duties.

As well as keeping the Home clean, they spend a great deal of time with the senior citizens who live there.

Housekeeping duties include washing the residents' laundry and linen, cleaning the bathrooms plus mopping and dusting the bedrooms and public areas, said Ms Gail Joinville, executive housekeeper.

Ms Joinville and her assistant, Ms Glenda Reid, work five-day work weeks, three days of which are together.

"We do the same job,'' said Ms Joinville. "But I also inventory the supplies and reorder new stock.'' Prior to taking on her job at Packwood Home, Ms Joinville was the breakfast chef at Mid-Ocean Club. And before that, she was the head chef at Docksider pub and restaurant.

Trained at the Bermuda College as a qualified chef, waitress and housekeeper, Ms Joinville spent the last six years in a kitchen. "I wanted a change,'' she said, "so I applied for a housekeeping job.

"And this is a real challenge because not only am I in charge of the housekeeping department but I am working with elderly people.'' Ms Joinville said working at the Packwood Home was much the same as working in a hotel.

"We have a similar routine,'' she said. "But the atmosphere on a daily basis is very different.

"It is more exciting at the Packwood Home because I work so closely with the senior citizens. It's amazing to watch the elderly and how they behave,'' she added. "Basically working here is a job and a lesson all in one.'' Ms Reid enjoys the work because she adores being around the elderly. Working with senior citizens, however, is not a new experience for her.

"I used to work at Lefroy House,'' she said. "Elderly people are so interesting.

"Some revert back to their childhood and others are very alert and aggressive. You must be strong to be around them so much. But I love it.''