I don't know if, as like the furniture, the domestic worker was part of the package but I do remember having some really good men work in the house. One was Petrus and the other Vilo. I can remember they used to do the housework, dishes, ironing, etc. and they also used to look after us when my folks went out of an evening. They were issued with lunchpacks everyday and they always used to give my brother and myself the cake/sweet that they got in their lunchpack, only on every second day though as they used to wait until they had one for each of us! My mom always gave them supper in the evening so I know they didn't go hungry! They were always extremely proud when their families came to visit and couldn't wait to introduce his Oranjemund family to his native family and vice versa.
The male domestic workers were done away with a number of years ago to be replaced by female - funny that a lot of the households then didn't want female workers cleaning their houses.
Back in the '60s we had a wonderful domestic worker called Oiwa. He cared for us all so much. He came from Ovamboland. He watched over me like a doting uncle, kindly mending anything I'd broken in the house before my parents got home! And he loved washing. I remember my mother bought a beautiful Japanese statue with all her silk regalia whilst on holiday in Durban - and he washed it after only a couple of weeks because he thought it had got a bit dirty! The statue was no moe ... His ironing was so precise, and he always had the biggest smile on his face. My parents always made sure he was well cared for and that he had a big bag of useful goodies to take back to his family when he had his break. When my sister left for boarding school, he cried. And we all cried together when we left OM
We had a guy called Jeremiah, he fixed our bikes andtaught us to hunt birds with the catapults he built us. He was part of the family, even playing pool in the lounge with us. Never drank or swore till he moved the mine at 90's , he retired only 3 months ago.
When he returned from the North , he brought us a woven basket with our family name and street address on it.... awesome...
:'(
Yes our domestic help .. It was like being in the colonies , Ok we did not have hordes of help as they had .. But yes we had our Domestic worker and you could get a garden helper as well .. something ordinary folk in the cities did not have ... I remember Rastus and Michael , it was the same sort of thing that you all talk about , although they had 6 month contracts they became an itegral part of our lives , I was in many ways raised by Rastus and Michael as my Mom worked .. so their job was to look after us as well , even reporting really bad behaviour , ( they would cover for the minor things ) I look back in great fondness to their input in our lives , I remember tears when either one had to go back , I suppose for them missing their family they semi adopted us kids to fill the void , and even though they were going back to their families they missed us too .. I Remember Michael giving me hell the first time he saw me drunk . told me he did not expect that from me and that I should be ashamed ... Ouch !! So yes they left a lasting impression on us cos they were good ordinary honest folk . The parting gifts each time they left , my folks were generous there , the small gift from them on return all cemented a good working and personal relationship ... I battled with the concept of "servants " in the respect that they ate separately , it was just they way it was and is still .. however I used to break the rules If my folks were out or away and I was alone at teh house in the evening with either .. I would prepare a supper and we would both sit and eat at the same table .. Michael used to give me this puzzled look of ' crazy child " but enjoyed my caring back i suppose as a token of appreciation .. he also used to see me at the hostel with my camera taking pictures of the men posing at their beer halls , I would return with pictures to give them (parents expense I would always ask for extras without their know how ) so he just accepted the "crazy" childs behaviour ..
Yes to Michael and Rastus wherever you are .. through all these years I have never forgotten .....
In the very beginning when we got here '72, we had a domestic called Jaffe' , magic guy, I think, according to my dad, ran away to fight for SWAPO in the busg, and then disapperared for 2 decades, to resurface one day in Casey's ( Coolbox) as a doctor... strange world we live in...
:-\
Was busy looking for Darryl's soccer club float photo when I came across a picture of my brother and myself with our domestic Petrus:
we had johannes, a large man over 6ft tall, a gentle giant who used to protect my sister and i from alll, including begging my mom not to smack us if we were naughty and going to get a hiding.
he was a legend and very patient with me being so naughty.
My cousin shane gavin had Crispy[nickname-cant remember real name] the guy was like a 5 star chef, learnt from my aunt and he ended up taking over often doing the lunch thing or dinner, .....
what great people they were as they were like the family
...and we had "Romance" - who, when my folks died in OM, cried as if he were one of us kids. Remember him sitting me on the ironing board in the laundry and cleaning my school shoes (to be perfect for school of course) and not getting a smudge of polish on my beautiful (omo!!) white socks. Very special man and still think of him - the "domestics" were certainly very much part of our lives.
Yes, it is amazing to see how all of you were impacted by your domestic. We had Gideon and Petrus. Gideon went back to Ovamboland. He was most important to me as a kid. Used to ride me around town on a bike!
As I remember, they had to wear all white with the whitte cap. Not casual smart as in Michelle's photo.
The Ovambo are so incredibly family orientated. It made parting very difficult. Like it or not, they were a member of the family and we all remember them so vividly to this day. That goes to show what value they added to our lives. Fantastic.
