Our helper

I thought I had more pictures of our maid, Tes, but I can't find them on my computer. So this picture of our Christmas Eve rolls will have to do. Tes is wonderful! She has made such a big difference in my life - it is THE BEST to have a live-in maid. Her full name is Marites, but we call her Tes. She is from the Philippines and has worked for 2 other families in Singapore before working for us. Most foreigners in Singapore have maids - it's just a way of life and all of the condos/homes/apartments have maids' quarters. Some of them are nurses or teachers, but can not make enough money in their home country to make a good living. Some people have maids from Indonesia or Malaysia (both neighboring countries), but everyone tells you to get one from the Philippines because they speak better English and are more likely to be Christian verses Muslim. Indonesia and Malaysia are both 80-90% Muslim countries.

Tes is number 6 of 7 children. Most of her siblings are married with families and they live in the Philippines. She grew up in a small town where going to the market was a 2 hour bike ride, actually, "tricycle" - she can't ride a bike. To go to church each week she would ride her tricycle 1 1/2 hours. Her parents are in their late 60s and have some health problems - her dad has difficulty walking and most of her money she makes here will go back to them to help with medicine. She grew up in a one-room bamboo house - the children slept up in the loft and the parents on the main floor with a sheet for privacy. They had their own private outhouse near their home.

Tes graduated from high school, where she learned English, but then spent the next 10 years working 3 jobs to make money for her family and fell out of practice of speaking English. She then came to Singapore to work as a maid, where she can make 4 times her salary doing the equivalent job in the Philippines. Plus she has free room and board living with us. She is a happy person who is very easy going, eager to learn new things, proactively does things for us, and sings a lot. She is highly religious (Roman Catholic) and goes to church each Sunday. We are so happy to have her in our home.

I have told her this before, but I really feel we were meant find each other. She desperately needed a job and we wanted a good maid. I feel she is making a lot of personal sacrifices to help her family - she is 31 and single and I'm sure she would love a family of her own - if you are a maid and get pregnant you are automatically deported to your home country and can't come back into the country. She loves children and is such a sweet person. You give up some personal freedoms to be a live-in maid, but it's the most lucrative job you can have for many women. Some maids have families back home that they send their money to and see their children once a year (if that).

Some people think a maid is an intrusion in your home, but we have not felt that at all. She knows when to participate and help and when to leave us to ourselves. It has been nothing but a blessing. I think I'll stay in Singapore for a really, really, really long time (sorry Mom). :-)