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True Strength...
A story of inspiration and gratitude
by Jen Gilson.
by Jen Gilson.
The strongest women I have ever encountered were women in a slum of Ethiopia called Kechene. Kechene is a community made up primarily of HIV-positive widows. Most of these women have children that they care for by themselves, as they have been either abandoned by their husbands or lost them to HIV. Most of these women are very sick themselves, and because of their extreme poverty are considered "cursed." The other villagers will not even make eye contact with them out of fear of catching this curse of extreme poverty. But despite their frail physical condition, every single day they wake up before the sun and walk, barefoot, miles and miles up into the mountains. The women earn an income (far below $1/day) by collecting sticks from
the mountain area and carrying them back to the village where they sell them for firewood. I would see the women at the end of the day walking down the road- bent over at a 90 degree angle under the weight of these giant piles of sticks on their back. The piles weigh around 80 pounds. While they do this they are forced to leave their children behind at home all day since they cannot afford child care.
