Boy and Nanay

Don and Little Girl

Maids take a lot of the chores out of my life, from paying bills to shining shoes and even tying them if I wish. My helpers are more like loving, respectful daughters and friends. It is wonderful to be free from housework and errands. And the maids and helpers appreciate their jobs, and me. They are extremely respectful of older people.

I trained one of my former maids, formerly a cook for a group of Japanese students, to cook American style. She was excellent.

You may not understand until you live here how important maids and helpers are. They make your social and business interaction easier. This assumes you have a helper or two who can deal with people well. I have one that not only has the skills of a house helper but those of a social secretary, too. Presently I have a tutor for one of my maids who was an excellent student in college, but had to quit because of costs. She had taken a course in HTML. The tutor I hire for 60 pesos an hour, about $1.20 is teaching her the finer points and PhotoShop too. She types so also serves as my secretary. If she proves out I will raise her salary significantly.

Trustworthy, mature helpers are indispensable to foreigners like me. I felt I didn't need maids when I came to the Philippines. I thought I could make it without them and save money and not be bothered by employees. I didn't know about Filipino Maids and Filipino helpers.

But I was always running around town paying bills, cooking and washing, cleaning and wasting my time. I didn't understand the cost/benefit ratio. In that they live in, have only one day off, they often don't take, Filipino Maids and Filipino helpers, are unique indeed.

Select a maid and helper as you would a wife or best friend. A good girlfriend or boyfriend is easier to find than a top-quality maid or helper. You must be close to them but, at the same time, keep an employee/employer relationship: a delicate balance. If you think I am belaboring this point, you should know that books have been written about maids and helpers by expats. They are that important. Getting romantically involved with a maid or helper is one of the most unwise thing you can possibly do. Respect them as employees and even friends, but never as romantic, and God forbid never as a sex partner, even if they initiate the contact, which could happen. If you do, you will, more than likely, regret it the rest of your life.

This is my washing machine, in the back, an imported Whirlpool.  It makes own hot water.  I bought it so the helpers would not have to spend so much time washing clothes. The young lady in the foreground has a better way, a cleaner way to do it; a brush, soap and elbow grease.

Most who wash clothes don't feel the washing machine gets the clothes as clean as do the hands.  And it seems to me, washing is like a meditation with the women and girls  So it light sweeping done every morning. Young and even older men often do their own, if not their sisters or relatives or if they don't have helpers.  It is not considered exclusively a woman's task, though most professional washers are women, labederias, from the Spanish.  You can hire one of those part-time or full-time. All professionals are women.  If you have good eyes the you can see the plug on the top in the middle hanging down on the side.  It is unplugged.  As far as those who wash go, it can stay that way.  Think twice before buying a washing machine.  I didn't, and I am sorry.

Maids and helpers don't just clean your house and maintain your yard. They are advisors on cultural differences and can even help you with the language if you want to learn. I am talking about a good maid.  A maid can be everything from a social secretary to a guard for your house when you are away. I personally don't have a driver, but have friends who prefer cars with drivers to taxis and jeeps. Live in drivers are about $100. They maintain your car, have basic mechanic skills, drive you, guide you, wait for you and run any errands that require a car. Some use them as body guards, but most more like helpers to carry things while they shop, and help in anyway they can.

Overpaying Maids, Helpers

Hi all,

I did not agree with the original post about hugely overpaying for maids. However, it is NOT true that overpaying for labour relative to the laws of supply and demand causes havoc as asserted by Vance. The US and certainly the UK and most countries in the EU have minimum wage rates.

In the UK, it is about USD 10 per hour. Minimum wage rates were FIRST introduced only 8 years ago against substantial opposition and at a lower rate of about half of this, and it has been progressively increased to the current level - but now nobody would advocate reverting to a free market in a true capitalist way.

And unemployment has NOT increased in spite of substantial immigration. Meanwhile, the incentive to work has been much improved and it is generally acknowledged that poverty amongst the working poor is significantly lessened.

I think the Philippines has a theoretical minimum wage rate - I am not sure what it is and if it is strictly applied? I am sure someone here will correct me or fill in the missing information.

Distorting the market can benefit the community in the widest sense therefore by reducing the extent of poverty. However, this IS different to a one -off individual action which COULD cause a lot of jealousy and resentment on an individual basis. That is NOT helpful. I agree with other posters that it perhaps DJ would be better advised to help local charities with his goodwill money than one specific maid and her family?

JOHN

Advantages and Disadvantages of having a maid or domestic helper