Our landlady and housemate, Lois, is a wonderful and beautiful woman of about 55. She is a retired school teacher who has taken kindly to the real estate business. Mostly, she purchases large chunks of land and sells it in pieces: buy wholesale, sell retail. She built the one-story house we are renting and lives here with her sister (a retired doctor), a teenage daughter, a son who lives in a separate apartment on the property, two young women who are the household help, and her sometimes visiting 80-something year old mother.
Our living accommodations include a large bedroom and bathroom. There is a small room connecting the two that has two closets that sit side-by-side, a tall minifridge, and a cute little breakfast table setup. We have our own entrance from the outside that passes through a small porch we can call our own. According to Lois everything else in the house is ours to use freely. We hope we can learn a thing or two about Ugandan cooking.
It’s a very nice house fully gated from the street and the neighbors. It is in a safe neighborhood, so the tall gates and barbed wire might be excessive, but then again, you never know.
After finally unpacking our backpacks Lois led us on a walk to the closest shopping area. She is quite a woman, as we had to manage some very steep climbs to get there. The grocery store had all the foPost Optionsods we are used to, but the prices of the Muzungu food were not in proportion to the rice, fruit, and other local foods. But that didn’t stop us from finding some gouda cheese to top off our delicious egg salad sandwiches with! Nicole’s much happier now that her cheese craving has been satiated.
The perk is that we don’t have to do the dishes—the housekeeper takes care of that.
The Help, It’s not Just a Movie
To be clear, having workers clean the house, make meals, and do the laundry is the norm here for anyone with money. In fact, people are looked down upon if they do not hire workers they can afford. Labor is inexpensive and many are employed by wealthier families in an economy with high unemployment. Lois has had the same girl, Peresca, for 6 years (she started at age 12). Lois offered to pay for Peresca to attend school since her family was unable to afford the fees, but she refused stating that she would learn much more working for Lois. This says something about both the education system and the job market here.
