VIRVAWA REHEMA HASSAN

Rehema Hassan was born into a small family of two children in a home defined by severe scarcity. Her early years were marked by the sudden loss of her father, which left the family without a primary provider and forced them into a cycle of survival. As the first of two siblings, she faced the weight of these responsibilities from a very young age.

Her education was cut short almost as soon as it began due to the lack of school fees and basic needs. She was only able to attend the earliest levels of primary school before the financial burden became too great to bear. Without the means to continue her studies, she left school to help her mother seek out any available manual labor.

In the years following her departure from school, Rehema spent her days performing grueling casual jobs to help put food on the table. She worked as a day laborer, taking on whatever tasks were available in her community to support her mother. This period of her life was characterized by constant physical toil and the uncertainty of where the next meal would come from.

When she eventually married, she hoped for stability but instead faced a difficult union that resulted in four children. The marriage was filled with challenges, and after it eventually ended, she was left to raise her children entirely on her own. To provide for them, she spent her days roasting maize by the roadside, an exhausting job that barely covered their daily meals and often left them sleeping hungry.

Her breakthrough came through a friend who recognized her suffering and introduced her to the Mama Ibado Charitable Foundation. After a formal registration process, she was enrolled in the seniors' program, receiving essential supplies including flour, milk, sugar, oil, and tea leaves.

"The provision of a steady supply of nutritious food has completely transformed my physical health and removed the constant burden of wondering if my family will eat," States Rehema.

Rehema still requires ongoing assistance because her children remain unemployed due to their own lack of education and are unable to support her. Her age and chronic health conditions, specifically her high blood pressure and impaired vision, prevent her from returning to manual labor. Continued support is vital to ensure she maintains her health and does not fall back into the desperate poverty of her past.