One of the endless debates in the foreign service is whether or not to employ a household staff. And if you do, how do you do that in an ethical way?
Almost everyone we know in the Embassy has a household helper of some sort. Even the volunteers I met here have one. Most of the times, is not a luxury, but a necessity as the tremendous amount of dust hovering over the city gets into everything. House needs to literally be cleaned every single day.
As soon as we moved into our new apartment, I started being inundated with resumes of drivers, maids or cooks. Every day I would come home, the guard at the entrance would hand me a bog envelope or two containing resumes opf people looking for work. In country where labor is so cheap, working in the diplomatic community is a source of great income and pride.
Our CLO (community liaison office) also had a big package on how to hire or fire household help. Big undertaking, background checks, rules on bonuses, uniform allowances, and on and on. Too many things to think about.
Reluctantly, I agreed to hire our first domestic help, Usha. We "inherited" her from our neighbors who, after finishing their Foreign Service life, retired to Florida. So the transition was easy, she just came down one floor.
Usha comes in 5 days a week, 8 hours per day. Her biggest qualities: she is quiet as a mouse and she is very honest. Before she left, our neighbor told us a story about leaving a large sum of money on her bed one day. It was more then what Usha would probably make in her lifetime. Anyway, not only that she did not touch the money, but also panicked at the thought the "madam" left such a treasure unattended.
She is a big help when it comes to shopping for fresh foods, cleaning them, cleaning the house, doing the laundry. She even cooks sometimes, Bangladeshi style, but even a veteran lover of spicy food like myself can find her dishes burning hot. Her English is great and communication is not an issue.
And most of all, Oreo loves her. He just lays on the floor and watches her as she moves around the house!
Almost everyone we know in the Embassy has a household helper of some sort. Even the volunteers I met here have one. Most of the times, is not a luxury, but a necessity as the tremendous amount of dust hovering over the city gets into everything. House needs to literally be cleaned every single day.
As soon as we moved into our new apartment, I started being inundated with resumes of drivers, maids or cooks. Every day I would come home, the guard at the entrance would hand me a bog envelope or two containing resumes opf people looking for work. In country where labor is so cheap, working in the diplomatic community is a source of great income and pride.
Our CLO (community liaison office) also had a big package on how to hire or fire household help. Big undertaking, background checks, rules on bonuses, uniform allowances, and on and on. Too many things to think about.
Reluctantly, I agreed to hire our first domestic help, Usha. We "inherited" her from our neighbors who, after finishing their Foreign Service life, retired to Florida. So the transition was easy, she just came down one floor.
Usha comes in 5 days a week, 8 hours per day. Her biggest qualities: she is quiet as a mouse and she is very honest. Before she left, our neighbor told us a story about leaving a large sum of money on her bed one day. It was more then what Usha would probably make in her lifetime. Anyway, not only that she did not touch the money, but also panicked at the thought the "madam" left such a treasure unattended.
She is a big help when it comes to shopping for fresh foods, cleaning them, cleaning the house, doing the laundry. She even cooks sometimes, Bangladeshi style, but even a veteran lover of spicy food like myself can find her dishes burning hot. Her English is great and communication is not an issue.
And most of all, Oreo loves her. He just lays on the floor and watches her as she moves around the house!
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| Usha is helping Cristina with her Easter preparations |
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