We have been supporting Maria and her family since the beginning of 2018. Maria is a mother of three children. Her husband left her and the children in 2015.
At the start of the support program, the eldest son, Dismas, was attending secondary school (Form 2). The daughter, Caren, started first grade at a public school. We found a sponsor (Erika) to cover the cost of her school supplies. The youngest son, Joshua, was very young at the beginning. The children's exact birth dates are unknown, which is not unusual in the region, as not all children have birth certificates.
Maria earns her living selling roasted fish on the street. She couldn't give exact figures for her income, but stated that she spends everything immediately and saves nothing. To help her improve her business, we supported her with various materials. A display case was particularly helpful, allowing her to showcase the finished fish without them getting too dusty.
Maria lives in the Sanawari district of Arusha. The road where she works is unpaved and consists of a dirt track that is very muddy during the rainy season and extremely dusty during the dry season. Although there is progress in road construction in Arusha, it is slow.
Maria is very religious and spends a lot of time in church. Despite her difficult circumstances, she seems content, yet not very present in everyday life. According to her sister Elizabeth, Maria suffers from health problems that she doesn't want to acknowledge and doesn't talk about.
Elizabeth took on a large part of the responsibility for the family, helping with the fish sales when Maria was at church, and for a long time, together with her mother, she paid Maria's rent of 25,000 TSh per month. Only later did Maria begin paying the rent herself. We were particularly worried about the children's care, as Maria seemed very preoccupied with herself.
Timeline & Updates
2019
Maria now sells fruit in addition to fish. She has joined a sparring group (daily deposit of 3,000 TSh, with the total amount paid out on a rotating basis) and uses the payouts to pay her rent. Her widowed sister Elizabeth did not have to contribute financially since then. Her son Dismas has passed his Form 2 exams and is moving on to Form 3. Karen is starting second grade, while her youngest son Joshua is not yet in school.
2020
In January 2020, Maria was able to pay her own rent and relieve her sister Elizabeth of this burden. She set aside money at the church every day and withdrew it when the rent was due. Currently, she doesn't sell enough to contribute and can no longer pay the rent six months in advance—the landlord allows monthly payments. Dismas (17) is entering 11th grade (Form 4). Thanks to donors, Caren has been attending a good private school (Goodwill School) since 2020 (something Maria is indifferent to). Joshua is not yet in school.
2021
Maria and her children (Dismas, Caren, Joshua) are healthy. She sells fruit; a fish business failed due to supply shortages. We gave her 100,000 TSh in capital, of which she used 15,000 TSh for Dismas's school and invested the rest in fruit. Maria doesn't know how to manage profits or expenses—she never counts her money. She wants to move to a more expensive house (40,000 TSh instead of 25,000 TSh rent), even though she can't afford her current one. We refused her request for rent assistance. Maria spends 2-3 hours a day at church (400 TSh bus fare), and her daughter Caren manages the stall. Maria can't read or write (only her name). We're suspicious of the church—she refused to let us visit. Dismas is waiting for his Form 4 results for Form 5 (starting in June). Caren is moving up to Standard 4, and Joshua (6) will start preschool in January.
2022
Maria still has her fruit stand, but her umbrella is full of holes – we're buying a new one. She lives with her three children in her sister Elizabeth's and mother's house (three rooms, very cramped). Joshua was able to attend Goodwill School's preschool for free last year, and now he's about to start first grade. Caren finished fourth grade there with excellent grades and will be starting fifth grade next year. Dismas has finished school – he wants to go to a college with a good soccer team; we're discussing whether he should start a small business instead.
2023/2024
Maria continues to sell fruit and vegetables. Because of the rainy season and her broken umbrella (new price 100,000 TSh), she can't work when it rains. Her working capital is about 30,000 TSh, which she uses to buy supplies every other day. Maria, along with Caren and Joshua, has moved into a small, three-room house with her sister Elizabeth and their mother. There's no electricity, and it gets dark after 6:30 p.m., so the children can hardly do their homework. Caren and Joshua attend the good Goodwill School nearby. Caren will start seventh grade (the final year of primary school) in January, and Joshua will be entering second grade.
2025
Maria and her children have no health problems. However, Maria is very unhappy with her current living situation. She feels she is a burden to the family and wants to move out. We have now made a plan that, since she no longer needs to buy buckets of water, she can save that money every day until she has saved up the three months' deposit required to rent something.
Caren is 13 years old and graduated from Goodwill School with a Standard 7. She was the best in her school, and her wish for the future is to become a doctor.
Joshua also attends Goodwill School.
Dismas lives with friends and doesn't have a job to support his family but he seems to manage to make ends meet somehow.