The HELP: Wanted!

For the last eight years life has been smooth- sailing, at least in the home front. But now the girl who assisted me in the household chores and taking care of my children has outgrown her wings and is ready to fly away. I’ve no strings whatsoever to keep her tied to my home. When a girl attains that age there is no stopping her I guess. Candidly speaking, for the last one year I’ve been frantically making calls to every nook and corner of our country, searching for her replacement. But the response from all ends are same,” (sigh!) All girls are enrolled in school now!” There are tinges of sadness in this line. What an irony!
Actually as a woman and a teacher for that I should be proud to learn the fact that all our Bhutanese girls are now in school. Inside the classroom, this is what I always tell my girl students “Don’t drop out of school. Ever. It is only with Education that you will have your own ground to stand on. Even if you get a job that pays you minimum salary, you’ll have your own sky to claim.”
But my own words slap me with a vengeance as I utter without missing a breath,” …but there has to be some girl who cannot go to school.” Immediately I feel guilt creeping up and then I hear loud thudding in my heart which does a “what are you gonna do?” jig.
I have even gone to the extent of offering more than the minimum National wage but to no avail. I see myself turn sour to those girls who would rather slog in the scorching sun and chilly winds to earn a meager sum while the option of working in a house won’t even take half of the bitter life they lead on the roads. In my heart, I even chastise the girls choosing the drayangs over the warm homes. Their mathematics seems to be poor but I think they would rather choose to be the boss instead of being bossed around (wait! On the second hand, are they the bosses of their own body in these drayangs?Well!Well!Take No Offence! I’m not saying anything against these Drayang girls.)
As a last option I think of the girls across the border that can be willing to jump at the offer of half the wage offered to the Bhutanese girls but how can I defy the laws of my country. My country doesn’t allow these across the border helpers to ease the burden of our household chores. So the final option would be resigning from the job I love so much. I cannot see myself sitting at home cooking and cleaning. Teaching is more than a bread earning device for me, it’s a passion. But now within these two months I’ve to find someone to take the reins of my household chores if not maybe….I even dread to think of that option.
But how can I save my job? Is this an indirect indication that with this rule of no across the border babysitters allowed, our government is telling us, the Bhutanese women to return to our primitive place- the kitchen? I don’t intend to raise my finger to the government but I know of no option offered in place of the no bringing in labor from outside while our own Bhutanese market has no one offering their services of babysitters.
I know even as I am frantically calling my relatives and friends, there are many others doing the same. I know the story I am telling is not mine alone, there are many women who are crying out the same. So, on behalf of all these women, I would like to ask, where do we find a solution? Who do we turn onto to save us from losing our well-deserved career just because we need proper care for our kids?