An audio recording of a Zimbabwean lady narrating her experience as a housemaid in Kuwait was recently posted on Youtube.
The lady talks about how her visa papers and flight tickets were processed for free by an agency with the intention of securing a job as a maid. She said the process took three days and her experience was exciting during the application and travelling phase.
Upon arrival in Kuwait, the lady says she remembers feeling like an imprisoned person when they made her sit in a room with others whilst she waited for her employer to fetch her. When her employer arrived he demanded that she surrender her passport and other personal documents.
The lady also made mention of her being required to take an HIV test when she arrived at her place of work. The purpose of the test was to ensure that she was free of any transmittable illness because it is custom for the man to sleep with the maid when his wife is not up for the task.
The woman narrated how she escaped her place of work with the help of an Indian man and the Zimbabwean embassy. The embassy had to arrange her extraction under the guise of her throwing out the trash.
Many women go to countries abroad seeking greener pastures. There are many other documentaries available on Youtube of people that share their experiences in Dubai and other countries. For some, the journey ends in modern-day slavery, human trafficking and in extreme cases, death.
The lady ends her testimony by encouraging local women to avoid settling for any offers to leave the country out of desperation. She advised people to be satisfied with being able to hustle here in Zimbabwe as there is no guarantee that those that live abroad lead better or happier lives.
Below is the full audio of the woman’s experience in Kuwait.