Every Monday and Thursday Almasse
arrives at 7:00am. He timidly com
licensas at the door.
“Good morning Almasse! How are
you?!... Ok, today after your done cleaning the quintal, could you ummm…. cart
water? Then we also need you to wash some towels and clothes. And, uhhh… if you
have enough time… could you, please, burn the lixo? Is that ok? “
I’ve started annoying myself with all
of the niceties and uhs and ums.
Almasse is our empregado. I can’t bring myself to use the word maid… but
housekeeper doesn’t really explain it either. Empregados in Mozambique do
everything. They clean the yard, wash clothes, cart water, cook dinner,
babysit, run errands. You get the idea. Word choice aside, what I’m having
trouble wrapping my head around is the fact that I have an empregado.
I, me, Rayna, I have a maid, butler,
housekeeper. This isn’t right. I am firmly part of the working class. I come
from a coupon-cutting, month-to-month, used=new-to-us type of mentality. My
family shopped at thrift stores long before it became a hobby for hipsters and
we certainly do not pay people to do things we could do ourselves.
Here in Mozambique, I am no longer a
working class hero. I am now part of the upper class. PCVs usually don’t like
to look at it this way because we are given roughly $250/month as our stipend. This is a lot less then our Mozambican teacher
counterparts. It’s just enough for food, communication, and travel. At the end
of the month I’m counting the meticais
left until pay day. But, compared to most Mozambicans, I am living the good
life. And people who have a good life, have an empregado.
There are a few things I tell myself
to feel better about abandoning my blue-collared shirts.
First, I’m providing a job for
someone. We met Almasse when he was selling vegetables door-to-door. Little by
little, we got to know him. He lives with his mother and nephew. He likes using
English phrases like “Excuse me” and “good bye”. Before us, his only source of
income was from selling vegetables from his uncle’s machamba.
Second, there is so much to do! We
teach and have secondary projects. To do housework – Mozambican housework-
drains my energy and time. Dishes, cooking, sweeping, mopping, washing,
washing, washing. EVERYTHING IS DIRTY!! There is no way to keep up with it all.
I specifically came to Mozambique to teach. I love what I do and I want to
invest my time and energy into planning, preparing and grading. So, why not
provide employment to a hardworking individual and focus my energy where it’s
needed?
Third, it stimulates the economy! Hmm…well,
this might be a repeat of number one. But that just means it’s really
important!
So that’s that. I have an empregado.
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| Something I don't do anymore. |
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