HAWA IBRAHIM MOHAMED

Life has not been easy for Hawa Ibrahim. After losing her husband at a young age, Hawa was left to raise her family and find a way to provide for her children on her own. Determined to keep her family going, she turned to the livestock trade, spending long days moving between goat and cattle markets, buying and selling animals to earn a living. For years, the livestock trade provided Hawa with a way to support her household. But the demands of the work eventually took a toll on her health. She developed high blood pressure and other chronic health complications that made it increasingly difficult for her to continue working. Eventually, she was forced to leave the markets and return home, without the income she had relied on for years.

The challenges did not end there. Hawa now shares her small home with her adult son and daughter, both of whom face significant mental health challenges. After their spouses left, Hawa became the primary caregiver for her children and the young grandchildren in their care. With no reliable source of income and limited ability to work, meeting the family’s most basic needs, including putting food on the table, became a daily struggle.

A turning point came when Mama Ibado Charity visited Hawa’s home. After seeing the family’s circumstances, they registered Hawa in the food assistance program and helped her begin receiving support. Soon after, Hawa received her beneficiary identification card, marking the beginning of a much-needed source of relief for her household. Through the program, Hawa’s family receives essential food staples such as flour, sugar, cooking oil, rice, salt, maize meal and other food essentials. Though modest, the food assistance provides a dependable source of nourishment for the household and helps ease the pressure of providing meals during a particularly difficult season of their lives.

For Hawa, the support has brought more than food. It has given her reassurance that her family has not been forgotten and that, even in difficult circumstances, there are people willing to stand alongside them. Despite the challenges of managing her own health while caring for her children and grandchildren, Hawa remains grateful for the assistance her family receives. She hopes that support for vulnerable families can continue to grow and reach more households facing circumstances like hers.

For a woman who spent much of her life working to provide for others, the assistance has offered Hawa something she desperately needed: a little relief, a little stability, and renewed hope for her family.