• Caroline Aluoch was a second-year student at Kisii University
• She took a temporary break to raise fees and ended up in Saudi Arabia where she died.
Ruth Akiri had many times pictured her first visit to an airport but not once did it occur to her it would be to receive the remains of her daughter.
Carolyne Aluoch, the fifth born in a family of nine children, was her greatest hope. Her brilliance, resilience, and loving nature reassured her mother that through her the family was destined for better days.
Fate has proved otherwise, according to Ruth.
Ruth had worn a strong face throughout her journey to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to receive the body of her daughter, but the sight of a brown casket secured with a lock soon ruined her composure.
“Caroline Aluoch, what did you steal in the Arab country that got you back in a casket?
“Why did you add to our misery?
"Today, I carry all my hopes and dreams in a casket back to Homa Bay. You said I would pick you from the airport and I was happy, you did not say you'd be lifeless," Ruth mourned.
When Aluoch got a chance to go to Saudi Arabia for employment, her family back in Homa Bay was adamant that she was not going, even though they knew it was necessary.
They could not afford to pay her fees at Kisii University where she was a Bachelor of Education student. She suspended her studies.
The Higher Education Loans Board delayed her disbursement and she had missed end-of-semester exams.
“She was in the second year of her studies. She went looking for employment but could not get anything, so we started a business,” said Beryl Akiri, Aluoch’s sister.
Beryl, who stayed in Oyugis, would send Aluoch fruits and a few items, which she would retail in their village.
“The returns were barely enough to sustain her, saving for the school fees as she had intended was a tall order,” Beryl said.
Concerned that she had made no progress, Aluoch began looking for alternative ways of earning money. That is how she got an agency that agreed to take her to Saudi Arabia as a houseworker.
“I was happy for her, to be honest, and even though I was so worried, I hoped she would get a breakthrough, finish school and take care of her three-year-old daughter,” Beryl said.
Aluoch left behind a worried but hopeful family on November 26, 2020, when she travelled to Saudi Arabia. Beryl said because she knew how hardworking her sister was, she believed she wouldn't have much trouble with her employer.
Things began on a promising note even though Aluoch noted some setbacks. She sent Beryl the first Sh22,000 she had earned. The sister called to encourage her.
“She told me her boss was not easy and her job was very tough. She complained about being forced to climb a very steep ladder to clean high windows, I felt sorry for her,” Beryl said.
Things took a turn for the worse in February when Aluoch called Beryl, informing her that she was in hospital. She had suffered leg injuries when she fell down from a ladder while cleaning windows.
“She complained that the hospital had only given her painkillers and antihistamine. She also said her boss was forcing her to work in her condition,” Beryl recounted.
The plot quickly thickened when Beryl received a video showing a bruised Aluoch. In the video, she is also being forced to sign documents stopping her return to Kenya.
Beryl later received calls from Aluoch’s boss claiming that her sister was sick and had been transferred from a general hospital to a mental one.
At this point, the Saudi authorities claimed Aluoch was acting like one with mental instability and had attempted to commit suicide.
“We started pushing the agency that took her there to bring her back but they did nothing, only kept reassuring us that they were handling the matter and Aluoch was being unruly,” Beryl said.
In April, Aluoch called Beryl and informed her that she overheard her boss’s plan to kill her and fled to report to the police but the officers did not listen to her and instead called her boss to pick her up.
Aluoch reached her agency and was allowed to work during the day and sleep at night. The agency threatened to lock her up in a shelter for the rest of the contract period if she insisted on coming back to Kenya.
“Her employer continued mistreating her and this time when she went to report at a police station, the officers beat her up and took her phone. She called me on April 12, through a strange number, informing me of the incident and that she was badly injured in hospital,” Beryl said.
A letter sent to the family on May 5 indicated that while in hospital, Aluoch hid in the bathroom and was later found dead.
Beryl then reached out to the agency that posted the death of her sister. It denied the claims but later confirmed she had met her end.
The agency later called and informed her uncle Sylvanus Odongo that Aluoch was dead. It did not give details.
"I had made several trips to the agency pleading with them to send Aluoch back but they failed to act," teary Odongo said.
Saudi Arabia, in a postmortem report, said Aluoch committed suicide on April 14.
The family has, however, dismissed the suicide claim after receiving videos of Aluoch’s mistreatment from one of her colleagues.
Mourning her, the family said Aluoch was very determined to succeed and planned to come back to finish her studies after working for two years.
Aluoch had scored over 300 marks in her KCPE exam but enrolled at Atemo, a day secondary school in her village, as her parents could not afford to take her to the school she had been listed to go to. Against all odds, Aluoch obtained a B minus grade in the 2015 KCSE exam.
Some of her siblings had dropped out of school because of lack of school fees, while others would be sent home regularly over the same.
“Both my parents are unemployed and rely on small-scale farming to provide for the big family. My father would pay Sh1,000 monthly for all his children who were in school. It was not easy,” Beryl said.
When she got admission to Kisii University, her family was happy even though uncertainty surrounded her quest to pursue her academic dreams. The money problem still reared its head.
“We fundraised but got less than Sh30,000. My father decided to sell a parcel of his land at a throwaway price, and to raise funds to take Aluoch to school,” Beryl recounted.
The family wants the government to intervene to determine what caused Aluoch’s death. A dream has been shattered and family hopes dashed.
Edited by F'Orieny