Personally, I have never gone through an agency. Hiring somebody sight unseen is scary. To me, it's a crap shoot -- you never know what you're going to get. Falsified documents and work histories, someone you don't know from Adam... You're better off going by referrals of people already working here in Doha. I am lucky to have found all the people who have worked for me that way, and (touch wood) I've never been burnt.
Unless I had reason to believe my nanny was mistreating my child, I don't think I would install a hidden camera. I would definitely (and I have) enrolled all my nannies in a first aid course. To me, that's a no-brainer; they need to be able to do basic first aid and CPR if called upon to do so. I have friends who have enrolled their nannies in driving schools (so they can chauffeur the kids around), swimming lessons, and English classes (to improve communication). To me, all of these things are investments in your child. Most of the people we can hire as nannies don't have a lot of verifiable skills, so it's important to make sure you are equipping that person with the ability to handle things while you're not home.
To this end, I would love to see the government or private agencies help improve things. Start offering intro and refresher courses (in both Arabic and English, and perhaps the native languages of the women) in first aid, hygiene and health, food and nutrition, etc. I think there is a need in the community for this, and after awhile it would just become standard.
I would also love to start seeing some "mannies"! Inshallah, my next nanny will be a man. They're better equipped in general, I think, to do more sports/physical things with older children.
"Marriage is a wonderful institution...but who wants to live in an institution?" -- Groucho Marx
Personally, I have never gone through an agency. Hiring somebody sight unseen is scary. To me, it's a crap shoot -- you never know what you're going to get. Falsified documents and work histories, someone you don't know from Adam... You're better off going by referrals of people already working here in Doha. I am lucky to have found all the people who have worked for me that way, and (touch wood) I've never been burnt.
Unless I had reason to believe my nanny was mistreating my child, I don't think I would install a hidden camera. I would definitely (and I have) enrolled all my nannies in a first aid course. To me, that's a no-brainer; they need to be able to do basic first aid and CPR if called upon to do so. I have friends who have enrolled their nannies in driving schools (so they can chauffeur the kids around), swimming lessons, and English classes (to improve communication). To me, all of these things are investments in your child. Most of the people we can hire as nannies don't have a lot of verifiable skills, so it's important to make sure you are equipping that person with the ability to handle things while you're not home.
To this end, I would love to see the government or private agencies help improve things. Start offering intro and refresher courses (in both Arabic and English, and perhaps the native languages of the women) in first aid, hygiene and health, food and nutrition, etc. I think there is a need in the community for this, and after awhile it would just become standard.
I would also love to start seeing some "mannies"! Inshallah, my next nanny will be a man. They're better equipped in general, I think, to do more sports/physical things with older children.
"Marriage is a wonderful institution...but who wants to live in an institution?" -- Groucho Marx