After high school, Cynthia started working for a steel and hardware company. When the company closed down, the only work she could find was cleaning houses for middle-class families in Johannesburg’s suburbs. At first she continued searching for another job, but eventually she became confident that domestic work is God’s plan for her life. “If God . . . puts you to be a domestic [worker],” she said, “. . . you mustn’t say, ‘No, I don’t want this.’