Our home is gorgeous. It's old, and there are MANY inconveniences, but it's this beautiful two story home with Swahili architecture--white walls with dark wood beams. In front of every window are dark latticed window panes and decorative iron works. Each room is large, already equipped with the furniture and the housewares we need, including mosquito nets.
Ma Suma has three servants--it's quite common here. A man, Lenik, who let's us in and out of the gate;
a woman, Elise, who handles laundry; and a gardener whose name I don't know. Well, one day, Hunter witnessed Ma scolding Lenik for something, and he said it made him feel angry inside when he saw the embarrassment in Lenik's face. "I would have been a revolutionary" he said. I knew it was common to have house help here, but I didn't think I'd ever have to deal with the ethical dilemmas involved with "classes" and the mistreatment of servants. Quite disturbing. Anyway, I hope Ma's servants know they can at least count on kind greetings from us.
On the other hand, I scolded Paulo yesterday for repeatedly swinging my newly hand-washed white laundry and allowing it to touch the ground when he should have been handing it to me so I could hang it on the clothes line. I realized I probably just wounded my boy just as Ma did to Lenik, so who am I to judge.
2 comments:
Treating people with kindness is good and right, yes. But Yols don't read too much into the relationship between Ma and her gardener. Your disciplining your kids is not the same thing AT ALL to her reprimanding a paid employee. You're an amazing mom! Xo.
Glad you like the house!
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