Since lockdown, Wonderfully made woman have been providing support to African single mothers and widows. They offer one to one support, teach English, provide information in Pidgin English and most importantly, distribute African food and groceries. This food support is offered in partnership with the Ardwick and Longsight Mutual Aid Group.
This food is essential to those African single mothers and widows, and their children, who could not eat the food being provided by other services, as it was not culturally appropriate.
They offer all of this support 10-12.30 every Tuesday, giving the chance for mothers to attend once they have dropped their children at school. They felt like single women and widows were not being mentioned or looked out for during lockdown. Often these women were isolated, confused and not accessing the support and services they needed, especially where there was a language barrier.
Wonderfully made woman CEO Ehinor said, "Offering food support was especially important – how can we expect women to have confidence and engage with services if the women and their children are going hungry? Our support has been vital for African single mothers and widows. Many of these women were not accessing the support they needed, and information about the pandemic was not reaching them. By offering support, teaching English and spreading essential messages in African languages, we have been able to get vital information to these women."
In April, a woman called Wonderfully made woman to say her husband had just died. She had just moved from Spain and did not know Manchester at all. She was depressed, her husband was everything to her. They spoke to this woman daily on the phone and via Whatsapp. Two woman from the group who are also widowed were constantly offering her love and support. Eventually this woman contacted them to say that she did not have a gift to give her child for their birthday. Wonderfully made woman made sure that this girl received gifts and chocolate, and they visited the household to sing ‘Happy Birthday’. The girl also joined the younger persons project.
Another people helped by Wonderfully made woman said, "I have been to different organisations, I have been referred to organisations that deal with widows. You people did not just ask how I was, you checked if there was food for me and my children. You checked if my children were happy and you checked about my wellbeing. By the time you finished with me, I wanted to volunteer!".
Wonderfully made woman started the initiative of setting up a food bank to support African women in Manchester. They have supported over 778 women and their families since lockdown.
"Wonderfully made woman have made the single mothers and widows smile, providing our own essential food like yam, beans, rice, pounded yam, Indomine noodles, plantain, Garri and so on. It's been an amazing period. It was especially important for us to provide support for pregnant women whose partners had left them during the Covid-19 lockdown". Ehinor Otaigbe-Amedu, CEO, Wonderfully made woman
