Women’s group born of desperation to defy a risky practice

Beneath the Homa Hills lies Gingo village, a rural, predominantly fishing community in Suba North, one of the eight constituencies that make up Homa Bay County. In this region, wife inheritance is a common  practice, and it has been associated with the spread of HIV/Aids.

This is one of the reasons that pushed four widows to form a group that empowers women, and especially widows, by helping them to earn an income. Their move had two aims: to counter that perception that being inherited was the only option for widows to survive and to contribute to environmental conservation.

According to Environment Principal Secretary Charles Sunkuli, pressure from increasing population, unsustainable land use and competition for natural resources are the main causes of forest depletion in the country.

So, 12 years ago, Ms Unita Jacob, Ms Mary Otieno, Ms Peris Apunda and Ms Petronilla Okello, formed Nyamarandi Caring Mothers Women Group, through which they intend to reduce environmental degradation.

In a Kenya Water Tower Agency report two years ago, counties surrounding Lake Victoria, including Homa Bay, were ranked among those with the poorest forest cover.

The women, therefore, strive  to reduce the consumption of charcoal and firewood by making  stoves that use a small amount of charcoal and firewood.

“Our products include the Kenya ceramic charcoal stove, which is made using a mixture of mud and sand. It is portable and conserves energy. We also make the Uhai charcoal stove which, apart from conserving energy, heats up faster,” explains Ms Otieno, 46.

There is also the Rocket which is a 32-diameter stove that uses only two pieces of wood at a time.

“These stoves are installed on the kitchen floors and we charge Sh600, which includes the cost of the stove and installation,” says Ms Apunda, 60.

Already, their efforts are being felt not only by residents of Mbita constituency, but also Homa Bay County in general. “We’ve installed such stoves in over 100 homes in Mbita and over 2,000 homesteads in Homa Bay County,” Ms Otieno offers.

Ms Jacob, 72, says they also target schools, and have installed stoves at Gingo, Onywera and Nyatoto high schools among others.

They serve even those who cannot pay cash. “Since not everyone can afford our charges, we accept other modes of payment, including farm produce,” says Ms Okello, 74.  And they offer free services to vulnerable groups such as orphans and widows. 

In two months, the group, whose membership now stands at 15, can make up to Sh70,000.

Ms Jacob, a mother of six and a grandmother of 25, who was widowed 28 years ago says: “My husband was a fisherman and he was the sole bread winner. I used to sell dagaa, popularly known as omena, which would be part of my husband’s catch. But when he died, my business collapsed, yet I had mouths to feed,” she explains.

DEFIED TRADITION

Despite being approached several times by relatives, she defied tradition and refused to be inherited instead opting to take care of her children, who at that time were young.

“I thought allowing men into my life would interfere with raising my children and stress me out in the process,” she says.

The project has helped her to cater for the basic needs of her children, including paying their school fees. “If it were not for the project perhaps eventually I would have succumbed to this tradition,” she says.

She’s not alone in this tough journey of defiance. Ms Otieno lost her husband 17 years ago through a road accident. Tradition required her to be inherited, she says, not just for security but also to raise her five children. “At the time of his death, my husband was an accountant in Nairobi. However, after he was involved in an accident that rendered him redundant, we were forced to come back to the village where he died a few years later,” she says.

She was lucky she wasn’t compelled to go through the tradition, but she still had to face the hard reality of taking care of her children, a task that almost seemed impossible considering she was jobless. “I wanted my children to go to school and I knew that by being inherited, I would not be able to fulfil this,” she says.

This project has seen her take her two daughters through nursing school and one of her sons through the military training.

Ms Apunda faced the same predicament after she was widowed 12 years ago. Her husband was also killed in a road accident. “My husband was a driver in the Ministry of Agriculture and I was a housewife meaning I solely depended on him,” she says.

So when this tragic incident occurred, together with her four co-wives, she was torn between the tough decision of being inherited and perhaps being taken care of, and starting all over as a single parent.

But that ceased to be an option when she became one of the founders of the women’s group and started generating income from the project.

But for Ms Okello, who lost her husband in 2002 after a short illness, her decision not to be inherited was cemented by her ability to earn her own income from this project and look after her children.

“I wanted to raise my children comfortably, a fact that to some extent was an illusion at first, but which finally became a reality after this project gained momentum,” she explains.

Their project has inspired other women and especially widows to shun the practice and instead see this as a means of earning a living.

Ms Rael Onyango, 48, is one of the members who joined the group later. Her husband died in 2007, and being in a polygamous marriage greatly influenced her decision to get out of a wife inheritance arrangement.

“My husband used to work in a hotel. So when he died I tried that life (inheritance) for a few years before throwing in the towel. I was inherited for two years, but later opted out after discovering that the help I had anticipated wasn’t coming forth,” she explains.

Their success has lured other groups of people, including married women and the youth, into the project.

Ms Caroline Auma, 37, is one of them. Through the project the mother of six, who also serves as the secretary and the coordinator of the group, has managed to help her husband with the household budget thanks to the earnings she gets from here.

Additional reporting by Leonard Onyango