The story of Mihaela

Mihaela:

Through self-study I had learned English, and this helped me a lot to find a job. For 2 years I had been working in a meat factory. This was a nice but heavy job. When I started to suffer from pain in my back, I decided to change job. My landlord introduced me to Avanti. As I liked cleaning my own house, I was happy to receive a contract immediately, even if I did not speak Dutch. With my clients I speak English and I also understand French. I intend to start Dutch lessons as soon as these will be organised in a physical way again. I go to my clients by electric bike, so I do sports every day 😊!

I like my job very much: I have a good contact with all my clients, where I already go for 3 years now. Only two clients were changed upon my demand after an operation, because they lived too far away. In comparison to my previous job, cleaning is a less heavy and more comfortable job. When arriving at home I have much more energy than before.

There are several reasons why I like to work for Avanti: the office team is a nice team, there is a good atmosphere, they are very understanding and always communicate with me in a respectful way. I do not feel any “hierarchy.”

“You do not receive a lot of respect as a cleaning assistant?”
I do not agree with this statement: in comparison to Romania, all my clients treat me with a lot of respect, the “distance” between my clients and me is not big. They often invite me to drink a coffee together.

“You do not earn a lot of money when working as a cleaning assistant?”
When I compare it with my previous job, I earn the same amount of money, but my current job is much more comfortable and less heavy than my job in the meat factory. So, I do not agree.

“Working as a cleaning assistant is a hard job?”
When I worked in the meat factory, I was very tired when I arrived at home, and I went to bed almost immediately. Now I still have energy even if I have been cleaning for 8 hours. I chose to work only 4 hours on Wednesday, to have some rest in de middle of the week. By doing so, my job is not too heavy.

In my free time, I like to stay in contact with my Romanian friends in Belgium.
I already introduced three friends to Avanti. I like to play with my dog Tara. Also, I am busy with the flowers in my garden.