Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Snapshot in Time: A Day in the Life of a Home Help
    A Snapshot in Time: A Day in the Life of a Home Help
    A Snapshot in Time: A Day in the Life of a Home Help
    Ebook63 pages43 minutes

    A Snapshot in Time: A Day in the Life of a Home Help

    By M.D. Nyarko

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This book is about my employment as a Home-help during the 70s. I was born in Ghana and came to England, as a young adult. I didnt have any ideas about what work I should do and never imagined that I would become a Home-help at the grand old age of 19 years! However, this was what I became and found this was not only a new experience, but also a very valuable one.

    I was not given any training and started this job with a fresh innocence, but became very knowledgeable soon afterwards. I would have to make three visits in one day; most people were either elderly or disabled.

    Caring for people then was very different to caring today. My daily routine would consist of making coal fires, cleaning the grates, shopping and collecting pensions. Making a coal fire was an art in itself! I would collect coal from the coal bunker (a sort of brick building at the back of the house.)

    Not everyone had fridges, hoovers, carpets and telephones, so caring was hard and time consuming. I scrubbed many floors and door steps, cleaned many grates and swept ashes by hand of course! Rugs had to be beaten outside, windows were cleaned with newspaper and vinegar and nets would be washed with net glow (a small blue bag) to whiten them.

    I observed the people and learned to appreciate them and their ways. I shared humour, pain and joy and learnt from their lives. Everyone I encountered had valuable qualities, which made an impression on my everyday life. I was employed as a Home-help for sixteen years.

    I have recalled these memories and hope readers will share the humour and envisage the characters in my book. I have loved making the book which contains similar illustrations of the 70s.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTrafford Publishing
    Release dateJan 31, 2014
    ISBN9781490717500
    A Snapshot in Time: A Day in the Life of a Home Help
    Author

    M.D. Nyarko

    I was born in Ghana, West Africa and travelled to England when I was 16 years old. I felt like a young plant being pulled out of a flower pot. It took many years for me to settle and come to terms with my ‘new life’. My work experience has enabled me to travel and work in other countries with various organisations. I have spent many years working with people with physical disabilities. Basically, I am an optimist and have an enthusiasm for life, which I hope has reflected upon all the people I have met. Life is precious and although it can be sour at times, I believe it is like a lemon. We can either chose to taste the bitter sweet or make sweet lemonade. I have chosen the sweeter option. I have enjoyed meeting different cultures and have now had the time to write my first book! I hope it will make you smile!

    Related to A Snapshot in Time

    Related ebooks

    Relationships For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      A Bed For The night

      Jan 26, 2023

      A Bed For The night
      5 min read

    • Article

      Life After Death

      May 27, 2022

      Life After Death
      14 min read

    • Article

      Ice cream DREAMS

      Aug 4, 2021

      Ice cream DREAMS
      8 min read

    • Article

      Left FIELD

      Mar 30, 2022

      Left FIELD
      6 min read

    • Article

      Our Old Neighbor

      Sep 1, 2019

      Our Old Neighbor
      11 min read

    • Article

      I Finally Feel That I’m Free

      Jan 29, 2020

      I Finally Feel That I’m Free
      11 min read

    • Article

      Mirror Mirror On The Wall

      Oct 5, 2023

      Mirror Mirror On The Wall
      10 min read

    • Article

      Notes on Etiquette

      Mar 1, 2019

      Notes on Etiquette
      10 min read

    • Article

      The Art of Fiction No. 251

      Mar 15, 2022

      The Art of Fiction No. 251
      20 min read

    • Article

      Join The Weekly Conversation

      Sep 25, 2023

      Join The Weekly Conversation
      3 min read

    • Article

      Winning Letter

      Sep 30, 2022

      I’m a single mother who struggles financially to get through each month. When my washing machine broke I had no funds to repair it, so I asked my neighbours if I could do my washing at their place. On a Wednesday afternoon my bell rang. At the door w

      5 min read

    • Article

      Fearless, fabulous FERN

      Apr 7, 2022

      Fearless, fabulous FERN
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Lost Boy

