This is one of those phantom well educated, computer literate, fluent english speaking maids. DARN!! I will definitely treat you well.

all people are saying is, if her English and computer skills are this good, she wouldnt be a maid right now. In Nigeria.

Ummmm, nowhere in the post did the OP say she was in Nigeria. In the US you can see all kinds of people working as maids. It can be very lucrative. I had a client with a daughter who was pusuing a master's degree. They were very wealthy but for some reason the girl deceided to work and started her own maid company. She hired herself out to clean houses and I am sure her house was nicer than any she cleaned. My great grandmother was a college professor in Mississippi in the 1930s but when the family moved, she could only work as a maid. Maids should be treated as you would want to be treated. A househoold can only benefit from a well treated, well educated workforce. I dont have a maid but hire ppl when needed. I pay $50-$75 for 4 or 5 hours of work. I feed them and help them do the work. If they are kids, I may take them to a movie and pay a lower rate.

prittigrrr:

Ummmm, nowhere in the post did the OP say she was in Nigeria. In the US you can see all kinds of people working as maids. It can be very lucrative. I had a client with a daughter who was pusuing a master's degree. They were very wealthy but for some reason the girl deceided to work and started her own maid company. She hired herself out to clean houses and I am sure her house was nicer than any she cleaned. My great grandmother was a college professor in Mississippi in the 1930s but when the family moved, she could only work as a maid. Maids should be treated as you would want to be treated. A househoold can only benefit from a well treated, well educated workforce. I dont have a maid but hire ppl when needed. I pay $50-$75 for 4 or 5 hours of work. I feed them and help them do the work. If they are kids, I may take them to a movie and pay a lower rate.

Why would you pay them a lower rate? In lieu of a movie ticket? Is that what they want? Stick to your advice and pay those kids what you would be paying adults.

I pay the kids less becaause I don't work them as many hours and I don't ask them to do as strenuous work as adults. Also, when I work kids, I usually work more than 1 child at a time.

For those who think maids do not have access to the computer,I have one at home though will not call her maid cos she looks after my lovely boy,if she is happy my boy is happy and that is what I want,my wife teach her computer in the study when she is free,she sleeps in the same room with my boy enjoying AC/DVD/Home movies and also my boy's baby TV channel,did I mention am living in naija.

tpiah:

all people are saying is, if her English and computer skills are this good, she wouldnt be a maid right now. In Nigeria.

and what i and a few other pple are saying is you and others need to lose this condescending image of a nigerian maid.

when we were growing up, we had a maid who had as much rights as us the children. he went to school . . . . . a good school, and university.

i know a few familiies who did this too. abeg, make we stop all these rubbish.

OMO IBO:

and what i and a few other pple are saying is you and others need to lose this condescending image of a nigerian maid.

when we were growing up, we had a maid who had as much rights as us the children. he went to school . . . . . a good school, and university.

i know a few familiies who did this too. abeg, make we stop all these rubbish.

I No go call anybody hypocrite oooooo
But abeg, this maid are humans like us.

Am Alone:

I No go call anybody hypocrite oooooo
But abeg, this maid are humans like us.

oboy, why u come dey open my yansh like this na?

all those people talking about naija dis,naija dat, abeg make we hear word jare, houshelps havent shown you guys before
I dont advocate cruelty of any kind,be it to humans or animals, people shud be treated with as much regard as they deserve
I have had helps who if i didnt send them away,i wud probably hav killed them,one even almost burnt down my house, then one went behind back and started chasing my husband's brother,let me not even start wit the one that was stealing and telling neighbours shit about me, yet all these helps
i have being civil to and treated like members of my family, taken shopping and everything, wat do u guys say about that?

I have one now,that is good, she's good wit my baby and very helpful around the house, and sshe already told me she doesnt want to leave,infact her uncle came to take her,and she said she wasnt going to runaway if he didnt leave her with me,

the reason why some people behave the way they do to thier help is because of the experience they've had,even that is no excuse but all the same nothing is ever straight in this world,

.

Nigeria is almost like USA where maids now have email account, browse facebook and nairaland. This is real growth

Thanks coolfaced8 .

Her nanny spends more time with her than I do during the week and yes I get home extremely tired as I’m pregnant but we spend about 2.5hrs together on working days (didn’t realise it was that little until I thought about it now). We spend all the weekend together including her sleeping with us.

