A lady was working in Saudi Arabia. Her name is Jane Waithera. She was working under a horrible boss. We all know the sad stories coming out of Saudi Arabia. So many of our girls have been killed by horrible bosses in Saudi Arabia for years.
But Jane Waithera held home. She was determined to work and make it. She was a house girl. Every money she made in Saudi Arabia, she sent it back home, to her mother. She told her mother to open an account and deposit the cash for her.
Se wanted to save enough so that she could come back home, start a business and get her family out of poverty. After she cumulatively sent home 400,000 shillings, she knew it was enough for her to start a business. She left her job in Saudi Arabia and came home.
When the plane landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), there was nobody to receive her. Not even her mother whom she has been sending money to all along. There was no one from her family. They were supposed to be there.
She went home. The worst was waiting for her. She found out that her mother squandered all the money she has been sending. There was not even a single coin remaining. She went to Saudi Arabia poor, and came back even poorer than she left, with no single coin.
The story of Jane Waithera will make anyone break down. Family can be let down sometimes. Indeed people will betray you. The worst is when that betrayal comes from family, the people you trusted like a mother, a brother, or a sister.
The story of Jane is not unique. We have heard similar stories before. Kenyans living and working in the diaspora have been swindled by family for the longest time. But, is there a solution? How can they save their money away from family in Kenya?
There is a solution. Kenyans in the diaspora should channel and save their cash through a Sacco in Kenya. I mean, Stima Sacco, for instance, has a portfolio specifically for Kenyans living and working in the diaspora. If Jane Waithera had opened an account with Stima Sacco and saved that 400,000 shillings, she would now be a millionaire. She would have come back, take a loan against her savings and invest. She would also be receiving dividends at the end of every financial year.
It is possible and it can be done.