      Oct 22, 2020

      The Lost Boy
      5 min read

    • Article

      Love Letters To Kim

      May 20, 2020

      Love Letters To Kim
      8 min read

    • Article

      Ella’s Choice

      Oct 6, 2021

      Ella’s Choice
      7 min read

    • Article

      Riccardo

      Jun 14, 2022

      My understanding of my family’s religion was that we didn’t have to go to church if we didn’t want to and that our belief in God was tenuous at best. I grasped the seventh principle, “the interconnected web of all existence,” and I understood the hum

      14 min read

    • Article

      Dementia

      Aug 12, 2021

      Dementia
      10 min read

    • Article

      Dementia

      Aug 12, 2021

      Dementia
      10 min read

    • Article

      I REMEMBER… Barry Humphries

      Mar 15, 2022

      I REMEMBER… Barry Humphries
      5 min read

    • Article

      Love Letters To Kim

      May 20, 2020

      Love Letters To Kim
      8 min read

    • Article

      Can’t Take It With You

      Apr 10, 2022

      Can’t Take It With You
      8 min read

    • Article

      Why I Feel Like An Expert In DEATH

      Jun 6, 2023

      At my mother’s interment, my brother gave a eulogy by the grave. ‘Mum and Dad bought this plot on my 24th birthday,’ he said. ‘But it only came with a 50-year lease. So if I manage to survive to the age of 74, I hope I have enough savings left to buy

      4 min read

    • Article

      Rag Doll

      May 3, 2018

      Rag Doll
      11 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Snapshot in Time

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      A Snapshot in Time - M.D. Nyarko

      © Copyright 2014 M.D. Nyarko.

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

      isbn: 978-1-4907-1749-4 (sc)

      isbn: 978-1-4907-1750-0 (e)

      Trafford rev. 01/28/2014

      11604.png www.trafford.com

      North America & international

      toll-free: 1 888 232 4444 (USA & Canada)

      fax: 812 355 4082

      Contents

      Memoirs Of A Home Help

      First Home Visit

      Mr And Mrs Haigman

      Mrs Allenby.

      Mrs Austin

      Mrs Miller

      Mrs Taylor

      Mr Boyant

      Mr Baron

      Mr Swindon

      Mrs Alexander

      Mr Toby

      Mrs Richard And Daughter

      Mrs Mumford

      Totsie

      Iris Innis

      Mrs Bassett

      Miss Gwyneth ‘T’

      Mr Hills

      Miss Jones

      Mrs Richman

      Regular Meals And Cooking At That Time.

      Conclusion

      Memoirs of a Home Help

      I have never heard of a job with a name like that, I said to Mrs James! She was the good-hearted lady who mentioned it to me. I had finished working at the residential home, which was my first job on arrival in England. My first child was soon to be born and the landlord was reluctant to allow my family to use the one double bedroom we had rented. The room was meant for a couple, not a family. In spite of this, the landlord was living in a double bedroom with his family. I had left my job because we were moving from Wembley to Kilburn. I was not qualified to do anything in particular, but I was certain that I could not work in a factory. I had seen many people coming out of factories after the end of a day’s work and I did want to work in one. I was quite a timid person at the time and liked my own company. I was always with one or two people, no more than that.

      Mrs James suggested I looked into being a Home-help. And what is that? I asked. Well, said Mrs James, a home help is sent by the council to individual homes to do shopping, cleaning, draw pensions and collect medical prescriptions for the clients. It certainly sounded like the ideal job for me.

      How can I get a job like that? I thought. She took my address, contacted the local council, and got them to send me an application form. I was called for an interview and was given a job immediately. I started exactly a week later and left my other job in the Residential home. The people I’m about to introduce to you were real people with their own unique experiences. The stories are not directed to any particular person, nor were they meant to ridicule, or betray anyone. Some situations may seem to be insensitive or politically incorrect, but these were the true feelings of the people at the time. They had gone through the Second World War and therefore had a ‘certain outlook’ on life at that time. To eliminate some of these comments from the story would be to take out vital parts of the atmosphere at that time. People were who they were because of the circumstances they had been through. Their circumstances were often not chosen by them, but they could not prevent the sudden predicaments they found themselves in. I felt that they were living histories and felt privileged to have met them. I learned a great deal from the encounters, which helped me experience various situations.

      Although I am still not as wise as I should be, I would have been less so if I had not taken on this difficult and challenging job.

      ‘Home-helps’ have struggled through many changes and today the name has

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1