On a Sunday morning, Flora met her older sister Maria, and her friends Rita, Patricia, and Agnes among other women coming from Kenya, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and Nigeria to the church in Burj Hammoud. They spend their time together singing, laughing, praying and discussing different topics, from racism to work, religion and their lives as migrant women working and living in Lebanon. 

Sari (Sarktelu) was born in 1995 in Ethiopia. In 2011, she came to Lebanon to visit her sister who was already working in a household. When she entered the country, she had to sign a contract she could not understand or even read as it was written in Arabic. In fact, she had no clue she was coming to work. After only 15 days and against her will, she ended up working in the house of her sister’s employer's daughter as a migrant domestic worker and therefore was trapped into the Kafala system.  

While looking at her old journal, Jinan realizes the improvement in her handwriting. She is also conscious that the letters and words are windows to the soul as well as to distant horizons. She believes they can transport you to places where the soul and the mind connect. The young woman suffers from reduced mobility resulting from cerebral palsy since birth.

When I stood in front of the mirror, I was not only facing my body, but also “Miss Spoon” and other sarcastic names I was called for having short stature. It felt as if I was finally letting those labels off my shoulders, and I felt lighter. I always felt targeted; and that’s why I chose to stay at home, hiding from people as I was unable to expect what they could possibly call me.

I was always invited to audition for acting in soap operas and films in Lebanon. However, once the directors noticed my leg and the device that I use, they would become evasive. I have one leg shorter than the other as I was born with a condition called “Limb Length Discrepancy”. Two years ago, I started suffering from osteoporosis, and became unable to use the device, thus, I started using a wheelchair.  

I was forced into my first sexual intercourse at the age of 12. My father was an alcoholic and tried to rape me. I managed to evade him as much as possible, but the aggression continued.  

I tried to inform the security forces, because I was aware of what was happening, but instead of arresting him, they arrested me, and I was threatened not to mention the rape incident again. 

I live with my children and my husband, but I do not remember them. Our society considers a woman insane and without a personality if she suffers from amnesia. I have a clear memory going from my childhood to the day of my engagement, but I do not have any glimpses of all the events following that day. 

I am the mother of a child with a physical motor disability and the wife of a man with a sensory disability. I am telling my story to highlight the injustice of this society.  

For several times, I was beaten by members of my family, notably my little brother who would get angry at me and hated my disability, although he also had a motor disability himself. Once he asked me: Why does your right leg look like that? So I told him that we look alike and that he didn't have to make fun of me. 

I thought marriage would save me from my family, especially from my brother, who denied me my right to study, work, and communicate with the outside world, because I am a girl, and in his opinion, girls should stay home. Every time I revolted against his approach, he would beat me up. 

I was born with a motor disability, my mother took complete care of me and protected from the outside world, to a point I became isolated. When my mother died, I found myself deprived from her help and unable to integrate into a society with a patriarchal mindset. I tried living my life my way, despite all the obstacles hindering me, including physical violence.