Domestic helpers playing significant roles in Kuwait
‘She has become part of the family’
The advantage of having a healthy and high-quality living environment is based on a structured daily life maintained by “invisible” work that plays a major role in making life seamless. Accomplishing domestic chores such as cleaning, cooking and keeping an eye on children are fundamental services that domestic helpers offer to many families in Kuwait. This improves families’ daily lives at different levels, so having a domestic helper is a very common phenomenon among Kuwaiti families.
Om Ahmed, a housewife who has been assisted by her domestic helper for more than 10 years, told Kuwait Times about her household worker’s role in dedicating efforts to support the family by helping with domestic responsibilities. “Her work provides comfort to everyone and not only myself as a matriarch, because she saves us the time and effort needed to do chores. Consequently, she provides us with better chances to spend quality time with each other and boost productivity for life’s demands and responsibilities,” she said.
Domestic helpers lift a heavy burden from family members, which makes their homes a place for comfort and relaxation. For her domestic helper’s significant role in ensuring that the home is in good condition, Om Ahmed counts her as a family member who has an impact on the children’s upbringing.
“The necessity of her role is undeniable as she makes a big difference. She has become part of the family, as she takes care of cleanliness, prepares food and also raises the children. Many kids see domestic workers as their second mother and learn so many things from them. Without her, being responsible for a family becomes exhausting and very demanding, which affects the stability and coherence of the family,” Om Ahmed said.
Domestic helpers enable parents to enjoy a break from looking after their homes and children without stress, due to leaving them in caring hands. This makes domestic workers’ role essential in helping society’s growth and development, as they take part in creating a healthy place for homeowners and children to grow and have time and energy to succeed in their careers or education, each according to their responsibilities.
Flora, a domestic helper in Kuwait, shared her experiences with Kuwait Times. She shed light on both positive and negative things about working as a domestic helper in Kuwait. “The positive things about working as a domestic worker in Kuwait is that I have good employers. My employers treat me as a member of the family, which shows that they appreciate my efforts. Another positive thing is that I can support my family back home,” she said.
Being a domestic worker requires a strong and healthy body because it demands a lot of effort, so falling sick is a struggle for domestic workers, besides the fact that they are away from their families, which makes them unable to be physically attentive. This raises concerns in case any problem befalls them. According to Flora, recognizing her job and showing appreciation is essential and rewarding. “I struggle when I get sick, or when I have some family issues back in my home country,” she said.