By Margaret Kamba
Today is International Widows Day, and I just can't believe that my mother now falls in this category. The reality keeps sinking not only to her but to me since I lost my father.
Father's day was just some days ago and it was hard to think that he is now just but a memory and his life in bags waiting to be distributed to relatives who have probably been eyeing his belongings for a while.
Today, another child lays his father to sleep, and a wife becomes a widow. Why it just seems to be that only men dying is something I do not want to even explore, but the men are dying.
Some are probably even buried before they die as women are now breadwinners in most of these homes.
The pain of losing a loved one is so difficult, and even time can not take it away. The strength to carry on is that which we need.
International Widows Day is a United Nations day of action to highlight and combat discrimination and injustice suffered by widows worldwide. It takes place every year on 23 June and this year the theme is 'Empower Her: From Loss to Leadership'.
A chat with some of these women has shown that these women are some of the most resilient people in the world who have carried on despite the circumstances falling upon them.
They have taken up roles left by the husbands. They have become fathers while being mothers roles thrust on them is some cases due to reckless behavior by the men.
Chido Moyo (35) said, "Life has been hard since the passing of my husband. I was at home when he was taking care of everything. Now I have to hustle to care for the three children I had with him."
Charity Ncube (45) said, "Death is something we never expect and when it happened, I was devastated. Despite going to work as well, when he was there he would allow me to spend my salary however I wanted while he took care of everything. So it has been tough taking care of everything."
Josephine Ndebele (67) said, "I still miss my dear husband but life must go on. It's been many years since Jeremy's death but its as though it happened yesterday."
Recognizing these critical players to the socio-economic development of any country, the Chadash Empowerment Foundation, an NGO dedicated to alleviating the plight of vulnerable widows and orphans, has trained and empowered 250 widows in Ogun State and Abuja with equipment and cash grants.
There are an estimated 258 million widows around the world, and nearly one in ten live in extreme poverty.Their day highlights the discrimination, poverty, and social isolation that many widows endure, especially in developing countries.