I was taught to iron by our man, and he'd bring us peanuts and woven baskets as presents.
we showed him books and pictures of the sea.
always there he was, in his white uniform and cap.
the men all seemed to go the the toilet at the same time, and sit under the trees shooting the wind.
Kinda like how woman all go to the toulet at the same time I guess! ;D
some girls I believe travel in packs!!
Ours was Jason! He was wonderful, did absolutely EVERYTHING in the house, we were all spoilt! He left us when us kids went to high school and worked for the mine. The next guy we had - Thomas - was with us for 7 yrs afterwards. When Damien died, Jason came to the funeral and our house afterwards and cried like a parent who had just lost his child. And that was about 4-5yrs after he had left us...
They were GREAT!!
brandon - tx for reminding me of old crispy working at shane & jay's - magic dude! always a smile on his face.
we had 2 guys working for us from the time we were babies-they alternated when going on expat-when the 1 went, the other 1 came back. reinhold (reini) & mattheus - i remember the 1 time we took reini with us for a braai at the beach and he sat the whole day just staring at the ocean - if i remember correctly it was the first time he'd even seen the sea. he ate his lunch just staring at the ocean.
they were such gentle souls - the 1 and only time i ever remember any of them getting angry was when i opened the fridge roughly one day and all the eggs fell out onto the freshly washed kitchen floor - can't remember if it was reini or mattheus but i got a gentle pat on the bum (their version of a klap) for this. on the odd occassion when the folks went out without us at night (diamond queen ball, lodge ladies nights) they would babysit - i would sit on the large ironing table we had while he ironed and i would "teach" him english and he would teach me oshiwambo. i always begged him to let me iron but he only ever let me do the pillow cases and handkerchiefs - obviously didn't want me burning any of the clothes and getting the blame for it.
they were our protectors and caretakers to the nth degree - one day i walked out of the front door to be greeted by a snake lying basking in the sun right in front of me - my screams brought mattheus running who grabbed the garden rake and did what he had to do. no fear, just reacted 'cos i was in danger. he went on another snake catching mission when lance and his buddies brought a snake home from the desert and it got loose in the house - mattheus found it lying coiled up in the cord of our heater and again did what he had to do.
one of them again came to my rescue, damn wish i could remember which one, when lance and his buddies were inspecting the drain in the back garden and didn't put the lid back properly. i walked over it and fell in catching onto the edge just in time. again my screams brought reini/mattheus running and pulled me out - put me under his arms and ran me a bath to get rid of all the gunk. makes me wonder if i'd be around today if it wasn't for them.
yes, they treated us like their extended family - sometimes going way beyond the call of what was expected of them. myself and reini's daughter used to write to each other and he was always so proud to show his family up north photos of us. every time they came back from up north, they would bring us presents - i still have one of woven baskets that one of them brought my mom.
Delia ,Shola .. wonderful words and recollections and honouring of those special gentle people in our growing up years ...
Sandy
a couple of us have commented on the site about the small details that stick in our head from childhood. one for me is my mom always saying, (if any of us went back for seconds at supper time), "leave enough for Reini/Mattheus" - it was like a mantra to her. We had our main meal at supper and she always made sure they had a decent meal even though she knew they were going back to a meal at the hostel.
it comforts me to know that in those dark days of political turbulence, our domestics were always treated well (to me they were part of the family) and without even knowing it 'cos it's just the way they were, my folks instilled in us the values to respect others as human beings no matter their outer differences, etc. thank you Mom & Dad for that!
sandy, yes i also remember my folks always bidding them farewell after their 6 month stint with gifts - blankets, clothes, etc. even furniture sometimes - i remember they had to get a letter from their employer stating that they had been given these things as gifts as proof they hadn't been stolen. on the point of letters, i also remember how they had to have a letter if working late giving reasons for why they were on the streets after 8.00pm (think that was their curfew). sickens me to remember how these decent, gentle people were treated because of a verkrampte government!
To Reini & Mattheus, wherever you are, thanks for all you did for us in keeping us safe (and more)! looking back, makes me believe you were my childhood guardian angels.
a picture found ... Michael ...
Izak was our faithful. Imagine working for a family with 4 girls? Izak was always patient with all of us. Debby, didnt he teach you to iron??? Ja, ok so he used to lift me to school, ok! SUB A! Susan (Linekar) will remember the toasted sandwiches he used to pass to us over the fence at OPS when the bell rang for first break. I remember the laundry baskets and mini basket bags we would get from him when he had been home. He had a heart of gold, bless him. I always had to make sure I was home when the 16h05 siren went off. My mother, worked at the dental surgery as a dental assistant and she would ride a bicycle to and from work. The bus would go passed her and I would duck and pray I got home before her. I'd get off the bus at the bus stop in 13th avenue and he would be waiting at the front gate. This was after cruising round and round town on the bus all afternoon. Yvette
Our domestic was just as wonderful. What working for 5 children, and three of them girls and boys who loved fishing,etc. He's uniform was always white and beautifully ironed. Here is a photo of one of our many domestics.
