Maryann Mwaura is among a few Kenyans who share a success story after working in Saudi Arabia as a domestic worker.
In an interview, she detailed her journey from Kenya to Saudi Arabia where she worked for one family for over a decade.
It is the same family that has helped her achieve her dream which includes buying a plot of land, and building a mansion.
Here is her story as told by WoK.
Maryann was born and raised in Kiambaa, Kiambu County, and was born in a family of eight – six girls and two boys. She is the third born.
Growing up in a humble background, she attended Kiambaa Primary School and proceeded to join Hidden Talent Academy in Dagoretti for her secondary school education.
After a while, Maryann and her two sisters were forced to move schools, and joined a local school in their home area.
In an interview with Lynn Ngugi, she further shared how she struggled with self-esteem issues while in high school, to a point where she had to drop out of school twice.
At some point, before joining Form Four, Maryann dropped out of school to live with a man in Nairobi but she later changed her mind.
“After a few weeks, I figured this is not the life I wanted, and with the help of my eldest sister, I managed to convince the guy to allow me to go back to school,” she shared.
After completing school, Maryann reunited with her boyfriend who ended up making her pregnant and refused to take responsibility.
She also got into marriage but she was pushed out of it due to her partner’s violent nature, “I decided enough is enough, I had done my best and the best move was to leave with my son.”
In 2014, Maryanne got a chance to travel and work in Saudi Arabia, and despite the harrowing cases of workers’ mistreatment, she was determined to work in the Gulf country.
After training, she was given a contract to sign before being introduced to her client who was based in Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia.
Following her arrival in Saudi Arabia, alongside other women looking for domestic work, Maryann stayed for a few days before she was taken to her work place.
While at her new place of work, Maryann was supposed to work alongside another worker but instead, she asked her boss to increase her salary so that she could work alone.
“At that particular point, I was conversant with the whole house and although the work was much, I had planned how I’d be working and that way it was much easier,” she said.
With time, Maryann grew closer to the family, explaining why she has been working with the same family for over 10 years.
“I found a mother in my boss because she makes me feel at home, and we would always talk about anything with her,” she added.
After a while, Maryann decided to open a bank account in Saudi Arabia, with the help of her boss, that she used to save money.
On building her house, she explained thaat while leaving Kenya, her dream was to buy a piece of land and build a house for herself.
After years of working, Maryanne was able to buy a piece of land which stayed undeveloped for a few years before she started building her house.
Initially, she had thought of buying a piece of land but after putting her money in a real estate company, she was frustrated forcing her to reconsider her decision.
After getting back her money from the company, Maryanne started building her house which is currently near completion.
