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Everyday Saints
I wish to give voice and visibility to the people who deserve it most: the hardworking individuals who form the backbone of every community across the globe.
In a society that so often admires the rich and the famous, we tend to overlook the everyday heroes who make life function. These raw but tender portraits of domestic workers from Cape Town are my humble attempt to acknowledge and celebrate my heroines - their stories and the extraordinary strength of their spirit, that I can only bow to.
Many of the women in these portraits are immigrants and day laborers. Like so many others across the world, they left their homeland not by choice, but by necessity - to provide for themselves and their families. It’s no small feat, especially when faced with the daily reality of meager wages, gender-based harassment, verbal assaults for being “foreign,” and, for some, the added challenge of finding work as an older woman in a youth-fixated world. Each morning, many of them stand at busy intersections, dressed in their best, holding on to the hope of finding work for the day.
Every part of that struggle is etched on their strong, graceful faces. Yet, what struck me most was the presence of something far more profound. Whether we call it hope, faith, or simply an inner strength that rises in spite of everything - it surrounded these women like an invisible force. It radiated from them like light. It wrapped around their fragility and turned it into power.
I myself come from a family of multigenerational immigrants. I know what it’s like to not have a choice. I have heard it from my grandmother, who was born in 1928. I have seen my father’s hidden tears because he missed his home. I know the feeling of not being good enough, of being seen as lesser or poorer.
No one chooses that.
And if you’ve had the gift of being born into privilege - such as an economically stable country, a safe family, or a life where you can live freely - don’t forget that privilege comes with responsibility. Be grateful for it, yes. But don’t just sit with it. Use it. Use that gift life gave you to empower others. To encourage. To uplift.
Because the same God you pray to is the God who loves all His children.
Never forget that. 26 replies
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