The Housekeeper Diaries!

If you read this and have never been to the Congo, then you would probably say that I am fussy when it comes to "cleaning help" ( Politically correct)! The problem is that you really do need help. We barely have enough time in the mornings to do shopping, as you have to search 3 or 4 shops sometimes just to collect the ingredients required for certain meals. We really need help to have someone peel, wash and cut them. No "Woolies" for miles. With all the rains, it makes the soil quite damp, and the dog is constantly in and out the doors.
I am now on my 4th housekeeper in 4months. That makes it about 1 per month. Well it's just not like that. I never had a full-time maid in SA, I only had a char once every 2 weeks. Well, Nancy,did all the work in one day, that these cleaners do in one week, and she does a better job! The only problem was that she was not as reliable. At least these people come to work everyday.
The first one, was an old Pappa (an elderly man), who was probably very good in his younger days. But as the years passed on, he got slower and slower, until eventually he virtually stopped working. And he had no idea on anything I said in English, I also tried hand signals, but got very tired after the first week. He had to go. The 2nd was a lady, who I will not like to disclose any more info on the web, except the fact that she wanted to wash her feet in my bath. The 3rd was a young male, with lots of energy, and my house looked spotless after his hands had put a touch to it, as well as touching many other things that went into his bag everyday before leaving for home. After he had left, we found lots of consumables missing. Now the lovely young lady that is with us, Aimee, is such a sweetie pie. She enjoys playing with Torden, and has no clue on how to do a structured cleaning cycle, and that is with the help of my "schedule" which I have constructed in French. In one week, she has turned my beige colour cotton throw into a puke peach, and she's turned my crockery cupboard into one for Tupperware, so I have given up hope of every finding my perfect housekeeper. In the meantime I will just get by with a not so clean house, a happy son, washing that has been dyed automatically and cutlery with no real home. I am so tired of teaching "cleaning methods" that I think I shall open my own cleaning agency. " Congo Cleaners!