Ranting...

This morning, I went through the refrigerator and told the housekeeper to take home several food items because my roommate and I will be gone for the next several weeks on holiday in the US. As I was saying goodbye this morning, P said,

“This Christmas I have no presents to give to my children. My previous boss always give me presents for my children. That’s okay – I will buy some presents for my children.”

WOW – I’m sorry, but I’ve never been taught that it is okay to ASK for gifts. (I've never been asked for a Christmas gift by a grown man before!) I know this is probably uncharitable of me but…come on! We just gave him his salary for the month of December (usually due at the end of the month) since we’ll be out for the rest of the month. Since he’s Catholic – he’s on the Christmas bonus schedule. So in addition to his regular monthly salary, we gave him a Christmas bonus – which was the equivalent of his regular monthly salary. Basically he got twice his normal pay for the month.

Contrary to most housekeeping set ups – P works only 7am to 3pm from Sunday to Thursday. Most housekeepers live with the families that they work for and work 7 days a week, cooking and cleaning each day. P is also paid 20% MORE than what E/I pay for their live in housekeeper (who is a fabulous cook…not so great with the laundry though).

So – USD equivalent, P is making about $30/month more than S, who is his peer…and works 30% less than his peer. But he still has the cajones to ask for Christmas gifts for his children. WHAT THE F#$%!!?? Here’s a more relative comparison (in relation to other people working in the country) – P is paid 30% more than the company driver – who usually works 5 days a week + overtime for driving us on personal business outside of work hours and on weekends.

I think that this “hand out” mentality and asking for more is a result of foreign aid that has been delivered to this country. A common criticism of foreign aid to third world and developing countries is that much of their work simply ends up feeding money into these countries. There needs to be a greater focus on helping to create sustainable businesses and trade, rather than simply giving financial aid. (It’s the “teach a man to fish” vs. “give a man a fish” paradigm shift.)

In fact, in Nepal guidebooks, they ask tourists NOT to give handouts or money to beggars because it creates the wrong mentality and image of the nation.