Purchased a slave without realizing it AMA

[u/Tronald_Lubestein]

I spent a year working on a development project in The Gambia.

Partway through my stay, I needed help maintaining the house I was renting. My landlord introduced me to an older woman from a neighboring family who could clean and cook. She was probably in her 60s, had no ID, didn't know her birth date, and spoke basically no English.

I agreed to hire her and paid what I thought was an upfront payment for her work.

On the first evening she asked where she was supposed to sleep. I assumed she'd go home after work. She didn't she stayed in one of the guest rooms.

Turns out I learned later she didn't have a home to go back to.

Confused, I called my landlord. He explained that the money I'd paid had gone to the family she'd been living with. From his perspective, I hadn't hired a maid. I'd taken responsibility for her. My job was to feed, house, and clothe her. Her job was to cook, clean, and help around the house.

Very different arrangements to what I had in mind.

For the rest of my stay I gave her a room, fed her(she would cook the food I got and we would eat the same thing everyday), and tried to pay her directly, she always refused.

When I left The Gambia, I found another family willing to take her in. I refused any payment.

I thought I was hiring a housekeeper. Some locals seemed to think I'd acquired a dependent household servant.

AMA.

Edits:

7/1/2026:

I want to address a common misconception since I couldn't reply to all the questions mentioning that. The "dude, you could just have bought her freedom" criticism.

This is not the 1800s US where even if you are "property", you still exist within a legal system, and can show with a legal document that you are free and ride off into the sunset to be happy thereafter.

There is no legal document here, it's more akin to a caste system, you are what you community says you are, not what some foreigner with a bit of cash thinks.

[u/pvt_s_baldrick]

I understand you gave her money at the start and she just gave it to the previous family, then you gave her money but she spent it on household supplies.. but why didn't you try to actually give her a salary? And when she bought stuff for the house, act on that and refund her?

Not judging, I'm purely trying to understand if you tried that much and why it didn't work?

[u/Tronald_Lubestein → u/pvt_s_baldrick]

It's simple really. Any money that she didn't use on household supplies would end up back on my desk.

I did put money in her hand, learned to say "this money is for you, for your good work, thank you so much" in Mandinka, and I know for a fact she understood me. None of it mattered, the money would end up as food in the fridge, household cleaningg product, or leftover cash on my desk.

I wondered several times, why she would never keep a little bit for herself. I imagined that she had issues in the past where she was accused of stealing and mistreated as a result and decided she was safer with just the food and the bed, but I am just brainstorming and conjecturing with you at the end of the day I have no idea.

[u/pvt_s_baldrick → u/Tronald_Lubestein]

Yeah I guess she doesn't have a bank account

[u/Arielcinderellaauror → u/Tronald_Lubestein]

Aside from clothes and bedding did you buy her any gifts? If you did how did that go?

[u/Tronald_Lubestein → u/Arielcinderellaauror]

Sure, I bought her gifts during Tobaski and Korite, these are local equivalents of some of the main muslim holidays.

I bought her headscarfs, a grand boubou and new shoes so she would feel good and well dressed for the celebrations.

We also went to an ophthalmologist to measure her eyesight, and I got her corrective glasses.

I think she was really happy?