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| With Jack and Tomoko |
As my friends and colleagues know, in addition to the exciting
work I’ve been chasing at World Bank Group these past 18 years, I’ve also been
chasing six kids at home. And no, I don’t deserve the Soviet Mother-Hero medal,
but I have been lucky to have wonderful helpers at home who certainly do
deserve it.
I don’t consider myself a high-earner, but hiring lots of helpers
has always been a necessity in my life, even when they earned more than my
after-tax income. We got started having kids when I was 20, and babysitters,
all older than me, had to show me the ropes. At our craziest point in Kyiv, I
counted 14 helpers on payroll. Bringing them into our family, from childbirths
to Thanksgivings to guitar lessons, has multiplied our joy.
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| Ted and Dmytro improv in Kyiv |
At WB, I could be
uncertain about the impact of my work, but at home I never was. At work we
could spend two years on a report that might sit on a central banker’s shelf,
or prepare a project that would never be approved. Meantime, Negede sent five
kids to college, Atey bought herself a motorbike and sent her sister to
college, Nubia bought a house and fixed her husband’s teeth, Vera paid off her
daughter’s mortgage, Lena bought a car, Dmytro renovated his kitchen, and
Oksana bought a house. Our family’s colossal needs were a big part of that.
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| Vera and Sabina |
For the best-networked helpers, finding the next job is a smooth
operation, facilitated by word of mouth and expat social networks. But just as
I am surprised time and again by the incredible skills and very low asking-prices
in developing countries, I am surprised and embarrassed that the mechanisms for
finding markets continue to be so ad hoc. A musician with PhD from Kyiv
Conservatory scrapes by at a local institute, and drops by the
international school looking for gigs. A graduate student in theoretical
mathematics earning USD5/hour is lucky to be referred by a friend of a friend
at church.
Can we do better? #MOGwee #helpingpeopleearnmore
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