Helping hand or oppression??

When I was a kid, I used to be grumpy at my mum for not having a housemaid to help us out with chores. I saw most neighbours and friends enjoying the luxury and was often disgruntled that she was unwary of the benefits of an extra pair of hands around the house to ease her hectic schedule. 

Little did I know back then how prudent and wise her decision was to never have a house maid. Mum occasionally paid money to someone who was willing to bring jerkins of water to our three storey home. She was more happy to teach poor kids for free in her spare time instead of having someone clean the house or cook food for her when she came home knackered from work. She did all housework by herself. She hired gardner occasionally to tend the small patch of garden we had. Once or twice I noticed short term maids at our place but they were all adults with families and mum gave them shelter and work to help them out with financial crunch more than for her household needs. We never saw mum hire a child or a teenager or a person who should have been at school/college instead of being a house maid. 

Years have gone by since I lived in my mum's house but I have often heard and seen pictures of many families in Nepal who have almost "adopted" a helping hand at their home. It sounds so nice that these families are helping out these poor kids by sending them to school in exchange for help around the house. 

But I want to ask these "kind" people/families something : "So which grade/class is your helper in? Are they in their age appropriate classes? If they are adolescent/teenagers/over20, are they doing their bachelor degree ? When are they likely to get married?" 

What my mum tried way back then makes more sense to me now. She was a true warrior against child labour. She didn't just talk the talk (in fact she hardly said it out loud that it was the reason why she refused to get house maid); she walked the walk of fight against child labour. When I see/hear of people voicing against child labour and know that they have teenage/child/adult house maids in their own homes, I get chills; I get pissed off. 

If those maids were your own children, would you accept them to repeatedly fail the class/grades and be stuck in same school/grade just because they couldn't study enough for the exams coz they were busy doing YOUR household chores/errands? If they were your own children would you be ok with them never attending college/university or pursuing any of their interests just because they have to look after YOUR home and family??? If they were your own kids would you stay calm and unworried when they remain unmarried even in their prime marriageable age just because they are running YOUR household?? How can you then pretend that it isn't child labour/oppression of humanity ??? How can you then pretend that they are part of your family when you treat them so differently ?? 

I wish people in Nepal adopted the idea of what major metro Indian people are doing. Hiring "bai" or helper only for certain hours of the day without hindering their studies, dreams, aspirations or personal choices in love or marriage. 

I wish these high class/high flying socialites/academics/dignitaries etc stopped and thought about what they are doing in the name of "helping" the poor by making them their house maids.