It was meant to be Sheila Chebii’s last shift as a housekeeper.
For weeks, the 25-year-old international student had stripped linen, made beds and refilled towels in the rooms of a luxury high-rise hotel above central
Sydney.
That Sunday in May, the plan was for Chebii to return home to a dinner of soft chapatis with her cousin and friends. The following day she was due to start a new role as a cleaner, her cousin says.
But about six hours into her shift on 17 May, emergency services were called to Meriton Suites on Sussex Street where she had worked as a housekeeper for less than a month.
Police say Chebii died after falling 15 storeys from the 19th floor to a fourth-floor balcony. She had arrived in Australia from
Kenya just six weeks earlier to begin postgraduate studies in accounting.
Police have said there is no evidence to indicate anyone else was involved and no cause of death has been publicly released.
“NSW police continue to liaise with the woman’s family as well as consulate staff and are keeping them apprised of the status of the investigation,” a police statement said.
A month after her death, Chebii’s family is still plagued by unanswered questions about what happened to her. Kenyan community leaders say the mystery surrounding Chebii’s death has further compounded the diaspora’s grief.
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‘We were doing life together’
Chebii, who had graduated from Kabarak University in Kenya, planned to move to Australia – her first trip abroad – to begin her master’s degree in accounting.
Rockson Kibet, who met Chebii in Kenya last year, says she was “glowing” the last time he saw her before she flew to Australia.
“She told me … ‘I’m happy my dream is finally coming true,’” he recalls. “You could read it from her face – very excited.”
After arriving in Australia on 5 April, Chebii moved in with her younger cousin, Faith Korir, in Liverpool, about 30km west of Sydney’s CBD.
The pair, who shared a bedroom in an apartment, would cook meals together. Over their kitchen stove, Chebii taught Korir to make ugali, a staple dish in many east African countries made of maize flour.
“We were doing life together,” says 24-year-old Korir, who moved to Australia about three years ago. “It was so lively, joyful … it felt like the warmest thing ever to happen.”
Chebii was “cheerful” and “lively”, Korir says. She loved to braid Korir’s hair, experimenting with different hairstyles, and the pair would go on drives together, introducing Chebii to her new city.
Sheila’s last message
Within three weeks of arriving in Sydney, Chebii began working as a housekeeper for a company that services hotels including Meriton.
From the start, the days were long. Chebii would commute over an hour from her home to begin work at 7am, Korir says.
“Every time she comes home, she complains that her back hurt … the rooms were so big,” she says.
The day before she died, Chebii told Korir she was planning to start a new role as a cleaner that coming Monday.
“She was so excited, she was so relieved. She was so happy to stop the housekeeping job,” Korir says.
On the day of Chebii’s death, Korir checked in with her cousin around midday. During work days, the pair would message each other throughout their shifts.
At 12.36pm Chebii said: “I’m doing very good.” It was the last message Korir received from her cousin.
Emergency services were called to Meriton Suites Sussex Street at about 1.30pm, according to NSW police.
‘Basic questions remain unanswered’
Chebii’s older brother, Amos, who travelled to Australia after his sister’s death, says he hopes the family’s legal representatives will be able to help them find answers.
“We just want everything to be exhausted,” he says.
The Greens senator David Shoebridge, who met Chebii’s family last week, says he has asked the NSW coroner and SafeWork NSW to arrange urgent briefings so the family understands what the next steps are.
Shoebridge says “basic questions remain unanswered”.
“Moments like this are distressing and disorienting for any family, but when you add to that dealing with a foreign legal and justice system it is doubly so,” he says.
NSW police said a report would be presented to the state coroner to determine if an inquest into Chebii’s death will be held. A spokesperson for SafeWork NSW confirmed it was “making inquiries” into the matter.
Weeks after Chebii’s death, members of the Kenyan diaspora staged a protest outside the hotel where Chebii died, calling for answers and transparency about what had occurred.
Mathew Gitau, a Kenyan community leader, says Chebii’s death has “resonated far beyond her immediate family and friends”, with funds being raised to repatriate her body.
“Sheila represented the aspirations of many young Kenyans who come to Australia seeking education, opportunity and a better future,” he says.
“The circumstances surrounding her death, together with the time it has taken to receive substantive updates from the relevant authorities, have left many community members with questions and concerns.”
Chebii’s death has also garnered attention in her home country. Kenyan MP Timothy Toroitich raised Chebii’s death in the nation’s parliament, saying there had been “no major truth” about what had occurred.
The Kenyan high commission says it has maintained contact with Australian authorities, including law enforcement, regarding Chebii’s death.
“The Mission has not received any final findings or conclusions regarding the case,” a spokesperson said.
A Meriton spokesperson said Chebii was “not employed by Meriton directly but by our subcontractor”
“Our internal inquiries reveal that Sheila Chebii had only been employed as a hotel room cleaner a matter of weeks before she passed,” the spokesperson said.
<small>Source: The Guardian</small>
