Woman of Salt, Libanon
Beirut, Libanon

In Beirut, we work with migrant domestic workers from Cameroon, Senegal and Burkina Faso. Under Lebanon’s Kafala system, their residency status is tied entirely to their employers. Together with The Great Oven Lebanon and the migrant-led REMAN Center, we create a space where they can build community, learn about their rights and earn an income of their own.

- Sunday lunch gatherings: On their day off, the women cook dishes from their home countries. The meals are followed by workshops on their rights under the Kafala system.

- Earning through responsibility: At each gathering, three women plan the menu and cook for the group. They are paid for their work. All 13 participants now earn an income this way.

- Knowledge that protects: The women learn how to recognise exploitation, where to seek help and how to protect themselves.

- Solidarity in action: By connecting with women in the Bekaa Valley, they build a network that transcends backgrounds and legal status.

Most of the participants live in their employers’ homes. Under the Kafala system, they are not guaranteed a minimum wage or regulated working hours. They can only change jobs with their employers’ consent. Their passports are often confiscated. Sunday, if they get a day off at all, is the only day they are allowed to leave the house. For some, it is also the only day they get to meet another migrant woman. The entire programme is built around this narrow window of time.

At each gathering, the meal comes first. The dishes are Cameroonian, Senegalese or Burkinabè, prepared by the women themselves. In a country where so much feels unfamiliar, food offers a piece of home. Cooking for themselves again, surrounded by women who understand them, helps them reconnect with who they were before all of this. Only then do the conversations about their rights begin.

A survey conducted before the first gathering revealed just how great the need was. 83 per cent of participants rated their knowledge of their rights as very limited. Two-thirds mistakenly believed they could change employers freely. The same proportion did not know where to turn if their rights were violated. Every respondent said they were always or sometimes worried about their residency status. These findings provide a baseline against which the programme’s impact will be measured at the end of the cycle.

When the bombardments reached Beirut in March 2026, the women did not wait for someone to ask for their help. They turned the space where they held their Sunday gatherings into an emergency relief centre and ran it themselves. They packed and distributed more than 1,000 food parcels and provided assistance to around 1,800 displaced people, both migrants and Lebanese citizens.

One displaced Lebanese man put it this way: “Our own people did not care for us like this, but the migrant women welcomed us with open arms.”

The very women who enjoy the least protection in Lebanon were among the first to offer protection to others.