springs ministries

springs - restoring hope

Widows as Caregivers

Women and children are the people who most of the times do the work of care giving to the sick in our communities. Women/widows volunteer their time, energy skills and the little resources they have as they care for their family members at home and also provide their services to the wider community. They also care for their family members living with HIV and orphaned children made vulnerable by AIDS.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic has changed the fabric of communities we live in and has left a burden in the lives of women/widows and children especially girl-children who have stepped in to fill the gap for the already overburdened women/widows. Because of this work of care giving, women/widows both young and old are deeply affected by AIDS even if they are not infected themselves.

We find old grandmothers caring for orphaned and vulnerable children. Children grow up to be young adults. Caring for orphaned grandchildren places a huge economic strain on older people and impacts on their health and emotional well-being.

Though caregivers, they are also widows, they often experience stigma and discrimination. Because of this stigma widows suffer and carry their burdens quietly which results into stress, burnout and exhaustion which affects the well-being of the entire family and hence the community.

In order to be effective, interventions to address their issues must be innovated. In response, the Springs Ministries let the widows band themselves in groups and networks to provide mutual support and to enable them build their own power. In these groups and initiatives, the widows engage in peer learning, training and learning how to be self-reliant.

In the community and even at the individual level we have noted that lack of training and support translates into a poor standard of living and causes over dependency syndrome. Households consisting of older people (grandparents) and children are particularly at risk of poverty, a situation worsened by the burden of providing care.

The efforts of these women (widows) must be encouraged, supported and developed in order for them to realize their potentials to enable them to fully participate in the development process of their communities.

In our work with the widows, both very young and very old and also working amongst their orphaned grandchildren, the Springs Ministries has been encouraging the groups and individuals to engage in small scale businesses and other entrepreneurial ventures in line with their skills. We make use and reactivate the skills that these widows have. This enables them to raise their own financial support to support themselves.

We have trained these widows on how they can use the available local resources to build themselves towards financial and economic self-reliance. We have seen a lot of development in the groups and even in the lives of these widows and even in their homes.

To prove this, we in the course of the year 2008 organized a one day show whereby the widows as individuals and groups showcased their hand made artifacts. This brought together a total of 30 (thirty) widows groups and over one thousand people attended the function. This boosted the morales of these and for now they have reactivated their skills which were lying silently within them.

The Springs Ministries identified fourteen groups that have to be been supported. This is the second phase of the financial support we are giving to these women groups. This is because for them to be effective, adequate financial and human resources commitment are crucial.

We still have many other groups to support. The grandmothers and their orphaned grandchildren need support also. The Springs Ministries is working so hard to strengthen the ways and means of accessing the funding for the economic ventures of these widows groups in various communities.

Office Address:

p.o.box 3427

kisumu

kenya

40100