As a yaya-less working mommy, I need all the help I can get. With the fast-paced routine, the never-ending chores and the extra activities that complete my pleasingly varied life, I sometimes wish I have a personal assistant who I can just call whenever I need an extra hand. It’s just that my budget, of course, could not afford to hire me one — or so I thought.
Call it desperation but it came to the point when I google searched “errand services Philippines” just so I can delegate some of the little important tasks on my list. And modern technology did not fail me. One of the Google search results led me to a website called My Kuya.
My Kuya, a brainchild of Machine Ventures, is a Mobile App that offers on-call personal assistant or errands services for a price every working Juan could definitely afford. Isn’t that too good to be true? I thought only celebrities and business moguls could hire a personal assistant. Now, this yaya-less working mom can also have one whenever she needs it.
So how does it work?
One day, I urgently needed to bring a document to one of the government satellite offices in SM North but no one was available to look after my one-year-old. So I grabbed the opportunity of trying out the My Kuya App. Using it was just as simple as booking a car from Uber or Grab.
- Choose the service you need
There are two service options to choose from:
- KuyaNOW/AteNOW – services that can be done on foot like help in cleaning your place, shop in a nearby grocery store
- KuyaMOTO – requests that require fast or long distance services like courier services and food delivery
I chose KuyaMOTO since I needed documents delivered to government satellite office in SM North.
- Select your location (and drop off location for courier or food delivery)
There’s an auto detect feature that detected our home’s location so I didn’t have a hard time typing our address.
- Wait for the Kuya/Ate available and chat with them
The MyKuya in-app chat feature allowed me to discuss with the My Kuya Staff the specific details of the service I needed.
- Track the service process while communicating with the My Kuya Staff
Once my request was received, the My Kuya Staff assigned to me the errand for you. I was able to track the progress of my requested service via the MyKuya App real-time. I received notifications like “KuyaMoto arrived at SM North”.
The My Kuya staff was also prompt enough to send me a message when he found out from the government agency that something’s missing in my documents. So he went back to our house to get the missing documents and went back to the government agency to deliver the complete set of documents.
It took him just 1 hour and 16 minutes to complete the task, and I only paid PHP267. For me, it’s worth it. If I did the sending of documents, I would have also spent around PHP200 for my roundtrip taxi fare. So it’s worth paying PHP267. I was spared from having to travel to the agency, bearing with the traffic, waiting for several minutes in the government agency queue, and traveling back home.
How much is the fee?
You pay depending on the length of service you need. For KuyaNow/Ate Now service, the rate starts at PHP49/30 minutes. For KuyaMoto, you’d have to pay P89/30 minutes.
Creating job opportunities for our fellow Filipinos
The My Kuya app is more than just a commercial endeavor. What’s great about it is that it aims to push for poverty alleviation, female empowerment and education in the Philippines. This personal assistant mobile app aims to create 1 million job opportunities for the Filipino people. So each time you need a helping hand, think of your fellow Filipinos who might be waiting for a job opportunity. You have a need for service that these “kuyas and ates” can provide. On the other hand, the kuyas and ates need the job opportunity that your need for service can provide.
My Kuya Partners: If you know a kuya or an ate who needs a job, you may refer them to My Kuya. Click here for details on how to apply.
My Kuya for Business: If you have a small business and you need on demand extra manpower, then My Kuya might offer you the services you need.
There’s nothing wrong with asking for a little help from time to time. For who knows? The little help that will be given to you will also be a big help for a Filipino worker’s family or two. Download the mobile app now.
