Margaret Wairimu

Margaret Wairimu

Age: 60
Number of children and ages: 9 children (30, 28, 27, 26, 25, 23, 18, 16 and 13 years old)
Job: No job

Margaret is a single mother. Her husband passed away in 1992 in post-election violence. She has 5 children living out of school. 3 of her children have passed away due to sickness, so Margaret currently lives with just one of her children, who is 23 years old. Some of her children go to secondary school, but Margaret struggles to pay the school fees. Margaret gets some food from her neighbours farms. She and her children eat only 3 evenings a week, usually potatoes and maize. They live in a 2 room house with a kitchen. However, the house does not have running water, electricity or sufficient protection. So Margaret and her children get water from a well and use lamps for light.