"We indeed had one wonderful 'Oma' with us for 2 months and since last week we have a new one who will stay for three months. Living with Holde, our first 'granny', has been a wonderful experience. Holde not only helped me looking after our daughter and with all the household chores but was a wonderful friend for me (with my husband working in a different country I am most of the time on my own with the little one) and an amazing cook - my colleagues will miss a lot her freshly baked cakes which I used to bring to the office. I will miss our dinners together chatting about food, family, life etc etc. and Anita will miss her bath time with her. But we have been lucky and we found yet another wonderful granny thanks to your organisation. Annette joined us only last week but she is already proving to be a very caring and sweet person. We look forward to having  more fun memories with her. Here one pictures of Holde, Anita and I in Nairobi and one of Annette and Anita at the Abu Dhabi airport (she is clearly already attached to the new 'Oma')."

„I helped in an orphanage in Saigon from 1.11.12 until 20.2.13. These months were the most difficult and at the same time the most beautiful in my life. Working with the children gave me lots of pleasure. I, as non-mother, had no idea, how well I was able to handle small children. There were about 240 small children on five wards in the orphanage. On the baby station were 32 healthy babies, the youngest 7 days old, the oldest 1 year. Mostly the babies are abandoned somewhere or left behind in the hospital. Additionally there was a toddler station, a station with Down Syndrome children and the “sick ward” with the very disabled and very ill children, where I was initially supposed to work, but which I just could not manage, even after several tries.  

I spent the first month with the 32 babies, feeding, changing and playing. In the afternoon the children just lay in their beds without contact to their carers. That was my job, to stroke them, laugh with them etc. I was only allowed five minutes per child! They were also supposed to be fed in a rapid tempo often making them sick without talking to them. Do not ask me how the nurses “told” me this, it was unmistakable in any case.

I lived in a district without any tourists. Hardly anyone speaks English and English menus were also few and far between. Ordering meals was an adventure every evening – thus I had nice and interesting experiences. To venture out as a woman alone is unthinkable for a Vietnamese women. It was demanding! But I could go back again the day after tomorrow. To my little ones and to the chaotic, loud everyday life with the heat and the always friendly helpful people, the delicious food, the problems with diarrhea, and and and…..”

„I am counting the months (still 20!) until my retirement to then become a member. Many thanks for your letters – I can hardly wait. I am a globetrotter and probably cannot afford further trips after my 65th birthday. Granny Aupair would be the solution and it already makes me happy that there will be opportunities.”

„ I have been back from my trip to England since Christmas and have slowly returned to everyday life. It was a lovely and eventful time for me with many encounters and new impressions, I will think about for a long time. I have seen and experienced so much and nearly everything was consistent with how I had imagined it. My host family was very nice and I felt integrated within the family. I also had an invitation from the grandparents of “my children” to the south west of England, which I liked very much. I must say, an all around successful trip, where I learnt a lot about myself.”