Chapter One
The Morning Everything Changed
I left Kenya with a small bag, a degree, a prayer and a heart full of hope.

But this wasn’t my first attempt at trying to change my life.

I had looked for employment. I had tried small-scale business. I had tried to find a way to make things work. But the returns were not enough for the responsibilities I carried.

So when the opportunity to travel to Saudi Arabia came, I saw a door.

And perhaps there was something even more special about it.

When I was a little girl, I used to dream of boarding a plane one day.

Now, that little girl’s dream was about to come true.

I did not leave Kenya simply because I couldn’t find a job.

I had tried.

After completing my degree, I looked for stable employment, but opportunities were difficult to find. I also tried running small-scale businesses, hoping that perhaps I could create my own income. But the returns were not enough for the responsibilities I carried.

I knew I had to do something.

Then came the opportunity to travel to Saudi Arabia.

And suddenly, something I had once imagined as a little girl was becoming real.

I was going to board a plane.

Not for a holiday.

Not as a tourist.

I was boarding that plane because I believed it could change my life.

The Gulf Opportunity
Travelling to the Gulf is not something where you wake up today and find yourself boarding a plane tomorrow.

There are documents to be sought, screening, medical requirements, home-care training and a whole process that has to be completed before you can finally leave.

I had started the process, but something unexpected happened.

I didn’t even attend the training.

Within about two weeks, everything was ready.

The documents were out.

The arrangements had been made.

And suddenly, my flight was ready.

Sometimes I look back at how quickly everything happened and simply say:

Who is God?

Because I had prayed, and somehow everything began falling into place.

At the time, I wasn’t thinking about the difficulties ahead.

I was excited.

Very excited.

I remember thinking:

This is it.

This is the change I needed.

The Night Before
The night before we left, I was staying in a hostel with four other women who were also preparing to travel.

Five women.

Five stories.

Five dreams.

We were all hoping for something better.

We had ambitions.

We had visions.

We wanted to change the situations we had come from.

Because no child grows up watching their family struggle and dreams of remaining in poverty forever.

We wanted something different.

That night, I prayed for God’s favour.

I didn’t know what the next chapter would hold, but I knew I needed God to go before me.

Then morning came.

And the morning was bright, almost as if the sunrise itself was welcoming a new beginning.

A new chapter of my life.

I had a smile on my face.

Finally.

This is the day.

We were doing it.

Six Women, One Journey
On our way to the airport, we stopped at the office to pick up another woman who would be travelling with us.

And that was how our group of five became six.

I remember meeting her.

It was almost love at first sight , not romantic love, of course, but that instant warmth you sometimes feel when you meet someone and immediately connect.

We exchanged greetings and started chatting.

Naturally, we talked about our families.

Where we came from.

Why we were travelling.

What we hoped to achieve.

None of us knew what was waiting for us, but at that moment we were simply excited about the next chapter.

Six women.

Six different stories.

Six dreams.

And one journey into the unknown.

A Small Bag and a Big Dream
I didn’t have much with me.

Just a small picnic bag with a couple of clothes inside.

Looking back, it almost makes me smile.

I was leaving my country and beginning a completely different life, yet everything I had for the journey could fit into that little bag.

After breakfast, we headed to the airport.

I remember what I ate.

Chapati and beans.

A simple Kenyan breakfast.

Nothing extraordinary.

But that ordinary meal became part of a very extraordinary morning.

We arrived at the airport and joined the queue for boarding.

And suddenly, the excitement became real.

I remember thinking:

“So this is real. I’m actually leaving Kenya.”

I was leaving my country.

My family.

My son.

Everything that had nurtured me from childhood.

I knew I had to do this.

I had responsibilities.

I had dreams.

But knowing you have to leave does not make leaving easy.

There is a strange moment when you realise that the place you have always called home is about to become somewhere you will have to miss from a distance.

My First Flight
Then came Qatar Airways.

For someone who had grown up accustomed to basic local meals and ordinary everyday experiences, being inside that aircraft felt like stepping into something completely new.

I still remember the food, although after all these years I can’t recall every item on the tray.

I remember there was a sandwich, biryani rice and an aroma that seemed to have it all.

I was eager to try it.

Everything felt new.

I wanted to experience this new world.

Even finding my seat became part of the adventure.

I had to ask for help.

And I wasn’t ashamed.

I didn’t know everything, and I didn’t need to pretend that I did.

I was learning.

After all, this was my first flight.

And somewhere inside me, that little girl who had once dreamed of boarding a plane was probably smiling.

The dream was no longer a dream.

It was happening.

One Last Call Home
Before boarding, I called my dad.

I wanted him to know that I was finally getting onto the plane.

I told him I was boarding.

He wished me well and reminded me to always pray for God’s guidance.

Those words stayed with me.

Because neither of us knew exactly what was waiting for me on the other side.

The plane took off.

And as Kenya became smaller beneath me, I knew I was crossing into something completely unknown.

I was excited.

I was hopeful.

I believed I was flying towards a better life.

I didn’t know that I would soon miss the things I had once taken for granted ; the familiar faces, the freedom, the food, the air, the warmth of home and simply knowing where I belonged.

At that moment, though, I wasn’t thinking about any of that.

I was thinking about the future.

I was thinking about my responsibilities.

I was thinking about my family.

And I was thinking:

I’ve finally made it.

Then Reality Began
When I arrived in Saudi Arabia, the excitement slowly began meeting reality.

The journey did not end at the airport.

I had an almost eight-hour bus journey to Riyadh ahead of me.

Eight hours on the road.

I watched the road signs as we travelled, taking in a country that was completely unfamiliar to me.

I prayed Hail Marys along the way.

At some point, I ate rice and chicken.

Eventually, we reached Riyadh.

And then came the heat.

It was overwhelming.

My body struggled with the change, and I became sick.

For about three days, I was unwell at my sponsor’s home.

I had travelled thousands of kilometres believing I was beginning the life I had dreamed about.

But my body was already telling me:

You are far from home now.

Eventually, I was taken to Al Rawdar.

I met an older woman who had five children.

And that was where my new reality began to reveal itself.

There was a room full of toys.

There was a bathroom that needed cleaning.

There was work waiting.

This wasn’t the Saudi Arabia I had imagined from the hopeful distance of Kenya.

This was the beginning of my life as a domestic worker.

And before I even understood what that life would demand from me, I found myself cleaning.

The hours stretched.

The day became night.

The night became very late.

And eventually, I was still working at around 3 a.m.

I had come with a degree.

I had come with dreams.

I had come believing:

“This is the change I needed.”

I didn’t yet understand that sometimes the change you ask God for doesn’t arrive looking the way you imagined.

Sometimes it arrives disguised as hardship.

Sometimes it takes you through tears before it takes you somewhere better.

And sometimes, before you discover how strong you are,

life has to give you a reason to find out.

I had left Kenya with a small bag and a big dream.

I had no idea that the hardest journey was not the flight from Kenya to Saudi Arabia.

It was the journey of learning how to survive once I got there.