When Irene Atieno left her parents’ home in Gogo Katuma village, Homa Bay County, two years ago for a new job in the Middle East, she had high hopes that her life and that of her parents would change for the better.
Atieno travelled to Saudi Arabia to work as a house help from which she hoped to generate enough money to build a modern and decent house for her parents as well as her own.
All went well as Atieno managed to buy construction materials for her parents’ home but not her own for the simple reason that she lost her job and was ailing.
Atieno, 39, is now bedridden and lodging with a fellow Kenyan.
Her family says Atieno is unable to return home because her employer is withholding her travel documents. However, their distress comes at the back of tales of the mysterious death of Kenyans dying when seeking greener pastures in Saudi Arabia.
Atieno’s father, Justus Odira, said his daughter went to Saudi Arabia in 2021 after her husband died.
“She was married in Kanyamkago in Migori County and bore two children. She decided to look for a source of income after her husband died,” Mr Odira said.
Atieno left her in-laws in Migori and temporarily moved to her parents’ home in Homa Bay, but later travelled to Nairobi to seek employment.
While in the capital, Mr Odira said his daughter landed an opportunity to travel to Saudi Arabia to work as a house help, for one year.
“She would complain of being overworked and never getting enough time to sleep, and claimed she would be sent to undertake chores at different houses belonging to her employer’s relatives,” the father said.
Mr Odira said his daughter got a break last year and travelled back home for a few weeks and shared her ordeal with them.
“She harboured intentions of going back but we advised her against it,” Mr Odira told Nation.Africa
Irene Atieno in happier healthier times while working in Saudi Arabia. Her family is seeking help to bring her home after her employer allegedly withheld her travel documents.
Photo credit: Family Album
However, Atieno’s burning desire to transform her home would not allow her to quit and she went back to Saudi Arabia, insisting that her Saudi Arabia earnings were the only way she could generate enough money to finish the construction.
She left home in June last year and rejoined her previous employer. This time, however, the employer withheld her travel documents to restrict her movements.
Atieno would previously call her father and mother whenever she wanted to inform them of how she was faring, but after a while, her phone was no longer being answered.
“We have not established what happened as she hasn’t explained why she was hospitalised,” Mr Odira said.
The family got in touch with another Kenyan woman working in the same country who reconnected them with Atieno.
Mr Odira said his daughter was soon discharged after her health improved. But her troubles were far from over.
The woman who helped reestablish contact, agreed to accommodate Atieno who could not return to her employer because of a disagreement.
“Her host leaves her in the house every morning and comes back in the evening. Atieno has to fend for herself during the day despite her disability,” he said.
Efforts by Mr Odira to seek help from the agency that linked Atieno with her employer in Saudi Arabia bore little fruit as he was informed that the management at the institution had since changed after his daughter travelled to Saudi Arabia.
“I was advised that the best option was for Atieno to go back to her employer. But this is impossible because she is sick and unable to work,” Mr Odira said.
Atieno’s mother, Joyce Akoth, said her family has also tried to seek help from the Kenya Embassy in Saudi Arabia.
“We are drained emotionally to imagine what my daughter is going through. I have even lost my ability to eat,” she said.
