Dear Obaa Yaa,

My family hired the services of a maid to help in caring for our child since the two of us are civil servants. Our greatest worry is that this girl is pregnant but hails from a poor family.

The parent’s greatest wish was that she must raise some money to enable them send her to school.

As Christians who know the essence of education and having considered how poor and helpless her parents gave us much concern.

We decided to end the contract since it would be difficult to retain her in the house.

My wife was disturbed about how her stay with us has ended and wished that we keep the maid under our care but I disagreed with her proposal be­cause the longer we allow her to stay in the house, the more complex our problem will be.

Do you think we have acted re­sponsibly in this case?

Kwame, Accra.

Dear Kwame,

This can be likened to a breach of contract, however you have acted humanely and this is a character of a true Christian.

The decision to let her go is the best because keeping her with you will automatically add more cost to your expenditure and increase your stress by ensuring her welfare. Thank God that the fault did not come from you.

You ought to know the gentleman who has impregnated her, know the boy’s parents and inform the parents of the maid about what has happened. These are the initial steps you have to take before you send the maid to her parents.

Try to buy her some parting gifts, maintain a good relationship between you and her parents to monitor her progress in life.

At this stage she may be trauma­tised so handle her with care and teach her the appropriate steps to take