Mariamu was now faced with overseeing the entire family on her own and that meant, she had to work twice as hard just to keep her domestic life afloat.
“I’m lucky because my children have been tremendously supportive and they have understood that, we are in this together for the long run. Things have generally gone well for us, because from the land, we have harvested and sold a variety of crops, put our energy together, and even torn down our old, smaller home and replaced it with this larger dwelling. My other son is attending vocational training and his younger siblings are going to school worry-free. It’s been a major difference for us,” She says.
“This compound is fully owned by her, having bought it and erected these two houses with the income she and her children generated from selling crops off the land formerly under conflict. She is a more resolute woman now, and her life is very much on a straight path”, adds Mhimbila about Mariamu.
Her son, Noel, tells us while mixing red earth to make bricks, “The experience our father put us through was very difficult, but honestly, we probably wouldn’t where we are today if it weren’t for the constant intervention of the paralegal;
“She has in fact become friends with mom, and she often drops by to check on her. I have also been able to understand my rights as a result of the legal awareness that she availed to us during the course of the conflict. Life has improved, and I’m in fact making bricks so that I can build mom a new kitchen”. says Noel.
Mariamu’s experience didn’t end badly for her, because help was at hand. The quick response of the paralegal allowed her to put her life together, and with the unwavering support of her children, she has fared well and wears a happy face.
The drive she possesses means that, she is building a foundation upon which extreme poverty will not haunt her family, thus reinforcing LSF’s core objective of helping vulnerable women like her to get on the ladder of economic turn-around, and become heroes in their communities.
“I’m indebted to Rose because she took me under her wings and opened my mind to know, understand and use my rights. When this tragedy struck, I was all confused because I lived in a narrow world unaware of the possibilities that have the power to change things for the better. I have said openly that, I will become a champion for legal awareness for other women here, because I am a witness of what it can do”, sums up Mariamu.