They say your past will never determine your future, most people have defile all odds and rose from grass to grace despite their humble beginning.
Society has often associated house girls with failure judging from the nature of their work and most of them are being mistreated by their employer.
Fewer of them believe that one can make it despite and in spite of their humble beginnings.
As they say your past will never determine your future some of Kenyan female celebrities started out working as house girls and now are on the top of the charts, living a life of glamour and fame.
Here are some celebs who were once house helps, but managed to change their lives.
Award-winning musician, Gloria Muliro was once a mboch. She took up the job after high school to enable her raise money to clear fees.
The gospel songstress came from a humble background and had to work as a house girl in Nairobi’s Eastlands where she earned just Sh1,300 a month.
“I completed my Form Four at St Theresa’s in Nairobi in 2001, but we owed the school a lot of money in unpaid fees so they withheld my results,” she says.
Gloria decided to work and raise the money. Eventually she was able to clear her debt and retrieve her certificates. She then joined the International Teachers Training College in Dagoretti for a two-year teaching course where she performed with distinction.
Gloria released her first album ‘Omwami Aletsa’ (My God will Surely Come) in 2005. It did not do as well as she had anticipated as local music outlets were not willing to give it airplay. Undeterred, Gloria went on to record her second album Kibali (Mandate) in 2012 which contained the famous hit single Sitolia.
This launched her into the gospel music limelight and set her well on the path to becoming a household name in this industry.
Today the musician, who was recently feted as being the third-highest earner in the industry, pays Sh2 million for a video. She attributes her victory to God.
Coast based songstress Nyota Ndogo worked as a househelp at a very tender age, had to go through great obstacles to get to where she is today.
A Standard Seven drop-out, Nyota Ndogo came from a very humble background. Her family was so poor that eventually she was forced to work as a house girl.
In 1997, at the age of 15, Nyota decided to take on menial jobs in order to make ends meet.
“I was a housegirl for two years, but then I decided I couldn’t work as a housegirl forever. I used to go to the studio every Sunday to record songs. I chose to be a housegirl instead of getting into prostitution,” Nyota said , adding that she is still in touch with her former Dutch employer.
Beatrice Mbugua, aka Betty Bayo, is a top gospel artiste who has three albums, several hit songs and awards to her name. Her story is also one of rags to riches.
“My parents were unable to pay my school fees as a Form Two student and that meant I had to stop my education. I was forced to do menial jobs to survive and save money to go back to school. I got a job as a house girl within Kiambu town where I worked for two years,” she says.
That was in 2006 and Betty’s first employer, who she served for a year, would pay her Sh70 a day for all household chores. She decided to move on and started to offer her services on a freelance basis to anyone who would offer her at least Sh100 a day.
She did her work diligently and saved every single coin to enable her pay school fees.
“Mine was a case of vision combined with hard work and I did not give up. I sought God’s guidance and protection which enabled me overcome all obstacles that stood in my way,” she says.
Today, the songbird plans on enrolling at Methodist University to pursue psychology. “I have gone through a lot and that is why I want to be a psychologist,” she says.