Ester Maikuri, Kenya
Life as a young widow is fairly difficult anywhere. Being a farmer in a developing country remains hard as well. But as well as family networks, personal initiative can also help…
For Ester, fieldwork is women’s work. That is simply the way it is. However, men make take 90 percent of the farm and domestic decisions.
She lives in the fertile highland of northwest Kenya. The mother of three lost her husband six years ago. Her status as a widow defines her existence. She lives on her father-in-law’s farm, and helps when and where she can.
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Tags: female work, fieldwork, Kenya
May 31, 2008 at 2:42 pm |
Its easy for foreigners to take a cursory glance at Africa and say that, women do all the work while men are idle. There is a reason why the society is structured that way. I would encourage foreigners or urbanized Africans to study the living conditions, the culture and the history of Africa before making such quick judgements.