A 28-year old Kenyan mum is stranded in Dubai after failing to settle sh402, 000 maternity bill.
The young mum only identified as Jedidah went to Dubai in February this year.
She was four months pregnant at the time. She was looking for greener pastures having clashed with her husband.
“I was four months pregnant at the time but had separated from my husband. I wanted to get away from my circumstances back home, so I came here hoping to find employment. But that was not to be as I am still jobless and in a complete mess,” she told Gulf Express newspaper.
She added she did not sum up the courage to go to the authorities and make her case. She ended up at a women and shelter home.
“I wanted to surrender to the authorities and present my case to them, so I could return home for my delivery.”
The shelter put her at a hotel where she spent only one night before she was told to leave. She left for a metro station where she wept bitterly.
It is at that point that labour pains begun and a passer-by helped her get to hospital. She delivered a baby girl who is now three months old. Her bill has accumulated to sh402, 694.
Authorities have confiscated her passport. She cannot leave the country.
“I do not have my passport. My baby girl is already three months old and has not had her vaccination shots since I don’t have any money. I cannot go back to Kenya until I clear my hospital dues and get my passport back.”
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Anyone who wishes to assist Jedidah can do so by reaching Gulf express editor at [email protected].