“I want to go home,” Kenyan Eulita Jerop tells the BBC from Lebanon, where she is employed as a domestic worker.
But the terms of her employment make it difficult for her to leave, despite fears of an all-out war in the country.
She has been terrified by the unfamiliar sounds she has heard overhead on the outskirts of the capital, Beirut.
The 35-year-old has been working there for the past 14 months.
“It was so scary. We were told it wasn’t bombs, but it was [planes breaking] the sound barrier,” she says. “But the sounds were hitting so hard.”
Her panic is shared by many others in her WhastApp group of fellow domestic workers, she adds.
The loud booms in the sky came from fighter planes. There are fears that they could foreshadow a full-on war.
Israel and Lebanon-based group Hezbollah have traded near-daily fire across the border since the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel. It prompted the Israeli invasion of Gaza, with the aim of eliminating Hamas.
Hezbollah, a political movement and Iran-backed militia, said they are attacking Israel in support of the Palestinian people.
The shells have mostly fallen in southern Lebanon and northern Israel, but there are concerns that the rest of Lebanon could get caught up as the conflict transforms into a wider regional struggle.
The US, UK, Australia, France and Canada have all issued official advice for their citizens to leave Lebanon as soon as possible.
But getting out is easier for some than others.
Ms Jerop said it was common for many employers to take their passports on arrival.
Even with a passport, domestic workers still need an exit visa to leave – paperwork which must be approved by their boss.
This is allowed to happen under the country’s “kafala” (sponsorship) system for foreign workers – which employs an estimated 250,000 people.
“Kafala” gives individuals or companies permits to employ foreign workers. This means that their immigration status is entirely dependent on their employer and they have limited rights.
