By Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
YESTERDAY, June 23 was celebrated in some parts of the world as International Widows Day (IWD). especially, in the United Kingdom (UK),
Although the day is very important for some advanced countries like the United Kingdom, not much is known about it in our part of the world where the situation of most widows are rather deplorable. Widows in many developing countries including Ghana, face extreme hardships and most often bring up their children in poverty.
Widows and their children around the world suffer from poverty, illness, diseases including HIV and AIDS, conflict and social injustice.
Recently, in Ghana, the plight of three widows who were termed “The three royal widows” who have mourned the death of their husband, a chief, for nine years, was brought to the fore.
The three, Madam Yaa Nsia, 80, Madam Afua Nkume 74, Madam Ama Sumaa, 69, first, second and third wives, who have performed widowhood rites for the past nine years after the death of their husband, Nana Kwaku Dimpo 11, Chief of New Longolo in the Kimtampo North District, went through this ordeal because in the culture of the Mo traditional area, where they hailed from, the successor of the deceased chief should perform the final funeral rites of his predecessor and it was the custom that after the final funeral rites of the late chief that the widows would be freed from widowhood.
However, the funeral of the said chief, for one reason or the other has not been held and in the Daily Graphic of April 5, 2008 the three appealled to the Brong Ahafo Regional Chiefs to expedite action on the settling of the disputes between the three gates of the Mo stool for the final funeral rites of their late husband to be performed ,for them to be free.
The widows, who have been confined to their rooms and the compound of their homes for the past nine years, had rejected earlier moves by the head of their late husband’s family to perform the initiation to relieve them of widowhood describing such an action as a breach of tradition.
It is clear that custom and tradition plays major roles in the situation of widows who are made to undergo obnoxious cultural practices such as confinement, shaving of their hairs and marrying of their late husbands’ brother.
The problems faced by widows is not limited to Africa alone. In India, there are said to be millions of widows with others across other Asian countries who need help.
It is in the light of this plight that the celebration of June 23rd as a day for widows should be used to ameliorate the hardships that widows face throughout the world.
The day was first announced by Cherie Blair, wife of the former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, at a House of Lords luncheon on May 26, 2005 held by the Loomba Trust, and the day was formally announced at the United Nations on October 21st, 2005, in the presence of Dr Kofi Annan and Cherie Blair.
The Loomba Trust is a UK-based charity established in 1997 in Britain and India, which plays a leading role of raising awareness about the plight of widows all over the world and it is dedicated to promoting the welfare and education of the children of poor widows and other orphaned children throughout India and the world at large.
Founder and Chairman of The Loomba Trust, one Raj Loomba whose decision to set-up the trust stems from the fact that his mother, Shrimati Pushpa Wati Loomba, who was widowed at the age of 37 in 1954 single-handedly raised seven young children.
Raj therefore has a personal mission to highlight the predicament of widows and their children from all over the world and to provide a focus for effective action.
The Trust aims at removing the stigma associated with losing a husband and providing support. By doing this, it will prove one of the most important and effective ways of fighting global poverty and injustice - a key factor in achieving the United Nations Millennium Goals and it relentlessly aims at helping to remove the stigma associated with losing a husband, providing support with essential needs such as healthcare and education.
It is also the mission of The Loomba Trust to harness the support of the United Nations, to eradicate the social injustices and hardships facing the developing world’s widow communities.
Today, The Loomba Trust is educating 3,500 children in all 29 Indian states, including 500 in Tamil Nadu, South India, who lost their fathers or both parents in the 2004 Tsunami and 1,500 HIV orphans in South Africa in association with Virgin Unite, the Trust has focused its aid on breaking the cycle of poverty. Beneficiaries are selected without regard to gender, religion or class, and scholarships are guaranteed for an initial period of five years.
Ghana can also emulate such as initiative to save hundreds of poor widows who are going through untold harships by setting up a fund where they can source money to support them in establishing their own businesses.
The plight of Ghanaian widows, even in this age is nothing to rejoice about and NGOs and individuals who have anything to offer must come together to lighten their burden.
When the right steps, such as creating skills opportunities are taken for women and their children, in the unfortunate event of the death of their husbands, they can be self reliant to sustain their families.
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