Kwedu Home & Child Care Academy

Good morning...

Maybe this will finally get the message across. Lol

Today I had an interesting chat with a gardener/caretaker who works for the owners of a certain block of flats. He said he has worked there for the past 12 years.

12 years? Wow!!! I thought that was impressive but according to him, he was there because he wasn't qualified to do anything else and he felt secure.

He further explained that the owners of the flats were white and had kept him coz they trusted him and didn't want to gamble with anyone else.

In his opinion people who work for white employers have better job security compared to those who work for black employers as the later tend to hire and fire at a whim.

What is your take on that?

Is the reason our helpers leave so easily due to the fact that they don't feel secure and would rather leave before they are fired?

Good morning.

How do your children address your helper? Do they call her by her first name?

Do they call her auntie and treat her like they would any other aunt?

Do they treat her like a servant whose role is to serve their every need?

Are they things they should be able to do for themselves that the helper ideally shouldn't do?

Is there a balance?

What do you do at yours? (Kwenyu?)

I have often been extremely disappointed by the service that certain service providers have given and have often wished that they had asked "US" the customers what we wanted FIRST before forcing us to like THEIR product that they assumed they made for us.

So, I am asking you to help me to provide you with the service that you actually want.

I would like to interview maids and employers, so I hear both sides of he story. From there I will try and develop a product that will come as close as possible to a perfect employer/employee match.

So if you are an employer and are willing to give me maximum 5 mins of your precious time, please kindly inbox me or WhatsApp me on 0719 710 745. Or if you know a maid that I could interview please kindly share their number and I will contact them.

Thank you so much.

FYI....

New Minimum Wages for Domestic Workers and Allowances in Zimbabwe, Salaries and more on Mywage Zimbabwe.

The Zimbabwean government has set wages of domestic workers between US$85 and US$100 per month, resulting in the highest-paid domestic workers earning a salary that compares to some nurses and teaching professionals.

The new wages and working conditions were approved by Cabinet and are with effect backdated from October 1.

Workers not residing with their employers are now entitled to accommodation, transport, electricity and fuel or cooking allowances.

A yard worker or gardener will now get US$85 per month or a weekly wage of US$19.60, while a cook or housekeeper is now entitled to US$90 per month or US$20.79 per week.

Those domestic workers looking after the disabled had their wages pegged at US$95 per month or US$21.94 per week.

Some domestic workers with Red Cross certificates or similar qualification who take care of the disabled and the aged are paid US$100 or US$23.10 per week.

Those who do not stay with their employers are now entitled to monthly allowances of US$50 accommodation, US$26 for transport, US$5 for lights, US$5 for fuel or cooking and US$5 for water.

Announcing the new wages and conditions of services yesterday, Labour and Social Services Minister Paurina Mpariwa, said the minimum wages and working conditions were set after extensive consultations among the social partners. These are labour, employers and government under the auspices of the Tripartite Wages and Salaries Advisory Council.

"My office is in the process of making the necessary arrangements for the publication of the Statutory Instrument that will give effect to these new conditions of employment for domestic workers,"said Mpariwa.

She also said that while government appreciated the many challenges faced by employers of domestic workers, it was imperative to take these conditions of services for domestic workers seriously.

She said those with capacity should pay their workers more.

"Accordingly, I request individual employers to strive for better and decent conditions for the vulnerable domestic workers," she said.

The move by the Government is in line with the call by the International Labour Organisation for member-states to effectively implement a historic convention, which seeks to improve the working conditions of millions of domestic workers worldwide. Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers was adopted at the ILO 100th session in Geneva, Switzerland, in June this year.

Don’t feel sorry for or fear for your kids/grandkids because the world they are going to grow up in is not what it used to be.

God created them and called them for the exact moment in time that they’re in. Their life wasn’t a coincidence or an accident.

Raise them up to know the power they walk in as children of God.

Train them up in the authority of His Word.

Teach them to walk in faith knowing that God is in control.

Empower them to know they can change the world.

Don’t teach them to be fearful and disheartened by the state of the world but hopeful that they can do something about it.

Every person in all of history has been placed in the time that they were in because of God’s sovereign plan.

He knew Daniel could handle the lions den. 
He knew David could handle Goliath.
He knew Esther could handle Haman.
He knew Peter could handle persecution.
He knows that your child can handle whatever challenge they face in their life. He created them specifically for it!

Don’t be scared for your children, but be honored that God chose YOU to parent the generation that is facing the biggest challenges of our lifetime.
Rise up to the challenge.

