Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label domestic workers

The Distance Between Doctrine and Discipline-Why our habits often contradict the beliefs we claim to live by

There is a question we rarely ask ourselves with complete honesty: What do you believe—and what habits does your belief produce? Most people can answer the first part easily. They can describe their beliefs, their values, their philosophies. They know what they stand for. They can explain the principles they claim guide their lives. But the second question is much harder. Because beliefs are easy to claim. Habits are harder to hide. And it is in our habits—especially the small, ordinary ones—that our true philosophy quietly reveals itself. A belief system means very little if it does not shape the smallest habits of everyday life. Not the grand gestures. Not the moments when others are watching. But the quiet decisions that happen in ordinary settings—shared spaces, everyday responsibilities, small interactions with the people around us. How we manage inconvenience. How we treat people who cannot benefit us. How we handle situations where restraint, fairness, or consideration...
Post a Comment
Read more

Surviving and Thriving as a Low-Income Earner in Kenya: Practical, No-Nonsense Advice

Many Kenyans are caught in the cycle of low wages, high expenses, and family obligations that never seem to end. Whether you’re a waiter, waitress, cook, shamba boy, security guard, housekeeper, boda boda rider, or driver, the reality is that making a comfortable living in Kenya on a low salary is an uphill battle. But while the system may not be in your favor, there are practical ways to navigate these challenges and build a better future. Here’s how: 1. Fair Wages: How to Ask for More Without Getting Fired Research industry pay standards before accepting a job. Talk to colleagues and check online groups. Don’t be afraid to ask for a pay raise if your responsibilities increase. Extra duties should come with extra pay! If your employer claims they can’t raise your salary, negotiate for other benefits like meals, transport allowances, or off days. Learn a critical skill that makes you indispensable. If you’re a cook, become the only one who can make the most requested dish. If you’re a ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Practical Strategies for Domestic Workers in Kenya to Improve Their Lives

Domestic work is one of the most common yet undervalued professions in Kenya. Many households employ domestic workers, but their salaries often range from KES 5,000 to KES 15,000, with anything above KES 10,000 considered a ‘good wage’—when in reality, it isn’t. Many live with their employers, cutting down on expenses like rent and transport, but that doesn’t mean they have disposable income. Many also face ‘black tax’—having to financially support family members back home. The Reality of Domestic Work in Kenya Domestic workers are busy in the mornings and evenings when children are going to school or returning home, but they often have free time in the afternoons. Unfortunately, many spend these hours watching Nigerian movies, TikTok videos, or engaging in gossip with fellow housemaids. While rest is important, this free time could also be used to improve their financial situation and personal growth. You Are Not Part of the Family – Maintain Professional Boundaries One of the biggest...
Post a Comment
Read more

Popular posts from this blog

Daniel Arap Moi — The Shadow and the Shepherd: A Deep Dive into Kenya’s Second President

If Jomo Kenyatta was the founding father, Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi was the long-reigning stepfather — sometimes protective, often punitive, and almost always enigmatic. He ruled Kenya for 24 years, the longest of any president to date. To some, he was the gentle teacher, Mwalimu , who kept the nation from tearing apart. To others, he was the architect of a surveillance state, a master of patronage and fear, the man who perfected repression through calm. This is a portrait of Daniel Arap Moi — not just as a ruler, but as a man shaped by modest beginnings, colonial violence, and the hunger for order in a chaotic time. Early Life: The Boy from Sacho Daniel Arap Moi was born on September 2, 1924, in Kurieng’wo, Baringo, in Kenya’s Rift Valley. He came from the Tugen sub-group of the Kalenjin community. His father died when he was just four. Raised by his uncle, Moi’s early life was marked by hardship, discipline, and deep Christian missionary influence. He trained as a teacher at Tambach ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Know Thyself: The Quiet Power of Naming Your Nature

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” — Carl Jung We live in a culture that equates good intentions with goodness, and ambition with ability. But very few people in Kenya—or anywhere—truly know what they are made of. We can name our qualifications and our dreams. But ask someone their vices or virtues, and they hesitate. Worse, they lie. The Danger of Self-Unawareness In Kenya today, many of us are wandering through life making choices—big, small, and irreversible—without truly understanding who we are. We end up in jobs we despise, relationships we shouldn’t be in, or positions of influence we aren’t emotionally or ethically equipped for. And at the root of this dysfunction is a simple truth: we don’t know ourselves. This is not a spiritual or abstract dilemma. It’s a deeply practical one. To know oneself is to understand your vices, your virtues, your weaknesses, and your strengths—not in a vague sense, but in detail. Let’s ge...
Post a Comment
Read more

Not All Disabilities Are Visible

Some pain does not leave a mark. Some exhaustion does not show in the face. Some people are carrying weights that have no name, no diagnosis, and no outward sign. We are used to recognizing suffering only when it can be pointed to — a bandage, a crutch, a cast, a wound. Something we can see. But the human interior is its own world, and often, the heaviest struggles live there. The Quiet Work of Holding Yourself Together There are those who walk into a room smiling, contributing, present — and yet they are holding themselves together one breath at a time. Not because they are pretending, but because they have learned to live with what would overwhelm another person. Some battles are fought inside the mind: The slow grey of depression The relentless hum of anxiety The sudden, unbidden memory that takes the body back to a place it never wants to return The deep fatigue that sleep does not cure And yet, life continues. The world moves. The dishes still need to be wa...
Post a Comment
Read more