleaners, are motivated not by the little financial reward they receive from the University, but by their belief that God will see them through.
Bintou said life would have been better for Haddy and all of them if they were in Europe, where with their experience, they can serve as supervisors, but this is not the case at the UTG. “Those of us who started the cleaning at UTG can be supervisors. They brought somebody to supervise us. If it was based on merit, we are the pioneers of cleaning at UTG,” she said.
The UTG is The Gambia’s first public university established by the Gambia government in 1999. Haddy is currently one of the few staff of the university who started work since its establishment 25 years ago.
To capture Haddy Jatta’s touching life story for eternity, UTG Film Studies Lecturer, Prince Bubacarr Aminata Sankanu, produced a documentary film on her with his students which got splendid audience engagements during the 5th CineKambiya International Film Festival (CIFF) 2024. Plans are on the way to organize a nationwide outreach with the documentary as it amplifies the messages on gender justice, income disparities, the struggles of single mothers and the tribulations of domestic workers. Sponsors and partners are invited.
Call for Action: Empathic and grateful UTG students through the Journalism Students Association (JSA) and Law Students Association (LSA) have initiated a fundraising drive to support Ms. Haddy Jatta in getting a dignified retirement. The account numbers for the donations are: Adama M. Joof. Account number: 2158057411590 (GTBank); Alex A. Manneh. Account number: 6274013048 (Ecobank) & Aja Fatou Drammeh. Account number: 007023001025 (Access Bank). Wave number: 2631731.
This feature story is part of a semester project of the 2024 Film Studies II class at the University of The Gambia (UTG) School of Journalism and Digital Media SSJDM). Sarjo S. Jammeh, Ebrima Mbaye, Meita Touray, Sarjo Fadera and Banna Sabally contributed to the story supervised by Prince Bubacarr Aminata Sankanu, Deputy Government Spokesperson, Lecturer in Film Studies at UTG and President of Film Producers Association of The Gambia.
