Dignity for widows
In an area where traditional culture and gender roles still dominate society, widows and their children frequently sink to bottom level of society. With little or no education, and often caring for young children, there is little scope for paid employment and they must rely on the charity of neighbours who often have little enough of their own.
“This shipment has gone a long way to solve many problems and challenges.” NGO director
Above: This abandoned wife and her 4 children had been sleeping on a sheet laid on the bare dirt floor. When given this large mattress, she burst into tears and knelt on the floor to give thanks for such a wonderful gift.
For this third container of goods sent by Crossroads, our partner NGO worked together with another group that specifically targets this demographic. From such simple items as mattresses, cooking pots and clothes, through cell phones, “luxuries” like toys and smart handbags, this shipment has brought a degree of comfort, dignity and joy to several thousand people. Pallets of books and stationery have given local schools a huge boost to morale and the computers that came with them caused huge excitement. A women’s clinic and community centre benefitted from quality hospital furniture, nursing supplies, vocational training equipment and even leisure goods including a ping-pong table, television and musical instruments.
Above: Some of the very happy team of helpers tasked with distributing the goods from the container.
For children accustomed to using old tin cans as building blocks, “balls” and musical instruments, receiving a brand new toy of their very own was a dream come true!
