Dolores has been serving our family for more than 40 years.  She first worked for my grandparents in the province.  When my mom was still single, she left the province to start a career in Manila.  Dolores accompanied my mom and stayed with her until she got married and started her own family.  When I was born, she became my yaya.  She also took care of my younger brother.

Yaya Dolores is more than a kasambahay.  In fact, she is like a second mom to me and my brother.  She helped raised us. Yaya Dolores took good care of us when my parents were busy working.  She bathed us, cooked our meals, watched over us while we were playing, took us to school and stayed up until the wee hours of the morning whenever we were down with fever.

Yaya Dolores didn’t get married.  I don’t even remember her getting romantically involved with someone.  Perhaps, she was too dedicated to our family and didn’t have time to entertain matters of the heart.

Her loyalty to my family is unmatched.  When my parents and my brother moved to the States, I didn’t feel alone because Yaya Dolores stayed with me.  She was there when I graduated in college until I got married and became a mom.  Yaya Dolores is still with me until this very moment.  She now takes care of my 8-year old son.  To my family, Yaya Dolores is a real blessing.

I think it’s only fitting for kasambahays like Yaya Dolores to have a special day dedicated to them.  I support the move to observe a National Kasambahay Day.

Who are the kasambahays?

According to an article in Sun.Star, the term kasambahay has replaced the depreciative names like “chimay,” “katulong,” “maid,” or even “domestic helper.”  Kasambahay is short for kasama sa bahay (companion in the house). Kasambahay is now considered as a more humane reference to the domestic worker.

Based on the “Kasambahay Handbook: Everything the Filipino Domestic Worker Wants to Know,” a great percentage of domestic workers are migrants from the provinces and other places in the country touched by poverty.  Many kasambahays have limited education while some did not have an opportunity to go to school.

For many generations, the kasambahays have played a vital role in maintaining the order and cleanliness of Filipino households. The Labor Code defines the kasambahay in terms of his or her domestic or household responsibilities. A kasambahay is usually someone who has a live-in employment arrangement with his or her employer.  The individual is in charge of certain household services in the employer’s home that address the personal comfort and convenience of the members of the employer’s household such as cooking, washing clothes and cleaning. The services of family drivers also fall under the same category.