HAWA JALLAH: E118-DUA

2016: 

RECIPIENT: Hawa Jalah , 30 years old

Empowered by: Beth Mitchell

Hawa is a widow with 3 children, James age 9, Marlu age 5 and Korpy age1 year. Her husband, Sondo was 34 years old when he had graduated from high school in 2015 (right after the Ebola epidemic) with the hope of going to college. Knowing that they could not afford for him to enroll at the local college, they had decided that he should take a year off and go work at the goldmine (digging gold) up country. The money from the gold would be used for him to buy a used taxi ($4,500 USD). The plan was he would drive the taxi and the income from the taxi would be used to support the family and pay for college. On May 26, 2016, Hawa had received a call from an unknown number telling her to come get her husband’s body. She told me “Old Ma, I told him (the caller) he had the wrong phone number. But he kept saying the same thing. So, I give the phone to my mom and I told her, this man is confuse. He’s calling the wrong number. Then my mom took the phone from me and asked the man, who you call for? The man said Hawa. Then she asked the man, why you call for? The man said Sondo is dead. His body was burn up. The family need to come for the body”. Hawa told me, “Old Ma, I pass out on the spot! I just remember cold water on me.. my mom wasted cold water on me to wake me up.

When I came to myself, my mom told me to stay and let her go see the body. The road (up country) was bad. It took the taxi driver the whole day and night before she reach. And the body WAS my husband. She paid people to bury his body before she came back. She took a picture of his body for me to see. I brought the body picture for you to see Old Ma”. That’s when I lost it. I cried. I cried for this young man who was brutally killed and burned. I cried because nothing will come from his death… no investigation… no arrest… no question… another precious life, simply gone. I cried for this beautiful young mother of 3 beautiful children whose dreams just ended. I cried for these 3 innocent children whom had just lost their father and had become fatherless at the age of 9, 5 and 1. I cried for another young Liberian life taken away without a care. I cried for my country!  These are photos of Hawa and her children receiving her new supply of selling goods to now be able to successfully start her very own business.