In Ghana, household help is plentiful, affordable, and most often necessary. Each domestic task may require many more stops and steps to accomplish than it might take in your home country. How many persons or the type of staff you hire will depend on your individual needs and lifestyle.

Finding and keeping good staff will require time and attention. The best way to find reliable help is to ask friends, colleagues, and acquaintances if they know of an available person. Embassies sometimes have contact information of available household help who have worked previously for their employees. The Accra Expat (www.accraexpat.com) also has a great Classifieds section where people list ads of referrals for their staff when they are leaving Ghana.

Most people rely on word of mouth or the recommendation of a friend, a colleague or an acquaintance. A personal referral cannot be overestimated, and it saves you the fees charged by placement agencies. A list of referrals is given under Agencies in this category. These general guidelines should assist you in choosing the best staff possible to meet your needs.