Creating hope for migrant workers

Jane’s* uncle and mother knocked at every door for months to rescue her return from Saudi Arabia. The girl that had left for work was no longer reachable and her family feared for the worst.

However, despite securing several letters from the state, there was no Jane*. It was then that they were connected to Mr Charles Maina, whom they were told could be of help to them. It was later discovered that her phone had been confiscated by her boss.

When Mr Maina finally traced her, Jane’s* boss would be heard banging at the bathroom door she had hidden in from his beatings. A few minutes later, the connection was cut but not before Jane* told them that there was no hope of getting her home as her location was remote.

Mr Maina, the founder of My Guardian, a track, trace, rescue and support company committed to helping migrant workers tried again and finally, they managed to install the My Guardian app on a tablet in the house (Saudi Arabia).  On pressing the App SOS button, My Guardian learned that she was in Tabuk, over 700 kilometres from the Capital City, Riyadh.

That was a big break and the next was that 400 meters away was a police post. Being a foreigner, she had never known of its existence, although it was close to the home she worked in. The following day, she took out the rubbish but also escaped to the police post where Mr Maina’s local partner picked her from.

Reuniting Jane* with her family was a dream each had given up on. Their reunion was worth beholding because it was as though they were receiving someone from the dead.

Mr Maina says that while the letters the family had obtained were enough to push the labour company to do more to find the girl and bring her home, their hands are often tied despite numerous efforts.

Statistics

According to the Gender Ministry, at least 7,724 migrant workers left Uganda monthly for the Middle East in 2022. That led to an annual total of 92,688 with Saudi Arabia and Qatar taking the biggest numbers.

Mr Milton Turyasiima, the Gender Ministry assistant commissioner of employment services, says Uganda earns an annual average of $600m (Shs2.2 trillion) from migrant labour.

While many people are against the idea of them being in the Middle East, Mr Maina says it is because they are poorly informed.

“Out of the over 250,000 girls there, the last time I was in Saudi, approximately 700 girls were in rescue shelters or office shelters. Additionally, while they call this a deportation centre, it is a processing centre meant to ascertain the person’s problem and how they can help. Unfortunately, oftentimes, the girls do not voice their needs hence staying there longer. During this time, the government provides them with food, although they are not mandated to do that,” he says.

READ: Over 120,000 workers left Uganda in search of jobs in just two years 

My life as a migrant worker in Saudi Arabia

84,966 Ugandans left for Middle East in search of jobs in 2022

Dire situation

Nonetheless, Mr Maina does not negate the sad cases of abuse such as rape, torture, and starvation, attesting to having seen some inhumane incidences.

In one incident, it took them about one and a half days of liquid feeding to keep a girl alive. Upon taking the first bite of food, she told them, “If you can find me a good home, I am willing to work.” Mr Maina and his team successfully restructured her location and today she is very happy and providing for her family.

They have also dealt with girls who have lost a limb after an accident that went untreated yet stranded because the mechanisms for supporting their return are tricky.

“We discovered that most labour companies are very willing to assist, but have no on-the-ground support, save partners who have language barriers and sometimes do not agree that the girls are in danger,” he says.

He added: “While Uganda’s labour companies are regulated to work with a maximum of three to four domestic worker companies, on the Saudi side, one company can have as many as 10 partner companies. That means they can mistreat you and move to your neighbour. That is not forgetting that they control the demand of an abundant resource and hence have the upper hand.” This fact sometimes makes Uganda’s labour companies look unserious even when they have done their part.

It is also important to note that foreigners run most migrant labour companies in Saudi Arabia because it is no longer a prerequisite that a Saudi is the majority shareholder for a foreigner to open a business in the country.

“Some of these foreigners are often in and out of the country and hence not available to help,” he says.

There is also the issue of cultural differences where most Ugandan families that take on house help are small compared to those in the Middle East where a man often has multiple wives in one homestead.

