But just weeks into the mourning period that traditionally lasts six months, her late husband’s relatives stopped providing food, then confronted her directly. Women such as Mbah say the pandemic has taken more than their husbands: In their widowhood, it’s cost them their extended families, their homes and their futures. And young widows have no adult children to support them in impoverished communities with few jobs. But her husband’s relatives didn’t wait that long to force her and her young son out on the street, showing up the night of his burial. She feared her husband’s family would seek custody of her son, Jamel, whom Kamana had adopted and given his surname.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 10, 2022 10:08 UTC