Away from their families, Bangladeshi workers share Ramadan in Jordan

RAMTHA/SAHAB — The hum of machinery and random conversations filled the air as bundles of fabric entered phases of production to be prepared for export.

Amid the action, thousands of fasting employees treasured their devotion and busied themselves in work. It’s business as usual at a garment factory in Al Hassan Industrial Estate in the northern city of Irbid on Thursday.

For Asma Begum, who has been in Jordan for three years, fasting and working is not difficult.

“This is the holy month, that one special month. I pray for forgiveness, I pray for my family and my company. Of course I miss home, especially that my 10-year-old son is also fasting, but I talk to my family daily. I am planning to go home after four years, but in the meantime I am working and enjoying my free time with friends.”

Nasma Beegum decided to go abroad after the death of her husband, to raise her son who is nine years old. At work during Ramadan, she listens to the Koran. “Time goes quickly then,” she says.

Riba Khanam is grateful that her company is providing iftar meals for the employees, “otherwise it would have been tough”. The iftar meal is eaten at sunset during Ramadan, to break the daily fast.

Though she is “not very nostalgic”, Khanam said she still misses the local Bangladeshi delicacies for iftar and shopping in the markets of Dhaka before Eid.

According to a recent International Labour Organisation report, the garment sector in Jordan employs approximately 40,000 migrant workers, the majority of whom originate from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India.

Meanwhile on Friday in Sahab, southeast of Amman, a group of workers was mourning the death of their colleague’s wife in their dormitory.

Mohammad Jaffar’s wife died in an accident last week in Bangladesh, but he was not able to attend the funeral.

“I am planning to work until my next salary, and return for good to Bangladesh to take care of my daughter,” said Jafar, who has been working in Jordan for 11 years.

As the call for prayer to break the fast sounded, the workers gathered in their rooms and broke the fast with fruit and juice, then went to the mosque attached to their dorm and returned for the main meal.

Economic pressure forced Mohammad Jahidul to leave his country. 

“It’s been 11 years in Jordan now, my family is in a better financial position now and I married off my sister. I will work for two to three years and get married and will return to Bangladesh and start a small business,” Jahidul said, sharing his plans.

Taraweeh prayer (special evening prayer performed in Ramadan) in the dorm’s mosque could be heard throughout the building. Later the company’s imam, Azadullah Hamidullah from India, joined the conversation.

He said he is “praying for the workers, their families and for Jordan, which gave us this opportunity”.

When asked about his role as moral guide to the workers, the chaplain said: “I always remind the workers, don’t waste your money, think of your family and loved ones back home.”