LFT- Karbala, Iraq, Mothernomics

“In a while, in a very long time, I hadn’t felt important. I felt distant from society, but on that day, when I went to Ziyarat with the rest of the mothers, wearing the MOM scarf, I felt included and special, I felt proud…”

I remember when he was alive, he taught me how to drive a car, he was so supportive of me learning new things, and a part of me died the day I lost him. Anwar Kadhim, only 30 years old, tragically lost her husband to kidney failure almost 7 years ago. Murad, her husband, was a taxi driver, and tried his best to provide for his wife and three young children. After the birth of his youngest child, Aya, Murad started having pain in his kidney. This was a start to a long journey of pain and agony for Murad, he was on kidney dialysis for a while and unfortunately passed away in Anwar’s lap at home in 2015.

After the passing of her husband, Anwar’s father and brother stood by her side and financially supported her while she resided with her in-laws.

Unfortunately, two years after the passing of her husband, both her father and brother passed away from chronic medical conditions.

At this point Anwar felt really alone and hopeless, she then started applying to different charities in order to provide for her three young children. In 2020 Anwar heard of the Mothernomics project and applied. Upon hearing of the project, she wished day and night to get a job opportunity and provide for her children.

Now two years later and Anwar is thriving in the project, she is now in quality control and responsible for packaging products for our customers. She makes sure the product is perfect and to the best of quality before packing it to ensure %100 customer satisfaction.

She is now greatly developing and bought a sewing machine in installments from the project and has started also working at home after work.

Anwar says that her mental health has now greatly transformed since she joined two years ago. She says that when she first joined, she would always feel left out and depressed, but now she sees herself as capable of achieving anything she sets her mind to. Anwar now thinks long term and has the mental capacity to think about her life goals.

Through the Mothernomics project, Anwar is able to afford clothes and what her children require, not only that but Anwar is hopeful that the future of herself and her children is brighter and is very optimistic. She now looks forward to waking up in the morning as opposed to before as she would dread waking up every day.