Mary Chimfwembe is a 39 year old widow of Independence Township. Her husband passed away four years ago and left her with five children, three males and two females. Three of them go to school with the support of the Family Strengthening Program run by SOS Village, while the other two are still too young to attend school. She also lives with her elder sister’s daughter (aged 21) and her two children, aged four and one respectively.

Mary is not in formal employment; she only has a primary school education which does not allow her to find a decent job. For her source of income, she sells fritters next to a busy road near her house. The family survives on the little profit she is able to make but this is never sufficient to meet all the basic needs of life. Many times, the family only eats twice a day as food is hard to come by. Life has become even more difficult now that she does not have a husband to help provide for the family.

Mary’s family is one of the many families that were displaced from N’gombe Township where their houses were demolished. According to the local government, they were illegal settlers. They were then relocated to their current residence, which was nothing but bare land. Each family was provided with one tent where all the members of the family were expected to live. This was tough for them, especially when the family thought of the effort they had put into building their demolished house back in N’gombe Township.

As if it was not enough, a year after relocating, Mary’s husband passed away leaving her with all the responsibilities of providing for the family. The family of nine members has in the past five years shared a tent. During the rainy season, the inside of the little shelter got very cold as the torn tent allowed water through it. The floor was damp and so were the rest of their belongings in the house. When the rains were very heavy, the family spent the night standing to ensure that no water collected on top and flooded the inside of the tent. Mary was advised by many in the community to sell her piece of land and buy a small house elsewhere, but she never thought it would be a wise decision to make.

Through the SOS Family Strengthening Programme, the family was identified as an eligible beneficiary of decent shelter. When this news was brought to Mary’s attention, she did not think it was true – not until the day she saw the building materials delivered to her house and finally the arrival of the Global Village team that would assist in the construction of the house.

“It felt like a dream”, she says. Mary was supposed to travel to another town to arrange for some maize for her family but she postponed this so that she could assist with the construction of the house in whatever way possible.

The house has since been completed and Mary’s life is no longer the same. “Ever since I moved into our new house, I have so much peace of mind. I don’t have to worry about my shelter catching fire as easily as was the case with the tent, I don’t have to worry about sharing a room with my eighteen year old son, and I don’t have to worry about spending sleepless nights once the rains start in the next two months”, says Mary with tears in her eyes. She is also no longer worried about where her children will live should she die before them. She was indeed wise not to sell her piece of land despite her poverty and the pressure from the neighbours and some family members. “This support is truly life changing,” says Mary.