It’s just upsetting to see your child going to someone else when they are hurt though it makes me feel better leaving her in the nanny’s care. Also can’t help feeling she’ll prefer her nanny even more when the baby comes. I’ll just have to try harder. I am looking forward to stopping work soon and spending more quality time with her everyday.

We tend to forget how devilish some of this maids could be.
One deliberately blinded a neighbours child's eye with a fork recently, for no just cause.

Why would anyone treat their maid badly.
Giving them leftovers and scraps to eat? First to wake up last to sleep? Hitting them and taking out your frustrations on them. there's a name for all that. Its called childabuse.

Most peeps have the erroneous notion that maids aren’t literates. . Don’t be deceived some are fortunate to be schooled and are actually in a class of their own

some people are just terrible, the last maid we had was really cool at first. we treated her like family and all that; i even gave her preferential treated cos she was pretty and people always taught we were a twin, my mum liked her and so also did my dad and my younger brothers, she went 2 school and she even undertook private maths lessons at home, i also had a further maths lesson teacher too, we got used 2 her cos she was hard working, smart and pretty, things changed wen angela[her name] started sleeping with my dad or rather wen my shameless father started bangin her, i caught them once at the study; i did't tell my mum cos i knew it was going 2  break her heart, angela promised that it wasnt goin 2happen again, then i had finished school and angela was supposed 2 finish d next year, i caught them again this time around i hid somewhere and watched angela skiifully riding my dad with her nipples in his mouth, i must say it really looked interesting cos i hadn,t seen anything like that b4, angela was good at it and i stopped 2 wonder how long this nonsense had been going on cos according 2 my mum angela has been with us since she was 8 so ask me who taught her  all all those things. 2 cut d long story short, angela changed overnite she started flexing muscles with my mum and everybody in the house, b4 u know it she got pregnant and other silly things happened, it's been three years since then, husbsnds and fathers shud control their dicks! :

patkelly:

some people are just terrible, the last maid we had was really cool at first. we treated her like family and all that; i even gave her preferential treated cos she was pretty and people always taught we were a twin, my mum liked her and so also did my dad and my younger brothers, she went 2 school and she even undertook private maths lessons at home, i also had a further maths lesson teacher too, we got used 2 her cos she was hard working, smart and pretty, things changed wen angela[her name] started sleeping with my dad or rather wen my shameless father started bangin her, i caught them once at the study; i did't tell my mum cos i knew it was going 2 break her heart, angela promised that it wasnt goin 2happen again, then i had finished school and angela was supposed 2 finish d next year, i caught them again this time around i hid somewhere and watched angela skiifully riding my dad with her nipples in his mouth, i must say it really looked interesting cos i hadn,t seen anything like that b4, angela was good at it and i stopped 2 wonder how long this nonsense had been going on cos according 2 my mum angela has been with us since she was 8 so ask me who taught her all all those things. 2 cut d long story short, angela changed overnite she started flexing muscles with my mum and everybody in the house, b4 u know it she got pregnant and other silly things happened, it's been three years since then, husbsnds and fathers shud control their dicks! :

Wow! Sorry to hear that. Thought I'd heard it all.

OMO IBO:

and what i and a few other pple are saying is you and others need to lose this condescending image of a nigerian maid.

when we were growing up, we had a maid who had as much rights as us the children. he went to school . . . . . a good school, and university.

i know a few familiies who did this too. abeg, make we stop all these rubbish.

Instead of getting oversensitive and telling lies about the plight of housemaids in Nigeria, count on your fingers the number of househelps you know who have the ability to write like the OP.


You know ONE housemaid who "had the same rights as you the children", therefore the countless other maids who are in dire situations, must be ignored. Not to mention the fact that if your housemaid were interviewed privately, would he confirm what you're saying here. I also know a couple of househelps who went on to higher institutions- does that mean every single servant in the country did the same. The majority of househelps do NOT get these priviledges and you know it.

In Nigeria, the mere fact that you're a housemaid already places you in a lower class than the family you're serving. In a country with such a high poverty level, what does that mean for the majority of househelps in the country.

If you feel people's comments about a housemaid not being likely to have such a good command of American English as well as having an email account and access to a computer, is condescending, then that's your prerogative.

Personally, what I find more condescending is your insistence that househelps in Nigeria are a happy bunch with "condescending" people like me only out to make them dissatisfied with their lot in life.

