The Testimony of Katherine, of Kenya
The Testimony of Katherine, of Kenya
The ink was wet upon the page, a promise rushed, a contract signed,
A cure for school fees, bleeding rent, and for a mother’s failing heart.
They sold a dream of fortune to the daughter left behind,
But at the gates of Riyadh, the illusion tore apart.
“I bought you,” said the madam’s voice, a whip across the room,
“You belong to me, you do exactly as I say.
”And two long years dissolved into a solitary tomb,
Where midnight bled to six a.m., with no Sabbath day.
Behind the closed and locked-up doors, the kafala holds the key,
An ancient chain with modern links, wrapped tight in race and gold.
They hid the washing machine away to break her dignity,
And bleached the skin upon her hands in water stiff and cold.
A hundred heavy boxes dragged up endless flights of stairs,
The grown-up children mocked the shaghala with cruel, inherited spite.
And when she starved, they threw away her noodles and her prayers,
And left her with a bitter tea to survive the quiet night.
“I never had a day off, and I barely left the house.
”The summer air was heavy with the grandchildren’s disdain.
A slap across the face if she resisted or spoke out,
While deep inside her chest, she felt her mother’s cardiac pain.
But look—the daughter did not break, though broken was her phone.
She held the line for two long years to keep her family fed.
And now she stands in Kenya’s sun, no longer on her own,
To speak for every woman whom the greedy agents led.
For Kenyans stand like swarms of bees when one of them is stung,
A rising hum of justice for the essential and the brave.
The laws must shield the worker, and the truth must find a tongue,
To shatter every shadow of the master and the slave.
May I ask; where are the justice and the fairness they preach?
Where are our virtues, their personal character and our honour they teach??
They told us to follow their lead and do well, to be like horney???
Where are those prepared comprehensive moral framework and social harmony????
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