| All she wants is to empower fellow widows | Send to a friend |
| Saturday, 24 July 2010 12:55 |
 Blurb: If I had a difficult time to get my rights yet I’m educated. I can’t imagine how it can be for those not even familiar with their rights? That is when I decided to step in and help. Erick Mchome Bibiana Semu, a 70-year-old retired teacher is still strong enough to take care of widows in her village. Whenever she wakes up, she looks forward to change their lives in Mlalo village, Lushoto district in Tanga Region. Mama Semu, as many call her, is a widow herself who is encouraging others to stand on their own. When she began her mission, she didn’t seek anybody’s approval. All she did was stepping into it knowing that, one day, it would create a striking mark on other people’s lives. Her inspiration came after a legal fight with her brother in-law who forcefully took her property and separated her from the children until the court intervened. “It was such a painful period. My brother in-law was demanding the right to own what I had legally acquired with my husband,” she says. In 1991, 10 years after his death and the continued legal tussle, she finally won the case. “I had a difficult time to get my rights yet I’m educated. I couldn’t imagine how it can be for those who are not even familiar with their rights? That is when I decided to step in and help,” says Mama Semu. In her first move, she bought ‘Khanga’ and ‘Vitenge’ for every widow in the village. By then, she was in Dar es Salaam working as a teacher at the Oyster Bay Primary School. “I used to come to the village every December at Christmas time and distribute the gifts,” she recalls. Since then, she had been saving 10 per cent of her income for the widows. Even when she retired at the age of 60, she continued with the same exercise. Upon her retirement in 1992, she was asked by her church to run the church kindergarten in Dar es Salaam. The management insisted that she takes the job, and she couldn’t decline it. According to her, within a few years of working at the Kindergarten, she successfully increased the number of pupils’ admission from 40 to 100. Isack Kileo, has known Mama Semu for the past 20 years, and he describes her as a woman of integrity. “She was in touch with every parent and followed up every child’s academic progress,” says Kileo. However, Mama Semu, does not know what overcame her in 2006, because she spent her Christmas holiday in Dar es Salaam. “The following year, while I was in Israel for an official tour, a strange voice urged me in my sleep to help the widows,” she says. “I didn’t understand why I abandoned them in the first place. So, when I returned, after a few days of resting, I went to the village for a bigger mission.” She talked to the local pastor, and he agreed to help. The following Sunday, after the services, he summoned all village widows to remain behind. 75 widows responded to her call and Mama Semu unveiled her plans. “I realised that some of them had been evicted from their homes while others were separated from their children,” she says. The following week, she organised a seminar and taught them how to realise their positions in the society. The seminar also advocated for forgiveness. After a fortnight of intensive training, ‘The Friends of Dorcas,’ group was formed with 71 members. Mama Semu decided not to vie for any position because she wanted to play the role of a founder. Her main duty was to oversee the implementation of the group’s resolutions. The local church gave them a piece of land for their agricultural projects. They also generated some money through various contributions, and in 2007, they started farming. “I was touched by their ambition. I also donated some cash to buy two pigs. Now they have six pigs. They also grow potatoes, beans, maize and vegetables,” reveals Mama Semu. Mama Semu now spends almost all her time with the widows. The group is now divided into three smaller groups with each taking care of two pigs. “Every Tuesday, they meet for farm work and they visit the needy and sensitise them to join the group every Friday. They also have other smaller projects that sustain their lives,” says Mama Semu, a mother of six. Though, ‘The Friends of Dorcas’ is now a famous group at Mlalo, it still needs support to start new projects like that of making batik. “We had no future. We were not considered as part of the society, but Mama Semu proved to everyone that we can live even without our husbands,” says Ruth Kerefu, the group’s chairperson. News of Mama Semu’s success story has spread everywhere, and now, she has been invited to areas such as Tanga and Pare to organise similar activities. She has also been invited by churches in Dar es Salaam to conduct seminars. “Last year, I donated almost all my clothes. I wanted them to look good. To me, seeing them happy is a dream come true,” says Mama Semu. Captions. -Mama Semu with miwani/kanga ya chuichui -Mwenye kilemba ni Mama Ruth Kerefu ambaye ni mwenyekiti wa kikundi. -All pics by Erick Mchome Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
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