How helpful are house helps these days?

The tradition of keeping house helps goes back in time, in most homes, the working parents are left with no other choice but to hire some who would assist with domestic chores and taking care of the kids. Today, even housewives and non-working parents have house helps, but after a series of tragic house help incidents that happened recently, a lot of people now have second thoughts about hiring housemaids. Though some people still hire house helps, do they really help or destroy one’s family? Life Xtra serves you varied but interesting responses on the issue.
Forty-nine-year-old businesswoman and mother of five, Fatima Ahmed, thinks that house helps still play a vital role in many homes. She says one has to be careful though when hiring one, as there are certain things that should be put into consideration before picking house helps. “Personally, before I hire a house help, I make sure I do a background check in order to know the person I am bringing into my family. I usually have an agent who is my supplier and she makes sure she finds all the information I would need before bringing the maid to my house. It is very important to do background checks before hiring anyone because this is a situation where you are bringing someone new into your family and hoping that person is trustworthy. I know of instances where house helps destroyed homes they worked for, tore the husband and wife apart. However, as a mother, I can’t do all the house chores all by myself, I need a helping hand because my children are all grown-ups and married. So, hiring house help is the only way out since I don’t have a child at home to help me. Honestly, I think house helps are still helpful and equally important,” Muhammed says.
Ahmed Ibrahim, 40, an engineer, believes that house helps were helpful a couple of years back but not anymore. He says he no sees the need to keep a maid, especially after his experience with one his wife hired even though he gave his consent when she sought for his opinion.
“The perception I had has changed because a couple of months back we hired a maid and she turned out to be a disaster. My wife and I treated the help as though she was our own child. She was fed well and was provided clean clothes. She became a city girl unlike when she first came looking unkempt and very local in the sense that she didn’t know what a Plasma TV was. We groomed her into a new person and the only way she could reward us was by being hostile to my kids. She would beat them and will refuse to give them food whenever she was the only one at home with them. The worst part of it was how she stole a large amount of money I kept in my room. The money wasn’t even mine so I had to repay the owner. She made me spend such huge amount of money, which affected me and my family because at a point we had to cut down our expenses since I had spent around half of my savings,” Ibrahim states.
He added that he hates the idea of having house help ever since what happened and that is why he is having problems with his wife on the matter as she insists they have to get a new house help since their children can’t be left alone at home, there has to be someone to stay with them: “I don’t wish to hire a maid again and I know eventually we will have to get someone to take care of our kids as my wife and I are at work weekdays. Therefore, I finally decided to bring one of my relatives to help us. I invited my cousin to stay with us at least for the time being before we get someone that would stay permanently.”
Joseph Yusuf, an accountant in his late 20s, says: “In my opinion, choosing the right house help is significant because she will be staying with the children and kids tend to learn things around them fast. If the maid is a good person, she will teach them good but if she has bad habits, the kids would learn them as well. Treating house helps very well also contributes a lot because if they are not treated well by their employers, their attitude changes. To me, if house helps are treated properly like humans, they are very helpful.”
Twenty-six-year-old interior designer, Christy Williams, notes that: “I can’t imagine my home without a house help. My job is time demanding and I travel a lot, so I definitely need a helping hand. However, I always try to get someone I can trust and one thing is certain, before I hire any house help, I always take the person to the hospital for a test.
Ever since I heard of a maid that transmitted HIV/ AIDS to the child she was taking care of, I became very cautious. I don’t want to risk the life of my child. So far, all the maids I tested were negative and I think most people should consider testing maids before hiring them.”