Theresia Teh Ekow, 50 and a widow from the Bakossi tribe, has been a Believer with the TACC Bwitingi village assembly in the Buea area for about 10 years. Theresia has three children (14, 12 and 4). The father of her first child abandoned her while she was still pregnant. This was before she became born again. The father of her second child died. The father of her third child also died in 2008. He was a Builder by profession and prior to his death, he had a stroke for over 2 years. Theresia went through the pains to take care of him during this period. She was married to him traditionally, but not in court. This man drove his first wife with whom he had children, before getting married to Theresia. Theresia had a son with him and the child was about 6 months old when he died. He left behind a house and a farmland. Theresia is using the farmland to grow food items such as vegetables and cassava with farming being her profession. She sells the produce of her farm and uses the money to sustain her life and the children. Her late husband willed his house to Theresia’s son before his death.
After his death Theresia has faced considerable harassment. The children of the first wife who’re grown-ups asked her to produce her marriage certificate and gave her an ultimatum to quit the farmland that she has been cultivating food on. They seized the will and no one knows its whereabout until this day. The matter had even been brought to the Bwitingyi Village Traditional Council and there they also asked her to produce a copy of her marriage certificate as her defense. And since she doesn’t have it, she’s been given an ultimatum to leave the house with her other children. They ruled that only her youngest son will live in the house since it is willed to him. She is waiting for the moment that they will chase her out of the house because she has nowhere to go. Her step children gave her 2 options to choose between quitting the house or the farmland; She has chosen to quit the farmland and has been given till June 2013 to harvest her crops and quit the farmland. Also they are threatening her that as soon as she quits the farmland, she will have to leave the house.
Sis Theresia’s oldest son is in secondary school. One of Theresia’s sisters in Idenau took Theresia’s second child in and helped her till she completed primary education, and she has returned to her mother to continue with her secondary education. When we met Sis Theresia, she was planning to carry out the sales of CDC banana as soon as they expel her from the farmland and was planning to move to their family house which is situated in Bwiteva village as soon as they expel her from the house.
Our Liaison Elder Ashu Mfaw worked with Sis Theresia to figure out how much she needed as capital to start her banana business. She also needed support to send her children back to school. She is also partially blind and needs to consult an eye specialist. Elder Ashu Mfaw suggested that 100,000 FCFA was enough to help to take care of all her needs. In September 2012, TACC-Friends Int’l sent $199.84 to our LO in charge, who handed the money to Sister Theresia during a church service.
The following link is a video after the donation (in Pidgin language).
Updates report that Sis. Theresia’s business is doing well, she’s financially independent and able to provide her children’s educational needs.
