Zeina Fofana and Kolako Kamara in their new one bed apartment in Sabra (Credit: Renee Davis/L'Orient Today)
The small one-room one-window apartment in Sabra was cramped. The walls were chipped, the water and electricity unreliable, and the $200 rent — for a south Beirut neighborhood regularly bombed by Israel during the war — likely overpriced. But it was home for Zeina Fofana and Kolako Kamara, and it was the first time they lived independently, away from their employers, since coming to Lebanon to be domestic workers two years ago.Israel’s intensive bombing campaign in Lebanon uprooted the two Sierra Leonean women from the homes where they were employed and severed them from their only source of income, but the relief of having settled where they were was palpable. “We’re happy to finally have our own place,” Zeina said, smiling widely. “Before, we were captives to our employers, but now we can work for ourselves,” Kolako stated. “Here,...
The small one-room one-window apartment in Sabra was cramped. The walls were chipped, the water and electricity unreliable, and the $200 rent — for a south Beirut neighborhood regularly bombed by Israel during the war — likely overpriced. But it was home for Zeina Fofana and Kolako Kamara, and it was the first time they lived independently, away from their employers, since coming to Lebanon to be domestic workers two years ago.Israel’s intensive bombing campaign in Lebanon uprooted the two Sierra Leonean women from the homes where they were employed and severed them from their only source of income, but the relief of having settled where they were was palpable. “We’re happy to finally have our own place,” Zeina said, smiling widely. “Before, we were captives to our employers, but now we can work for ourselves,” Kolako...