Pepeye:

Most peeps have the erroneous notion that maids aren’t literates. . Don’t be deceived some are fortunate to be schooled and are actually in a class of their own

how many Nigerian househelps do you know who are literate, can access the computer, and still remain househelps?

tpiah:


how many Nigerian househelps do you know who are literate, can access the computer, and still remain househelps?

Ask me oh?

Its just dosent fit in the Nigeria for HHs to be enlightened. Infact I'm sure the poster play with her bosses system when they are not around.

dont have one.

Some people are here talking how great they've been treating their maids.  Obviousely, the Ogas and Madams are more powerful than the maids by any standards and have greater access to PC's and the internet than the poor maid.  Otherwise, I would have love to invite the maids to get online and give their own side of the story as the views on here in NL seems to be one-sided.  At least, Nairalanders would get balanced views in order to trash out all the LIES.  We all know when someone is powerful, he/she is capable of anything and as for the poor maid, who would listen to her and who cares.  There are two sides to every story.

Again, some said their maids are stealing from them and we would like to know exactly what they stole.  If they stole food stuff, hmmm what does that suggest then?  In fact, its a clear evidence they are being starved in the home - they are not fed properly because there's no way a well fed person (I mean belly full well) would want to eat more - naaaaaaaaaaaaaah!  Because, when belly is full, you don want any more food,  in a full belly, abi?  Probably, your feed them hours after your children have had their meals or even feed them twice a day when your own children are having three square meals per day.  Horrible!!!  If you do this kind of thing remember one day, the young shall grow!! TREAT THEM LIKE YOUR OWN AND ONE BIG FAMILY YOU ARE BECAUSE, YOU NEVER KNOW TOMORROW - she could end up marrying the next Nigerian President (don't doubt it!!!!!) and if she ask him to get your head for her, I bet he would, I promise you.

Dont have one, but if i do, will treat him or her like a family

I believe we treat her just like any other member of our family and she feels the same as I’ve overheard her on the phone telling her folks back home too. We all party and dine in/out together except my husband and I want to spend time alone together. She’s also encouraged to go out with friends from school at weekends so she doesn’t miss out.

I share the household chores with her as I don’t think it’s right for my husband to join in whilst we have help. She also goes to school at weekend and evenings when I’m home from work. We’ve had people tell us we are over-indulging her especially visitors from Nig but until she proves herself unworthy, it’s worked for us for about a year now since she came to our home. It’s not always honky dory but she’s about the same age as my youngest brother and patience can be a virtue when dealing with someone of that age but I remind myself that I’ve been through it all too.

The only problem I seem to have now is that my 20 month old daughter is starting to prefer her sometimes when she’s upset to me; now that does seriously bother me.

Joe

maybe how much do you pay your maid would be a more befitting thread title.

Maid in the Nigerian context is different from the current western one.

tpiah:

how many Nigerian househelps do you know who are literate, can access the computer, and still remain househelps?

I m well accustomed to having maids in the house while growing up so I can categorically tell you I ve seem them all. The good, the bad and the ugly. .  They come in all shapes and sizes. .they aren’t identical so don’t be apt in jumping to conclusion
The net could be a pinch of salt to some . . I ain’t surprise after all I ve seem some intelligent one's

But in actual fact some maids can be full of mischief and horrible too.   As someone wud say they are necessary evils

spikedcylinder:

@ OP

Why were you a maid for just one weekend? Were you doing research?

no, spikecylinder
i wish i was doing a research, but no,
i was not doing a research, i was trying to make a living but left when i discovered i couldn't do it anymore

Ujujoan:

Ask me oh?

Its just dosent fit in the Nigeria for HHs to be enlightened. Infact I'm sure the poster play with her bosses system when they are not around.

their's no way i can play with her computer cos she lock the door and go out with her key

@
poster

Are u still a maid?
And why haven’t you left ur post if it’s that bad

we dont sleep b4 her and everynight, she spend hours on her phone calling her children
she locks us out in the cold every time she's going out
we sleep on cold hard floor{though she can afford to give us a room if she wants} when we do sleep and we sleep at most, for 3 hours everyday

we wash the toilet with our hands and a small sponge and have to dip our hands into where faeces go{and she watches with eagle eyes so their's no way u can avoid it}  

we are not allowed to touch the tv, sit at her presence or answer a phone
i could go on and on

what i hate most is her attitude to mistakes
she will go on and on at it for hours, curse you, abuse you till u feel like dying
she really is a bitchy bitchy bitchy bitch