Mopping floors, cleaning counters, keeping the toilets, canteens and first aid rooms clean, and responding to incidents such as flooding due to a defective toilet. It's all in a day's work for Soraya Madero Cadenas, cleaner and assistant manager for CSU at Eindhoven Airport. She takes on all the jobs and has the added role of coaching and motivating her colleagues since a year and a half.

Soraya works five days a week at the airport and ‘if it's needed, will come in on weekends’. She can't think of a job she'd rather do. “We work in between the passengers, there's a special atmosphere and every day is different. That's what makes my job great.” Soraya is one of the twenty CSU employees at the airport. She's been working there for about four years now and knows practically all the staff in the terminal; from Eindhoven Airport, customs, security, the shops, catering and the military police. “We're one big happy family. We understand and help one another. If I want to get past security with my trolley, they make room at the lane.”

Soraya doesn't take her work and that of her colleagues lightly. “It has to be really clean. Cleaning is more than just a wipe of the cloth. It's about the total package.” A clean toilet includes a clean sink, clean floor and walls, and a shiny mirror. “Sure, I am a fanatic,” she says and confesses that her house is always spotless. She is satisfied when the team finishes the cleaning tasks according to standard and have worked well together. And it's important that the cleaners take care of themselves to avoid injury or physical problems. “The work is quite tough and we have to bend down a lot and work on our knees.”

Soraya likes the atmosphere in the terminal. Passengers are often in a good mood because they are about to travel or have just arrived and are meeting their family or friends. But passengers can also be impatient or rude at times, for example when they have to use a different toilet due to cleaning. “I let remarks like that roll right off my shoulders.” Thankfully, passengers mostly ask her questions like ‘Where do buses leave from?’ or ‘Where can I buy face masks?’ “That's nice because I like helping people.” She also gets the occasional compliment on her work from travellers. “It's a good feeling when passengers show us appreciation for what we do.”