When being a maid is more than just cleaning

What you need to know:

Jane cleans her two bedroom house twice every week. Before Jane arrives,Anna and her housemate must make sure there is everything that Jane needs, everything she ordered for way in advance. Windex window cleaner, (nothing else will do) and a feather duster are on top of Jane’s list. If it happens that one of the things Jane needs aren’t there, Anna and her housemate apologise with guilty smiles and scamper off to their rooms to hide while Jane cleans the house.

“I like doing my best, in anything that I sow. I give my all when I take on a job,” she says. She reminds those who are picky with work that every work is hard. Whatever you decide to do, do it diligently and with faithfulness, she says. Although cleaning is a hard job, it requires a lot of physical strength, she still loves it. It is not the kind of job people esteem, Jane knows a share of that. “You look poor as a maid, even friends and family scorn you,: she says. She has experienced that a lot, even from neighbours. But she doesn’t take their words to heart. “I make money with my ‘bad job’. What are they making?” she says with a laugh and adds, “I would like to be so successful that they see the fruits of my labour. Not in any other job, but this which they despise.”

It happened that in 2003, when they had moved to Kimara, Jane had to ask for a leave of absence to be home for a family emergency. But when she went back to work a month later, her position was already filled. She found another employment at a store, selling charcoal. It wasn’t until 2006 that she returned to her former employer. A year later, when she went for her annual leave, Jane felt too idle at home. She immediately found a temporary job at Infinity Communications, an ICT company owned by Stella Sakia. She felt like this was a better opportunity for her, since she was getting the same salary but would work for fewer hours. She would work from 7am to 6pm at the school, but 8am to 1pm at her new job. And she had just started tailoring school. Her new job gave her ample time to do both. Jane decided to stay with Stella. And that was when her whole life changed.

“We clicked instantly when we met,” Stella recalls. Shortly after Jane came into her life, Stella asked her to work at her home. “When she came into my house, she turned it upside down. It was hard to recognise my own place. And it is strange that she uses the same things that I would use. Somehow, she adds a magic touch to it.” And when Stella got married and had a child, she asked her to move in with them. Jane remembers how her mother didn’t like the idea at all. She didn’t like her daughter living with strangers. “So it happened that my mother had travelled, that’s when my father let me move out. It was the only way,” she says with a laugh. With time, and when her mother saw that her daughter was living well with the Sakias, she was more comfortable with Jane’s decision. And the Sakias would also visit Jane’s parents like their own.

When being a maid is more than just cleaning

What you need to know:

Latest

EAC trade surges 37pc to $52.3bn as mineral exports drive growth

Tanzania steps up checks on weighing and measuring equipment to protect consumers

Samia to grace Great Lakes women parliamentarians’ conference

SGR passengers to get free heart screening worth Sh500,000

JKT puts digital patriotism at the heart of youth training

Sh4 billion wildlife management area gets new leadership in Manyara

In the headlines

EAC trade surges 37pc to $52.3bn as mineral exports drive growth

Ride-hailing safety gap exposed as drivers bypass crucial checks

British Airways returns to Tanzania with direct flights to Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar

Rostam Azizi challenges governments to earn investor confidence

What you need to know:

From Aiyola to Konde Boy: Harmonize’s decade-long journey in music

Dar: A city best explored on foot

EAC trade surges 37pc to $52.3bn as mineral exports drive growth

Tanzania steps up checks on weighing and measuring equipment to protect consumers

Samia to grace Great Lakes women parliamentarians’ conference

SGR passengers to get free heart screening worth Sh500,000

JKT puts digital patriotism at the heart of youth training

Sh4 billion wildlife management area gets new leadership in Manyara

EAC trade surges 37pc to $52.3bn as mineral exports drive growth

Ride-hailing safety gap exposed as drivers bypass crucial checks

British Airways returns to Tanzania with direct flights to Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar

Rostam Azizi challenges governments to earn investor confidence