Renad Ghanem Saudi Gazette Housemaids are difficult to find these days – and when households do get hold of one, they come with a host of problems. If cheating, stealing, throwing tantrums and charging exorbitant amounts from their sponsors or employers weren't enough, housemaids have recently got hold off another activity to entertain themselves — spying. Saudi housewives who spoke to Saudi Gazette expressed their distress and concern over this growing problem between housemaids who are spying and sharing family secrets between themselves. Fatima Abdulwahab, a mother of five children, never in her wild dreams thought that her housemaid would go and tell Abdulwahab's family affairs to her next door neighbor. Abdulwahab who treated her housemaid as family completely trusted her and would occasionally confide in her with family secrets. Abdulwahab felt betrayed and humiliated when she heard her housemaid talking to her neighbor's maid about Abdulwahab's family issues. “I was shocked when I learned that my housemaid was talking to my friend's housemaid about my family's secrets — problems with my husbands, financial issues and others.” Once, Abdulwahab's neighbor enquired about Abdulwahab's ailing mother over a telephonic conversation. Abdulwahab was shocked because apart from her family members, her maid was the only person who knew about her sick mother. When Abdulwahab confronted and threatened her housemaid, she hesitantly accepted her fault. Sadly, Abdulwahab later got to know that it was her neighbor who had ordered her housemaid to become friendly with Abdulwahab's maid, so that the latter could reveal all of Abdulwahab's family secrets. “My neighbor recruited her housemaid to talk to my housemaid to know about what is happening inside my house,” said Abdulwahab with disgust. Abdulwahab then cut all kinship ties with her neighbor and prohibited her housemaid to talk to the neighbor's housemaid. When both the maids became friends, Abdulwahab said, she was happy as she wanted her housemaid to have a friend of the same nationality as it would give her more freedom and space to talk and share about things in general. But, it seems a different story was brewing up all together. A housewife and mother of three Muna Al- Ghamdi recruited a housemaid from Indonesia, who was apparently a cousin of Al-Ghamdi's mother's housemaid. While recruiting her, Al-Ghamdi thought that since they were both relatives, neither of them would feel homesick and nor would they run away. However, to Al-Ghamdi's shock and disappointment, her housemaid was telling her cousin everything that was taking place in Al-Ghamdi's house. “I once had a huge fight with my husband but we had managed to resolve our differences by the end of the day,” said Al-Ghamdi. But, Al-Ghamdi was shocked to receive a phone call from her mother the next day asking about the fight which she had with her husband. Al-Ghamdi's mother told Al-Ghamdi that it was her housemaid who had told her cousin and that's how Al-Ghamdi's mother had got to know about the problem. “The worst thing is that I feel there is a spy in the house and every movement of ours is being reported,” said Al-Ghamdi. Umm Abdulrahman, a mother of two, said that she once recruited an Asian housemaid who had previously worked in the kingdom. As soon as she arrived, she started telling Umm Abdulrahman stories about her previous employer, which made Umm Abdulrahman feel suspicious about her. “I told her that I do not want to hear anything about her previous employers. It makes me feel uncomfortable because what if tomorrow she goes and works for someone else and tells them everything about my family. I told my husband to send her back,” said Umm Abdulrahman. Social affairs consultant at King Abdulziz University Hashemeya Al-Haj told a local newspaper that it is very important to make the maid feel as part of the family because that motivates her to work and makes her feel secure. However, Al-Haj said that families should be careful by not talking about intimate family matters in front of them. Al-Haj said there have been cases where housemaids have come between couples, simply, because they know too much, and this should not happen.
