On Thursday one of the students in our Family Module shared about her own experience as a widow. She explained how once a woman's husband dies the rest of her tribe or clan appoint a caretaker to watch over her and her children. "How lovely" I thought. On the contrary, this means that the caretaker actually takes her assets and uses the proceeds of her farm if she has one for his own family. If she has no money for food (which is often the case) she is not able to sell the cow she might have and instead has to ask her caretaker to sell it for her. She is not allowed to accompany him to the market or to know the price he was paid. Rather she has to wait at home and when he gives her a measley amount she has no right to question or any right of appeal. Mostly, he keeps most of it and gives her a small percentage. Sometimes the caretaker will remove all the furniture from her house under the guise of "keeping it for her children for when they grow up". She never sees it again.
When we asked if she had any recourse, this student replied that it was possible to go to the courts but that it would take a very long time and during that time her life and the life of her children would be hell. Also, there is no guarantee of justice even when she gets to the courts because a bribe will often change a decision.
Many of the other students in the room wept quietly while she shared the pain of widows and possible solutions the church might have for this issue. At the end of her sharing we prayed for the plight of widows and orphans in this land. Please join us.
De 27:19 - "Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"
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