Over the years, I have been sharing a room with my 4 children while the other 4 seek refuge from my mother-in-law's house. This has exposed me to endless stress since sharing a house with grown-up children is taboo in our culture. The situation has robbed away my joy as a respected person in our village and I feel ashamed. I have desired to construct a spacious house that can accommodate us but due to the financial crisis, this has not come to reality. This grant will help me to realize my dream since I intend to spend half of my money ($550), to construct the house. This will restore the dignity to me that I have lost for a long time since my children will occupy the one we currently use. The remaining amount will help me to support my children's education as well as to meet other basic needs like food.

Although getting 3 meals per day has been difficult over the last 6 months, I am so grateful for the great effort my husband have had towards his family. Yes, we skip meals but we have consistently been able to get at least 2 meals per day. This has given me hope since seeing my children enjoying the little food we have at the moment makes me happy. I, therefore, consider this as what has brought me joy.

Drought has hit us hard in our area and this has made farming unreliable. This has pushed me to venture into charcoal burning and aloe vera extraction as my main sources of income. The nature of these activities are so tiresome and time-consuming yet the income is usually very low; say, $35 per month. This can not fully cater to our basic needs and sometimes my children lack school fees. The feeling of watching them helplessly at home pains me most as a mother since their future life is at stake. What a worrying life!