Our previous yaya left because she wanted to go back to the province to be with her family and study. It was a legitimate reason and we didn't want to hold her back from her dreams.
So before she left, we were already searching for a new Yaya for our baby. Called our usual maid agency and gave them our specific requirements - someone young, pleasant, and playful, with our without experience. We also asked around because we felt hiring from the maid agency should be a last resort.
We were lucky that one of our maids had a friend who was looking for work as a yaya. She was from the province but was currently near Metro Manila, and was actually a domestic helper who's flight was cancelled, indefinitely. We asked her whereabout for the past 2 weeks and she said that she was just in one place during this period.
Knowing and verifying this from our current helper, we took our chances and had her go through medical and a COVID-19 rapid test with our preferred diagnostic center, the same medical tests our maid agency provides. We spent for this and we handled the logistics. This was done in a day and she was cleared in the afternoon. Once cleared, we made her come to our home.
Once at home, we disinfected her stuff with lysol and we asked her to take a bath. Once done, we handed her ration of new face masks for 7 days. Although we didn't quarantine her, we asked her to observe preventive measures against the virus by making her wear face masks all the time, keep her distance at first, and asked her to be hygienic - frequent hand washing!
We also checked for her body temperature before any of these. And she displayed no symptoms when we first met with her and during the 7 day period. As a precaution, we also observed preventive measures at home by keeping our distance at first.
After 7 days, we were happy that everyone was well. Thank God for this! We acted on what we knew about this virus and we followed simple guidelines to stay safe.
Hiring help during this pandemic is daunting but if you screen properly, follow preventive measures at home, and observe your household after you hire them, getting help would't be that scary.
After more than a month now, we are happy with our new yaya's performance! She might not be as super friendly as the one that left but she is more mature and still into our baby. Something our family will just be fine with.
We know that our yaya may not stay long with us especially when the pandemic ends but we will be fine, we'll ask around again if she decides to leave. Worse case, well not really the worse case, we will get help from our trusted maid agency, Housemaids.ph!
Our current helpers came from them and we are lucky enough that they love our family.
Sincerely,
Housemaids.ph Client
Like our kasambahay story and would want to share your own maid story? Send us your story at help@housemaids.ph with the subject "My Inspiring Maid Story" and we'll share this for you in our BLOG!
Follow us on Social for daily updates, household solutions and everything under the sun with regard to your home!
Facebook @housemaids.ph
Twitter @Housemaidsph
Instagram @housemaids.ph
LinkedIn @Housemaids Philippines
TikTok @housemaids.ph