FANNE MWAMBI

A few months after Grace, our most recent house help, came to live with us, she requested that I let her leave on Saturday evenings, some weekends, to report back on Sunday evening. 

My alarms instantly went off considering the myriad experiences I had encountered with even the best house-helps, particularly when it came to days off and time.

Vivian, my first and long-serving help, for one, had trouble keeping time and once even came at 11pm claiming that her boyfriend had locked her in his house.

In another instance, I called her phone and a man answered announcing chauvinistically that Vivian would be spending the night at his place that night. 

Another help constantly experienced transport mishaps, one would think they constantly picked on her. So, when Grace asked for more time, my ideal answer would have been ‘no’.

The bigger picture

But then Grace is a mature woman. She is the kind that would sit me down to apologise for letting a mug slip. She weighs her words and is careful not to show disrespect. 

Because of this, I put aside my judgement of character and said ‘yes’. I would think about the implications of my decisions later. 

True, I did not know what I would do with my endless errands that lasted late into the night, but when she accepted to travel with us for days to bury my dad, I knew I could count on her if I needed her.

Did she know I needed it?

Now, I must say that Grace’s off days have tremendously impacted on the quality of our lives. I was forced to rework my strategies and finally made more time for family.

Our daughters, especially enjoy the dinners and movies and look forward to every weekend. I realised my family loves it when I cook and I can closely monitor the cleaning done over the week.

I may not thank her right now, because I still need to work on my pride, but as I turn 33, I will start by seeing the good in everything around me.