The Nanny Diaries, Part 1

When it comes to staff, we were incredibly fortunate! And as crazy as it sounds, you really do HAVE to have staff here. It's not a luxury, it's a necessity. And that's not crazy expat logic. Daily life here is such that no matter how modest the house, if you want to have any modern, developed-world conveniences you absolutely have to have help in order to actually enjoy them. Hell, forget about modern conveniences...if you want to eat fresh fruits and vegetables you at least need to have a cook...otherwise it will take you ALL DAY to prepare one single meal.

We decided early on that we needed and wanted a driver. We found ours by taking local taxis during the first month we were here (January). We happened upon this really nice guy named Ben, who owned his taxi, was actually literate, had a real driver's license, spoke reasonably good English AND stopped for pedestrians. These are all unusual characteristics for a driver (yes, even he driver's license!!). After almost a month of part-time driving, we offered him a job as our driver once our car came. Actually, he brought it up to us, but we never in million years thought he'd take the job because from his hourly rate to drive us around in his taxi he could often make in one 10-hour day what he would make in an entire 5-day week of 11-hour days driving us in our car! As he'd never been a private driver he didn't really have an idea of what the pay was. We let him know, we pointed out the vast income difference (assuming he could actually get an obruni to pay him hourly with any degree of regulariy) and told him to think about it. We were thrilled when he accepted, and equally happy to have one staffing problem solved!

Household help was another issue. One of the reasons we chose to live in Orchid Gardens, or the Melrose Place of Accra, was because it came complete with security guards, maintenance staff, gardeners, pool boys, etc., thereby greatly reducing the number of people we would have to directly employ -- never mind source! So, that left us with the decision of housekeeper vs. nanny vs. cook...or some combination. Ideally, we'd get an all in one, but knowing that wasn't likely, we decided to go for a housekeeper/nanny. What we found was a housekeeper/nanny who wants to cook (but of course can only cook Ghanaian, which has limited appeal...but she is an avid learner of all things culinary). Stella came to us by way of Brent's boss's wife, Jackie -- who is somehow incredibly tapped in to absolutely everything and everybody here in Accra. Stella was working, temporarily, for a friend of Jackie's while the friend was "in between" nannies. The permanent nanny was starting and Stella was in search of a new "home". She was the first person I met, and she seemed fine. The culture here is so different from that at home that I knew that interviews weren't going to be very useful for me and that the only way to know was to try a nanny out. Luckily, we were in a hotel and I only wanted someone a couple of hours a day so I could get some things done--built in nanny testing period. So, I essentially hired her on the spot.

And then, I had to go get her tested...tested for TB, AIDS, Hepatitus ABC, etc. etc. Just hearing from people what it would be like to do this at the "local" clinic was enough to make my head spin! You don't just go to the Dr. and get tests done. You go to the Dr. and pay the consult fee (before you are even seen). During the visit he/she will "prescribe" all the tests you need. Then off you go with your test Rx to the lab. At which point, you have to cough up even more money before they draw your blood, etc. And then you're off to the imaging center where you pay yet again for the chest x-rays. And then you have to go and collect all your results and then carry them back to the Dr. And someone who has never been to the Dr in their life, never mind had all these tests done, was supposed to be able to navigate this system? NO WAY. So, we had Stella go to a private clinic -- only to find out that it was the same system there. Except it was faster, and more expensive. But at least it was all in the same building! Stella's results were all normal.

I thought it would be a good idea if we were to get Stella and Ben this "National Health Insurance Scheme" that had been publicized. It is basically free health insurance...only it cost 230,000 cedis/year (about US $25). The idea is that once you are registered, you can go to the hospital or clinic and see Drs and not have to pay. I was surprised that neither Stella nor Ben had any interest. They thought I was crazy! They told me that they never got sick. But I also know that here, people don't go to the Dr because they can't afford it. I wasn't going to MAKE Ben do it, but I did insist that Stella register for it (at our expense, of course) since she would be in the house, in close contact with Chloe and helping in meal preparation, etc. I didn't want her to be afraid of going to the clinic to get medical attention because she wouldn't be able to afford it!

Stella was registered on the 23rd of January at the 37th Military Hospital. They said it might be until March when she gets her card. I was flabbergasted. Neither Stella nor Ben seemed at all phased by this ridiculously lengthy waiting period. I was told that we would be called when the card was ready. Brent and I left for the States at the end of February. No call was received. We returned at the end of March. Still, no call was received. Carol, Brent's mom, came and went, and still, no call was received. And then Stella started behaving oddly...