On my first assignment for The Guardian, I have photographed the women of the East African Institute of Homecare Management, who are preparing their move to countries like Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Kenyan women used to make a lot of money in the Gulf region with domestic work, but because of high numbers of mistreatment, the Kenyan government have put a ban in place to prevent Kenyan women from being beaten or raped.
After some years of bilateral talks with Gulf states, the Kenyan government promises to make domestic work safer in a region notorious for labour trafficking. And so the aforementioned ban has been lifted. Now, Kenyan women who want to move to the Gulf region have to go to institutes like the one I visited, which prepare them for their domestic work abroad. Here, they learn how to cook, clean and tend to children - the women also learn Arabic to ensure that communication with their future employers will not be a problem.
Most of the women I photographed for the article told me that they have to make money to make sure that their children will have a better future than them. You can read the full article, written by Jillian Keenan, on The Guardian website.
