Inside the fishing community of Moree in the Central Region of Ghana lives a beautiful but struggling young widow called Aba Obambu who lives with her eight children and feeble mother.
A look alone at this woman, as she was busily washing some fishes she was preparing for smoking, sent chills down my spine and that pushed me to have a conversation with her.
The nursing mother also had five of her young children between the ages of three and nine around her while preparing the fresh fishes.
Two of the six children spotted were half-naked, while the others were barefoot and wearing very old outfits.
Upon interrogation, Aba told the Ghanaian Times that she lost her husband a year ago while pregnant with their last child, now nine months old.
Since then, Aba has been struggling to make ends meet. Her only source of livelihood is proceeds from the smoked fish she helps her mother sell, which she described as grossly insufficient.
She stated that feeding her children had become a huge burden for her, adding that sometimes they spent the whole day without having a meal.
“Life has not treated me fairly at all. How can I carry on like this? I am incapable of caring for eight children singlehandedly. When my husband was alive it was better than today that death has taken him away from us. My mother too is not always strong due to her age.”
“We do not even get money to buy the fish most of the times. Sometimes we borrow money to buy the fish and make payment after selling. My children and I have gone to bed hungry on many occasions, my problem now is how to fend for them. I do not even know what happiness means anymore. My life is pain,” she lamented.
The widow stated that her children have now become used to not expecting breakfast, lunch, or supper each day. “We only expect to eat when we see the food. The only moment we know we will be lucky to have food the next day is when I am able to get money to buy some gari and we have some left over fish that is when we know there is hope for the next day.”
DEPRESSION
Aba’s situation, she said, has made her unable to mingle with her friends during occasions like naming or marriage ceremonies and other public gatherings. The confidence of the young widow clearly left the day she lost her husband to the cold hands of death. She told the Ghanaian Times that she mostly cries herself to sleep and wonders if things could ever get better.
She said what she feared most about, was the future of her children because the ones of school-going age dropped out of school one after the other because she could not afford to provide the needed stationary and daily money to support them in school.
Some neighbours of Aba during an interaction with the Ghanaian Times said the widow barely smiled or spoke with anybody since the unfortunate demise of her husband and they also could not offer her any significant help because they were also struggling to survive.
DANGERS OF MALNUTRITION IN CHILDREN
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), undernutrition is believed to be linked to 2.7 million child fatalities worldwide each year, constituting 45 per cent of all child deaths. WHO emphasizes that improving infant and young child feeding is crucial to enhance child survival and support healthy growth and development. Numerous research studies have additionally demonstrated the critical significance of a child’s initial two years, as providing optimal nutrition during this phase reduces illness and mortality rates, lessens the chances of chronic diseases, and facilitates overall better development.
It is therefore imperative for the government to tackle the issue of hunger from all angles for example, ensuring systems are in place to reduce the high rate of unemployment in the country and reduce the high cost of living.
The school feeding programme alone is not enough to tackle hunger among children, especially when the quality of food served in the beneficiary schools remains questionable.
Like Aba, there are many other families struggling to survive, putting children from such disadvantaged backgrounds under the risk of dying or acquiring chronic diseases. No child or lactating mother deserves to suffer in hunger.
United Nations (UN)’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) two aims to eradicate hunger and secure access to safe, nutritious, and ample food throughout the year for everyone, especially those facing poverty and vulnerability, including infants. Additionally, it strives to eliminate all types of malnutrition, including reaching the globally agreed-upon objectives for reducing stunting and wasting in children under the age of five by 2025. The goal also focuses on addressing the nutritional requirements of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women, as well as older individuals.
If women like Aba and her children are still struggling to afford one square meal, a day, how will Ghana achieve these set down goals by the end of 2025 and 2030 respectively?
ABA OBAMBU’S APPEAL
Aba is appealing to all members of the public who mean well, to support her establish a business that will enable her take proper care of her children and herself. She hopes that one day she will be able to afford to feed her children even if it is twice daily, enroll them in school and buy them decent clothing.
BY RAISSA SAMBOU
