When my husband left me, I was hurt. Now, I do not blame him as much as I did. His relatives mocked him for marrying a ‘crippled’ woman. His friends encouraged him to find a ‘proper’ woman who would look after him because my disability would soon ‘disable’ him and make him less of a man.

The truth is, though I was disabled in my lower limbs, I never depended on my husband for everything. He did his duty of providing the food and I managed the all the house hold chores. I could pretty much do everything except run on my feet.

His relatives and friends’ opinions finally did triumph. My once loyal husband started to change; First it was his level of alcohol intake, then the routine late coming. He came home as late as 03.00am and I had to stay up to keep his food warm.

Two weeks of sleepless nights were not something I could keep ignoring; I had to let him know. One that night as I watched him eat up the last bits of food from his plate, I picked up the confidence to bring up the subject. I told him I had a request to make of him. He said ‘go ahead’. On my knees just a couple of feet away from him, I asked him to try and return early because I worry…. Even before I could finish speaking I was silenced by a blinding slap across my face. I fell on my side with my hands protecting my face and I had my husband’s voice say; ‘you are just a woman, you do not tell me what to do’. He walked off to bed and I sat up till morning with a swollen face.

My husband was determined to make me leave but I was not going anywhere. I had three children, no job and the villagers would call me names like ‘Ochodho Pingo’ which literately means one who brings shame to the marriage institution.

I had always suspected that there was another woman, but I did not think it would turn my husband into a wife beater. We had had bad days but it had never come to this.

One afternoon after our deathly quiet lunch, my husband took a bath and dressed up in his Sunday suit. When I asked where he was going, he did not respond. He just walked past me and left.

Two, three, four days passed and there was no sign of my husband in the village. Worried that something terrible could have happened to him, I reported to my parents-in-law. It is then that I was told my husband had left the village for the capital city with another woman.

That night I cried for me, for my husband; because I loved him. The next day I packed our few belongings and went back to my parents’ house.

The children were a burden; my family could not support me in everything. They had given us a place to sleep and food to eat.  I sought help from MIFUMI.

They tried to contact my husband with the hope to reconciliation for us but he showed lack of interest in me. He did not want me anymore. Moving to the city had left him too impoverished to even look after himself or his children.

I knew then that it was time to let go and move on. Early this year, I received a visitor from MIFUMI came to my home. she introduced her self as the Special needs Officer.She had brought me a wheel chair to help me get around and a start up pack to support me and my children.

My hair dressing business has supported me and my 3 children.

With my wheel chair, I am a good escort for my daughter to her school everyday.