Maureen (40) a widow of Kawama Township was married to Dismas Nsofu for 16years. The couple had 6 children. Dismas worked as a brewer a National Breweries in Ndola until 1997 when he was retrenched. He had bought the house his family was living in then and a farm where his wife’s mother lived. When he received his retrenchment package, he started a business centre and to boost his business got a loan from CETZAM. His business had just started performing well, when his most reliable photocopier got burnt due to an electrical fault. Their income went down and life became tough for the family. With a loan to pay back, the family had no choice but to sell their house and buy a cheaper one (their current house). It was cheap house indeed; only one of the 5 rooms had a roof over it. The rest of the house had no roofing sheets, no doors, no windows or air vents. The family of 8 however had to make this their home. During the rainy season, all their possessions that were kept in the other rooms were moved to this one room. It’s indeed difficult to imagine how they all fitted in this room. The fact however is that they were squashed in there, with poor ventilation and compromised hygiene.

Two (2) years after staying in this condition, Maureen’s husband passed on (2002). He had come back from a funeral in Lusaka but died upon his return from food poisoning. After her husband’s death, she knew she was left alone to fend for the family. The only thing she had to her name was the dilapidated house that they lived in. she considered selling it and move the family to her mother’s farm but this would mean the end of her children’s education as there are no schools in that location. She finally decided to sell the farm instead and moved her mother to Kawama. With the little money she got from this sale, she roofed the rest of the house and fixed a few of the widows and main doors. Unlike other women that are victims of property grabbing,

Maureen was spared from this as her husband had left word with his relatives to protect such from happening in the event of his death.

Maureen has since lived in this house with her children and family. “I had never imagined how difficult being a single parent is”, Maureen says. One of her daughters is deaf while another has severe epilepsy. It is unfortunate that these are her older children that would otherwise make their mother’s life less different had they been in good health. Her mother is also very old to do anything. Maureen works in a business centre as a typist and earns K250,000.00 (equivalent of US$50) per month. This is never enough to see the family to the next pay day. The children are used to having one meal per day and sometimes have to go without anything especially when their mother spends more time nursing the epileptic child in hospital. In March this year, part of the house collapsed living no provision for the external door. The family members that were using that particular part of the house had to squeeze with the rest in the interest of their security. Maureen says she has no means to do any repairs at the moment. Three of her children go to school and her prayer is that they will complete their educations so that they can have better lives than what she is able to give them at present.