I rebember our domestic Erastmus who was with us for years (how he survived us lot of kids I don't know)
He was scared of snakes and even just pictures of them so yes we would give him pics and cut outs of snakes and watch him freak out..hahaha shame, poor thing.
When we got our fist TV and the news men came on he would not walk away while they were taking because he believed they were talking just to him, so he would greet them and wait untill they said good night before he got back to work.
Mt dad had a LP with bagpipes and our domestic would put it on while doing the house work, he loved that LP..hahaha
We would help him with his english homework and he would pay us with long stompies that he had collected from the ashtrays, yip, we smoked then already!
Paula
:D
paula, i remember how we used to get Erasmus to collect the stompies for us. we'd argue over who got the longest ones.........we would come to your place every afternoon after school dying to see his collection for us and then get stuck into those floury rolls with ham on before sneaking off to enjoy our stompies.
i used to ask reini/mattheus to go buy smokes for me. i'm surprised they did it - i'm sure they must've worried what would happen if the folks found out. i remember one time when we'd moved to our 5th ave house, reini bought my smokes for me and i hid them & the matches in the garden - the dog found them and my mom came home to chewed up smokes all over the garden path - could've got stuck into them anywhere in the garden but had to choose the pathway of all places!!!!!!!! of course, huge denials that they were mine - how doff did i think my mom was - she doesn't smoke, linda was away studying, lance was in the army...............work it out for yourself :D
My old domestic retired this month, here's his pic in todays newsletter...
Titus ... he was with us till we left Oranjemund and we'll never forget him. I think he must have been the only Owambo to eat French food coz my mom always cooked the French way and we always gave Titus dinner. We were all in tears when we left town and he gave each one of us one of those traditional 'Ovambo bags' that I still have at home. My parents nicknamed their dishwasher 'Titus' so there's a bit of him in France now.
Good one !! I chuckle silently thinking of " Titus" humming away gently doing the dishes for you Mom and Dad ..
Just hope they don't pay Titus slave wages....
Titus is treated with a lot of respect and appreciation ... and when the 'previous Titus' broke down, my folks didn't waste any time going out to replace him with a new Titus. He's been part of the familly for so long now that they couldn't live without him. I wonder what the real Titus would think if he knew this !!!
i got a dish washer for my birthday from my daughters.......thought it was the answer to my dream of a tidy kitchen.......lol....... :emot19:
how silly of me.......
can anyone tell me plshow to get people to put their dirty dishes in there now instead of still piling them up in the sink......the reason .they tell me ...the dish washer is still full of clean dishes.......
.......so my next problem......how do you get people to take the dishes out once they are done thumper..........
I'm not a big believer in dishwashers.... just my 2 cents..... numberone
Me neither Michael. By the time you have packed the dishwasher you could just have used the same amount of time to wash the dishes by hand. I have also seen what a dishwasher does too glasses. We still wash by hand...
DIshwashers are for lazy people and they do not always clean properly.....
Now a domestic on the other hand.... gets to do it again ..if it's not clean properly...... daman
Quote from: Julie on September 29, 2007, 11:15:23 PM
I rebember our domestic Erastmus who was with us for years (how he survived us lot of kids I don't know)
He was scared of snakes and even just pictures of them so yes we would give him pics and cut outs of snakes and watch him freak out..hahaha shame, poor thing.
When we got our fist TV and the news men came on he would not walk away while they were taking because he believed they were talking just to him, so he would greet them and wait untill they said good night before he got back to work.
Mt dad had a LP with bagpipes and our domestic would put it on while doing the house work, he loved that LP..hahaha
We would help him with his english homework and he would pay us with long stompies that he had collected from the ashtrays, yip, we smoked then already!
Paula
:D
Have you forgotten your password????? Or are you trying to confuse everyone
We're going to start unpacking you goodies tonight. That's right folks, Paula's stuff has arrived in the
UK and we still have no idea when the rest will following. idontknow
Then call me lazy twice, but I have a dishwasher and I have not been sorry for 1 day that I have it. I don't leave stuff in it after it's washed. It just saves me a load of time to get a lot of other stuff done, and so does my tumbledryer. Also - now I'm not the only one who has to do the dishes after a lekker braai or kuier - I can enjoy the last nightcap or tea or coffee with everyone else, switch on the machine when everyone heads back home and when I get up in the morning all the dishes are done.
I don't know about the glasses or salad bowls - mine has never gone dull in the machine, altough I have seen it happen to other people's stuff.
Pot's & pans - that I still do by hand, but I have become very clever (lazy again). I line the electric frying pan or normal pan with a double layer of tin foil, fry or bake what I want and after I've used it - take out the foil, throw it in the bin and put the pan back in it's place - no more hard labour! I also use this trick when we go camping or on holiday.
We even have eeeelectricity out here..... :emot19:
Nobody would ever have guessed that, Mike! Darn, but you are advanced abouttime