Shantel Nyaboke, a 21-year-old woman, will forever be grateful to a stranger she chanced upon in a Turkish Airlines plane for saving her from a possible lifetime of servitude and slavery in Iraq.
The woman thought she was heading to Qatar for greener pastures via Turkey and never knew that she was headed to the war-torn state of Iraq until she struck a conversation with a fellow Kenyan who refused to give his identity.
The Good Samaritan, who was heading to USA via Istanbul, Turkey, recounted how he and Ms Nyaboke got into small talk and in the process, realised the danger the unsuspecting damsel was getting herself into.
"I’m traveling to the United States via Istanbul, Turkey. I struck up a conversation with a girl carrying an East Africa passport. She looked lost so I asked where she needed help,” the man told Nairobi News.
According to him, Nyaboke, who hails from Kisii county, thought she was heading to Qatar for a job as a domestic worker but her contract and boarding pass indicated that her final destination was Iraq. Upon looking at her contract, he noticed a few things which did not add up.
The contract did not state her salary, expected working hours, and there wasn't indicated whether she would have any off days. He advised her that the contract was a bad deal and that she was heading to Iraq and not Qatar.
"I took her to the Turkish Airlines help desk and they promised to get her a ticket back tonight (Monday). I gave her some Dollars for food and all the Kenyan Shillings I had on me for her to use when she gets back home.”
Nyaboke’s mother, only identified as Tabitha, expressed gratitude that her daughter was returning home safe.
“My daughter left home to seek greener pastures. If she ran into trouble, I will be happy she returns back home,” the mother stated.
Nyaboke may be fortunate to return home safely, but not many Kenyan women have been as lucky.
Often, many Kenyans are lured into traveling to the Middle East in search of better lives but end up in servitude.
In March, two Kenyan women were reported to be suffering in jail in Iraq after allegedly falling out with their employers.
This is despite reports of abuse which saw Kenya in 2014 caution its citizens against seeking domestic work in the Middle East and to revoke the licenses of 930 recruitment agencies.
