Widows

This program started as one woman’s request for her house to be re-roofed, which we originally weren’t doing as we were focusing on sanitation. Then, we went and saw her living situation… her kids were getting wet while sleeping, there were so many holes; it was dodgeball to avoid the drops. We decided to help her out, and gave her a little bit extra for food after. 

But then we realized – there are a LOT of widows, and socially and financially, they are an imposition. There are widowers as well (men that lost a wife), but the vast majority are widows (women that lost a husband). They don’t have the same rights that we might imagine they would.

Widows will typically not be able to own their own home, and therefore many have to go live with their in-laws. Sometimes they are left with their own children to tend, unable to do hard physical labour due to age, health problems, or lacking access to or money for child care. While people are
trying to move on with our lives, widows may not be able to contribute physically to say, rice paddy labour & harvesting, or doing more than pushing a broom or possibly caring for children. Often they overlooked and it’s a tough experience for them since they are ‘tolerated’ as opposed to being truly welcome family members.

We decided to provide a little bit of financial support monthly to people in this position, as well as some larger donations such as goats, bed frames, food packages, or saries/lungies (clothes). This program often improves widows’ sense of belonging and worth; that they are not so much of an imposition on their host family. They suddenly have the ability to contribute something, and incorporate into the family they are staying with.