The Help

Have you read the book? It's a good one. I recommend it.

Growing up, we never had house help of any kind. It wasn't the Mennonite way (although it used to be back in the day, I think, before we had as many appliances and machines - and it is the Amish way of doing things). In the Mennonite community where I grew up, women take pride is managing their households and completing all the necessary tasks. Or else the stuff just doesn't get done. Our trip to Zambia a few years ago was my first experience with having house help on a regular basis.

We hired some one local to cook lunch for us since we were both working all morning, but would be back in time for a late lunch. She also did a few loads (all by hand!) of laundry for us each week as well as some light cleaning.

It was an expected part of our experience (as well as being very, very helpful!) as a way to help out the community we were living in.

I have worked as house help before, so it felt funny to be on the other side of the coin.

We also have some house help here in Gaborone. She comes with the house, so to speak, and we got to meet her today. The kitchen and dining rooms are clean, dishes are washed and laundry has been done, and I haven't had much to do with it. For some one used to doing all of it at home, it's kind of strange. But also very nice. I think I will be much less tired at the end of the day while we're here, and it may be hard to leave...

But don't worry, I didn't sit around all morning doing nothing. I cleaned and organized the toy area (there are a lot of toys here for Edwin to play with), cooked breakfast and lunch, fed and diapered the kids and now I need to go and unpack. Then it's time to cook dinner.

On a different note, I'm sure you're tired of these wordy posts. I will post some pictures soon so you can see a little of what the place looks like and what Edwin's been up to.