HADIJA
from Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania
Hadija's parents always wanted her to complete her education. Unlike most African parents they taught their daughter to live a financially independent life. At 25, Hadija fell in love and got married. Her husband did not like that she worked.
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"It made him feel insecure", Hadija explained, "In African cultures, most boys are taught that they have to be the provider of the family. So, when I worked, it made him feel as if he was not bringing enough to the table. I lied to him that I left my job. Everyday, I would go to work after he left home, and returned in the evening before him. One day he came home early, and found that I had been lying to him. He asked me to stop working and gave me some money. He said to me - if you need money, ask me, I am your husband. You don't need to work."
Hadija used that money to buy a sewing machine, some tools and her first batch of fabric. Since then, she started running a small sewing and weaving business from home. She now has a beautiful and intelligent daughter Sabah, a little shop in Dar-es-salaam city, and, her husband drops her to work everyday.
