'There'll be food on the table tonight'
CKGaither Posted on Friday, April 27, 2012 at 02:58AM 
I spent my morning as I usually do - dropping the kids off and running errands - most of which revolve around filling my cupboards and my fridge. It's a tiresome task that requires I change money with the local "money changers", fight traffic and browse countless shops to fulfill a small grocery list, all of which are expensive. I only say it is tiresome because I have been doing it every day for weeks. I know we are lucky to be in this position but it doesn't mean I don't roll my eyes when the dry cleaner can't make change because the power went out - again. Yesterday my change was $5 Naira. I realized that was about 3 cents and just left it at that. It is actually $.03 cents.
As I have said before, my stewardess is amazing and I know I am lucky to have her. Let's just call her Venus from now on - she is a goddess! She irons our underwear. She mends my hem. She makes cupcakes for my children. She scrubs our toilets. She would cook for us every day if I asked. Venus lives in the "domestic quarters" (or the DQ) of the flat that we will move into in a few weeks. It's a perfect situation because she has been working for a family with small kids for the past 8 years, knows the area very well and dotes on my children. Yesterday she made an appointment for me to meet with the building manager of our new flat to go over the inspection list - basically the painting and small fixes that are done between tenants. I also got a chance to investigate our flat with her, explaining where all our furniture will go as we went along. I suspect (hope!) she will help me unpack so we discussed the kitchen, the master bedroom, K's new "big girl" room (with her own bath!), C's room and the playroom. There is a spacious front balcony overlooking the pool and a back balcony off the dining room. She told me she can use the back balcony to grow herbs and small vegetables in a container garden so I won't have to hunt the markets for basil anymore. Like I said - a goddess!
As we also own the flat that Venus lives in, her quarters gets a bit of "sprucing" too. I asked her if she needed anything else done and she offered to show me her flat.
The Domestic Quarters or Stewards Quarters are typically in a separate building from the Residences. In this case, her building is near the security gate and of course the generator that supports the whole compound. It is the size of a train car and very loud. The tenants (both stewards and drivers) have a small outdoor space which is mostly covered with a clothes drying line. There is a little "kitchen" on each floor that everyone shares. I can't really call it a kitchen because it is more like a janitor's closet. There is a small sink and a counter that holds several "cookers" - like a hibachi grill that has two eyes for cooking. Venus showed me her little cooker- barely enough for my smallest soup pot - definitely not big enough for a frying pan. I asked her if she were interested in getting a new one. She replied "Yes M'am" and after some prodding, shyly and hesitantly agreed to let me buy her one.
Then we went to her flat. There is no way one can ever call this a "flat". It is a room. And I'm not sure you can even say that. It is as long as the length of her bed, (which is a twin) and just wide enough to open the door that leads into it. She has a little bar fridge with her dish drying rack balanced on top of it. There was a small doorless closet that she managed to squeeze a TV into plus a DVD player. There were a few clothes hanging inside and a small basket of shoes underneath. There was a very fancy pair in there that I complimented her on and she proudly told me her sister had given them to her. There was an ancient air conditioning unit in the window and a ceiling fan. I did not see any pictures but the wall had a few little stencils that I suspected she had drawn herself. There is no room for a chair or table even. I asked her if the A/C unit was sufficient and she said she had bought it at a discount when the main units in the residences were upgraded several years ago. I asked her about her little fridge (which had barely any food in it) and she said it was fine except the freezer part (which was empty) wasn't working properly and wasn't big enough to store anything but ice. (ice is a luxury as you need to use filtered water). She showed me the screen to her door which was frayed and letting mosquitos in so we added that to the list of things the property managers needed to fix.
I never saw the bathrooms which I understand are also shared by the tenants on each floor.
Taking a deep breath, I asked her politely if she would let me buy her a new fridge, air conditioning unit and a TV. I assured her that because she has been so good to us the past few weeks, I wanted to reciprocate, to make sure she is happy in her home and has what she needs to be comfortable. As always, she politely responded "thank you M'am". She explained that she knew a repairman who could look at the AC but that the TV was too dated to fix. Her bed had a broken leg that she had rigged with some plywood that the repairman would also fix. I added a bed to the list.
What is so hard about this situation, is that it is by no means a reflection of how her former employer took care of her. Or how our company provides for the employees or their staff. This is typically how all domestic staff live regardless of what company owns the residence. After asking several friends, many of them admitted they had never seen the domestic quarters but they would agree, when asked, to upgrade furnishings, clothes, cell phones, etc. Many pay for health insurance for their employees. Some pay for school supplies and uniforms for their staff's children.
I know Venus has a daughter about the same age as my daughter. She lives in Ghana and until now I have been hesitant to ask who takes care of her and how. Tomorrow I am going to take a few more deep breaths and ask if she will let me help. My Venus deserves so much more than this.
Reader Comments (1)
Bunny, i think you have entered the inner sanctum of Venus that probably few have been or even wanted to go to. Venus is a gem and I hope I get to meet her sometime. You, Bun are a gem too. could you get an idea of what I could get Venus' daughter for you to take back to Lagos and maybe a little something for Venus too after all she is taking care of my family there. love,diane