HAG (not real name) is a 35-year-old, abandoned by her husband, currently living in one of the fishing villages in Mwanza, Tanzania. HAG has seven children, among them, one has completed primary school education and works as a house maid in Iringa region, Tanzania. The youngest child is only one year and 3 months old and is still being breastfed.
HAG’s husband always disappears from home, abandoning his wife without providing for his family. He usually comes back, just to disappear again after a short period. Last time he disappeared was in March 2022 and came back in May 2023. It was the same month he left without giving his wife any money for household expenses that he made her pregnant again for the youngest child.
Her husband works as a fisherman in Bukoba Islands and currently hasn’t called his wife since he left. HAG decided to delete her husband’s phone number because she has been going through a difficult time and it was too painful that he has never been reachable by his phone.
When she asked about his husband’s wellbeing from his workmate who came back in 2024, she was told that her husband still works in Bukoba islands but does not have a phone.
HAG is tired of her husband’s behavior, because she has a hard time caring for her children alone. Also, whenever the husband comes back, he only impregnates her just to leave again. When asked if she gets any help from her husband family she said ‘‘My mother-in-law and my father-in-law are all deaf and they need assistance, my brother in-law is still in school.
So, his husbands’ relatives also need her help’’. HAG said she has been struggling to have food for the family, medication for the children when they get sick, clothes for children and even shelter for her children. Her house collapsed and she decided to re-build a new small two-room house out of mud blocks. As she couldn´t afford it herself, she got some money from her daughter who works as a house maid in Iringa.
In her miserable situation, HAG decided to start a small business, selling small sardines at a village 3 kms from her home and is able to get a profit of 3 USD per day. She started with one big can of dried sardines worth a capital around 9 USD in 2023 and now her capital after one year is around 22 USD which is equal to three cans of sardines. Selling sardines, is her day-to-day activity during the fishing season. She leaves at 6 am and comes back around 6 pm, taking her youngest child with her.
HAG joined the women´s group WANAWAKE TUNAWEZA, consisting of 15 vulnerable women, 8 of whom are single women. Here, she gets new ideas from other women on how to take care of the family single-handedly, but also on how to save money for her children’s education.
In the group every member has to save 2 USD a week and at the end, each woman takes the amount she saved. HAG is happy to be in the group because she also gets education on children’s health and nutrition provided by the group chairperson who has received training from TAHEA Mwanza.
Her dream is to expand her business and be able to sell the sardines in bulk and in different places.
My Husband’s Fishing Employment Affected My Life and Our Children
HAG (not real name) is a 35-year-old, abandoned by her husband, currently living in one of the fishing villages in Mwanza, Tanzania. HAG has seven children, among them, one has completed primary school education and works as a house maid in Iringa region, Tanzania. The youngest child is only one year and 3 months old and is still being breastfed.
HAG’s husband always disappears from home, abandoning his wife without providing for his family. He usually comes back, just to disappear again after a short period. Last time he disappeared was in March 2022 and came back in May 2023. It was the same month he left without giving his wife any money for household expenses that he made her pregnant again for the youngest child.
Her husband works as a fisherman in Bukoba Islands and currently hasn’t called his wife since he left. HAG decided to delete her husband’s phone number because she has been going through a difficult time and it was too painful that he has never been reachable by his phone.
When she asked about his husband’s wellbeing from his workmate who came back in 2024, she was told that her husband still works in Bukoba islands but does not have a phone.
HAG is tired of her husband’s behavior, because she has a hard time caring for her children alone. Also, whenever the husband comes back, he only impregnates her just to leave again. When asked if she gets any help from her husband family she said ‘‘My mother-in-law and my father-in-law are all deaf and they need assistance, my brother in-law is still in school.
So, his husbands’ relatives also need her help’’. HAG said she has been struggling to have food for the family, medication for the children when they get sick, clothes for children and even shelter for her children. Her house collapsed and she decided to re-build a new small two-room house out of mud blocks. As she couldn´t afford it herself, she got some money from her daughter who works as a house
maid in Iringa.
In her miserable situation, HAG decided to start a small business, selling small sardines at a village 3 kms from her home and is able to get a profit of 3 USD per day. She started with one big can of dried sardines worth a capital around 9 USD in 2023 and now her capital after one year is around 22 USD which is equal to three cans of sardines. Selling sardines, is her day-to-day activity during the fishing season. She leaves at 6 am and comes back around 6 pm, taking her youngest child with her.
HAG joined the women´s group WANAWAKE TUNAWEZA, consisting of 15 vulnerable women, 8 of whom are single women. Here, she gets new ideas from other women on how to take care of the family single-handedly, but also on how to save money for her children’s education.
In the group every member has to save 2 USD a week and at the end, each woman takes the amount she saved. HAG is happy to be in the group because she also gets education on children’s health and nutrition provided by the group chairperson who has received training from TAHEA Mwanza.
Her dream is to expand her business and be able to sell the sardines in bulk and in different places.
Post Code
TAHEA Mwanza