Raise Daniels, Davids, Esthers and Peters!

God isn’t scratching His head wondering what He’s going to do with this mess of a world.

He has an army He’s raising up to drive back the darkness and make Him known all over the earth.

Don’t let your fear steal the greatness God placed in them. I know it’s hard to imagine them as anything besides our sweet little babies, and we just want to protect them from anything that could ever be hard on them, but they were born for such a time as this.

~Alex Cravens

Hope you are doing your part in making sure each family member is developing into the best versions of themselves.

Have a blessed weekend.

Today was a good day. Boys went off to school nice and early, with my oldest finely deciding to wear a jersey and trousers coz its really cold now.

I had good conversations with the hubby, baby girl was happy and entertained, and both helpers seemed happy and on the ball.

The village occupants were all present and HAPPY. That made me happiest lol.

Help is a must.

Define what sort of help you need, and get it.

Kwedu would like to assist you, so you too can be Happy.

So let us know what sort of help you need and we will hook you up.

Have a blessed day.

Its Sunday evening,6:13 pm to be exact and Mai Simba is still at large, even though you had told her repeatedly that she should be back by 6pm,for her own safety of course and for your own security and sanity. Just as you are rehearsing the mouthful you would dish out, your thoughts are interrupted by the message tone. “ Sori mhamha amai varwara saka handizi kudzoka( sorry ma’am, mom is sick so I won’t be coming back)”.

What follows is loads of panic, messages and phone calls. Life being life keeps moving and a plan is made for Monday and every other day afterwards.

Variations of the scenario with mai Simba may happen several times and life will keep going, but I wonder why it happens so often or at all?

Could it be because both the employer and the employee are not very professional when it comes to the hiring process?

When an employee isn’t happy, she hardly tells her employer, she just secretly looks for something else. Likewise, when an employer isn’t happy, she may tell her employee but hardly ever gives notice, and also secretly looks for someone else.

Maybe if as employers we didn’t hire people without proper refs and or who don’t give notice, people wouldn’t just not show up to work?

Maybe if employees realized that their work was contractual, with legal consequences, they would feel safer and more empowered and wouldn’t just flee without warning.

Maybe we all need to start taking this profession seriously and give it the respect it deserves.

What's your Mai Simba story?

What's your take away?

Good morning.
Honestly I never knew that there are people who actually LOVE cleaning. I mean they clean for FUN lol.
We love you passionate cleaners!
Here are a few cleaning tips from the cleaning gurus.
Hope you find 1 or 2 that you can use.

10 NEED TO KNOW CLEANING TIPS! (expert cleaning hacks) Genius TIPS FOR A CLEANER HOME! These 10 GENIUS need to know cleaning tips and tricks will blow your mind!! You will be asking yourself "why didn't I think of that?" If you want a cleaner...

Monday. I am not a Monday person. Mondays represent the start of a very long To do list and I am not one to relax until my list is complete.
But today was one of my better Mondays. I heard the gate open and I knew that help had arrived. lol.
I have had one helper for over 7 years, but with the arrival of my baby, I thought it wise to get a second helper to ease the work load and ensure that I have someone dedicated to the baby and children.
Well, let me just say, it hasn’t been an easy road lol.
Hiring and firing or being left is exhausting, sometimes leaving you feeling like there is something seriously wrong with you.
They do say, knowledge is power, so here are 5 possible reasons your helper may leave. Hope this helps.

1. Lack of time
Unavailability of time is one of the most significant reasons for a maid to vanish. If they already have so many jobs, then maybe you are not that important to them. They may agree to do your job for the sake of money and soon plan to leave once they realize that it’s not working for them.

2. She does not like your attitude
This is a bitter pill to swallow but sometimes it’s true. Maybe she may find the working environment stressful and exhausting.

3. Family issues
Maids can have their personal problems and issues. Sometimes the family concern and circumstances can force a maid to leave their job. So, having a conversation about their family and figuring out if they are facing any emotional trauma can help them build trust in you.

4. She is not satisfied with the pay
Although she may have agreed to a fixed price while getting hired, sometimes she may look for rewards or extra benefit. Not having these benefits or bonus may disappoint her and make her leave work.

5. Health Issues
Like all of us, maids are human, and as much as they want to work, their bodies may not cooperate. Medical checkups are not things that most employers consider for their helpers but it is good to assist with medical checkups and bills.

Happy Fun Friday..

Was this true at yours too?