Unfortunately, the support mechanisms may not be as fast as needed. That is why Mr Maina started the track, trace, rescue and support company in 2019 registered in Uganda, Kenya and Saudi Arabia.

With an office in Saudi Arabia, My Guardian have easy and quick access to the different labour company offices and the authorities, and hence faster solutions.

The motivation

After seeing several videos of Ugandan girls committing suicide on social media, Mr Maina knew he had to do something.

“I was certain they were Ugandan because they spoke in Luganda before committing suicide. I knew, having been a migrant worker, that I must do something rather than wait on the government, whose plate is already full. Moreover, despite the bilateral laws, and the willingness of both governments to meet their side of the bargain, there's no one to follow up,” he says.

Adding: “Saudi laws are very tough to allow for such foolery and the nationals are quite loving. We found that most of the migrant worker offences are meted by foreigners who are certain that they can flee after the misdemeanour.” 

Capital

Having spent most of his life in the humanitarian world, with a background in innovation and strategy management, Mr Maina wanted to create a product with demand and hence generate enough resources to sustain it. Buttressed on a capital investment of approximately $40,000, the My Guardian app was developed and office space in different countries was set up. “Save for the money, my amazing wife’s support has made this journey doable,” he says.

Achievements

While My Guardian stopped working during COVID-19, they used the time to refine their offering. The fruits of this labour include:

Resources: While the capital was personal, recently, Mr Maina got a loan worth 10,000 euros from entrepreneurs in Belgium whom he met while doing his PhD. This was coupled with a venture investment facilitated by the Avoda Group.

Offices: "Setting up the Saudi office was a major success as it included getting a company name approved there, identifying suitable office space and thankfully, unlike their company registration fees, the rent is manageable." Mr Maina says he owes a lot of this to the resourcefulness of the cab driver he used while there who later became his employee.

Product launch: This happened in the last quarter of 2023 after years of groundwork. At the moment, they have an exclusive Memorandum of Understanding with the Uganda Association of Recruitment Agencies which is helping them create services for their members. My Guardian also supports the External Labour's Association of Uganda and several other Associations aimed at improving the safe and successful externalization of labour to our citizens.

They have also opened a call centre, which is free, mainly handling distressed family members here to charter paths of meeting their needs.

“We are glad that when labour clients learn that the girls have someone within Saudi Arabia who is looking out for them, they no longer cut them off Wi-Fi and are treated better,” he says.

Down moments

Insurance: This is the biggest hurdle as insurance companies are weary of insuring the girls. Some had come on board but backed off as media stories continued to paint a gloomy picture of the industry. “I believe that these girls should not be tied to the 24-month contract without stipulated rest or option to change jobs.”

Finances: "These are still scarce yet necessary for service scaling up to do more." For instance, they want to also help migrant workers in other locations. To deal with this, Mr Maina is creating capital flow ventures such as remittances

“The current remittance companies are multinationals and charge almost 15 per cent of the girls’ salaries yet there are some delivery delays. We hope to do it for less while giving Ugandans work, growing the economy and also ably financing our other services at the bare minimum cost,” he says.

Working with Avoda

Mr Maina has attended the Avoda Institute of Entrepreneurship and learned the essence of running a business the kingdom way. “It was joy when Avoda moved to Kampala because it was now accessible. Here, we learned about marketing, how to handle finances, as well as scale our abilities,” he says.

Future

Mr Maina has been looking to mobilise women in the country and the diaspora as many are willing to help these girls, more so to get them home in instances of maltreatment.

“The major problem has been finding someone trustworthy to receive the money and use it as needed.  Several Kenyan women in the diaspora have come on board and are currently fundraising for a Ugandan woman with an illegal alien baby to return home. Owing to that baby, she must pay $100 per month penalty in Saudi Arabia and the issue is urgent lest she also pays a ticket for the baby should it make six months before leaving,” he says.

Mr Maina longs to do the same with Ugandans in the diaspora.

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