Kenyan domestic workers are not children of a lesser god

Ziporah Wanjiku breaks down during an interview with The Standard on February 6th 2024.. Her daughter Gladys Wanjiku Nganga left for Saudi Arabia in 2019 as migrant domestic worker, but since then she has never heard from her. She is now suspecting the daughter must have died or living in the hands of evil people. [Collins Oduor, Standard]

Those flying out of Kenya, transiting through the Middle East, may have seen scores of young, naive-looking women. Clearly first-time travellers out of their element, their faces radiate a mixture of emotions; joy and hope that they have escaped the biting poverty characteristic of some parts of rural Kenya. Sadness and fear because of loved ones left behind and the unknown that awaits them in distant lands.

These women are domestic workers looking for greener pastures in Saudi Arabia. The lucky ones will make it back home with tales of terrible living conditions akin to slavery. Others will be transported in the cargo holds of planes with their bodies bearing horrific evidence of torture. Still, others will be disposed of as unclaimed bodies in foreign lands never to be seen again by their kith and kin.