clean house

My house is sparkling clean after a session with our cleaning lady. I feel so spoiled. She is wonderful! This is a recent development. We had asked about a babysitter and got introduced to this woman. She was actually looking for a sponsored position and was facing deportation. But we just couldn't sponsor- we don't have that much work or money and our own paperwork wasn't coming through smoothly. But we told her we could use her part-time while she looked. Luckily, she has a sponsor now and can come clean for us on her day off.
I've heard to sponsor a live-in maid or nanny it is $150 BD a month (about $400 US) and they are supposed to only work 48 hours a week. (I've also heard some employers don't follow this- requiring longer hours or providing less pay.) The sponsor / employer also has to pay for a ticket home once a year or give them the cash equivalent.
Part-time house cleaning is $2 BD an hour, or $5.34 US. Most other people have either full or part-time help- I can't really think of anyone we know who doesn't. It is kind of an expected thing and a perk of living here. Iwas thinking a few hours would be great- but the last two times its been a full day. I kind of felt guilty- I am home all day. I should clean. And I do! But this is a dusty, dirty country. You turn on the AC and the dust bunnies fly out. Dirt blows in drifts in the gaps under the door. The marble floors get filthy and are tough to clean. And our floor to ceiling wood blinds- eight full panels- are a pain to dust. So I do sweep, do dishes by hand, make meals, scrub toilets, pick up, iron, do laundry, mop the kitchen, etc.
But there is still enough for the cleaning lady to do for eight hours on Saturday- after I spend a few hours picking up in anticipation of her visit! Last week she mopped all the floors- including bedrooms (even under the beds!), halls and two flights of stairs I never get to. This week she dusted all the blinds and washed the windows. She works so hard! We have to leave the house- we just feel too guilty putting around while she is moving furniture to sweep beneath it. So Saturdays are our family outing days.
She has four children back in the Philippians. When Roger dropped her off last time, she had him take her to a wire transfer place so she could wire the money to her children. I guess when she lost her job, they had to stop going to school because they didn't have money to pay the school fees. She wired the money we had given her so they could go to school the next day.
When I was talking with her, she said she tries to work as a maid, not a nanny, because it is too heartbreaking to be a nanny. It is too hard to raise other children when she can't be there raising her own. And the nannies get to love their employer's children- then they move on when they get transferred- leaving the nanny behind. And that is hard too.
Living in this place is so humbling. Evelyn had another play date this weekend at a classmates and her house was literally a castle. Then walking through our unfinished development a few nights ago, realizing that some of the construction laborers are living in the incomplete houses- in the heat with the bats and wild dogs and feral cats- how horrible must their countries have been if they are willing to come here and work and live like this? We are so blessed- we have so much. We can do so little to help.
Roger and I were talking about it after- we feel good about having our cleaning lady not because we get a sparkling house, (although that is heavenly!) but because we are able to employ someone who works so very hard who is using the money to make a better life for her family.
It is like the other day at the supermarket. You have those pay carts and usually I return mine myself to get my coin back. But sometimes you see someone coming over to help you so they can return your cart and get your coin. And you let them because they need it, are willing to work for it, and do you really need it?