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“Mteja wa nambari uliopiga hapatikani kwa sasa.”
If you are a career mother like me, that is the one dreaded message you did not want to hear from your house girl’s line as you tried to track if she was coming or not after the Christmas break.Sadly, many of my friends got this rude shock as they tried to find out from their house girls if they are aware that the fun was over, and they are expected at work.
Some of my pals were even more unlucky because they got double trouble. Their house girls first duped them with the usual “nitumie fare plus ya kutoa’ then they sealed it with going MIA (missing in action). One of my friends, a business woman, fell for that lame lie. She borrowed money because the girl insisted that fare from Kitale to Nairobi had been hiked and she needed Sh2,000 to travel.
“Imagine after borrowing that money and sending to her she goes ‘mteja’ on me. She is such a thief,” my friend called me to complain after her frantic calls to reach her girl hit a dead end. But some women are just so gullible, how do you send a girl a cool Sh2,000 in this dry January? Ati fares have been hiked? Tell that to the birds. Onyi my cousin who is a turn boy at Machakos Country Bus, keeps me updated on fare trends in high and low season. So I cannot fall for that exploitative line.
So as the January blues sets in, it has been hell for some mamas because their house helps never returned after the December festivities. I feel for them. Even as some of my friends mourn their losses, I am celebrating all the way to work because my good old Mwende came back... on the agreed date, without me having to send her bus fare and... wait a minute... I am not done yet.
Mwende did not just come back faithfully on the agreed date, she came back with Ukambani goodies for me and Tasha. The smart girl knows that milled maize will come in handy for her employer as the 'Njaanuary' hunger sets in. Tasha got some traditional bangles. Now that is what you call a model employee. But don’t think it has happened like magic. I am reaping the good seeds that I planted. Remember the bonuses? The shopping? The sisterly treatment and the many off days? Yes, treat her well and she will return the favour.
Happy New Year.
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