Many women and widows in our community also live in extreme poverty. They have to survive on less than EUR 1 per day for their family. This not only impacts the mother’s livelihood, but also the children’s health and education. After some research, we found that on average most people in our village earn around 90 EUR to 100 EUR per year or 7 EUR or 8 EUR per month. This represents a major challenge for families and ultimately the children’s education is neglected.
The elderly often live a lonely, abandoned and impoverished life because either their children have died from HIV/AIDS or the children have to work in distant places and yet do not earn enough money to support their parents. They lack basic needs such as medicine, soap, mattresses and are often forced into a helpless, apathetic situation. Some of them live with their many grandchildren, to whom they cannot provide a qualified life, due to illness, weakness or simply old age.
