It is undoubtedly true that African women work very hard to provide for their families. Sometimes even harder than normal.
The streets and markets are filled with these women, carrying the weight of their families and dreams on their shoulders. If wealth were truly the inevitable result of hard work, these women would undoubtedly be millionaires
Apart from their normal responsibilities as wives and mothers, which involves cooking, taking care of the kids mostly about 4-6 or more, she also works in the farm, most of them also have their circular works.
But there are thousands of them in the market, selling stuffs. Local market women are very numerous, working standing under the sun and selling goods from morning to evening.
Most of them involve in bush market, which means buying goods from one city and traveling to another city to resell it for profit. This is even the hardest I think. These women have to wake up very early, 4:30 am is already late for them to wake up, they wake up way before 4 am, arrange stuffs at home, prepare kids for school and before 5 she's already out of the house so she can meet the travelling bus.
I see a lot in the market that amazes me:
- I see a married or older woman carrying tray packed with load of satchet water and walking round the whole market to sell it. Some carry other goods and others also carry their baby at the back while hawking the goods.
- I see old ladies in their late 40s or early 50s pushing goods packed in a wheelbarrow and walking under the sun for more than 9 hours
Carrying goods on the head has always been a normal for most women. These ones cannot afford a stable place or a shop to stay in.
Hustle is the way of life in Nigeria, but these women are the real champions, the true definition of strength, and the soul of our nation.
Their hustle doesn't just stop in the market. In every corner of the country, you see women working, farm, factory, in the house. They work to care for their families, most of them have different jobs to make ends meet.
But even after all their struggles, it's not easy for them to make wealth and pursue their dreams. Opportunities do not always knock on their doors.
Many of these women are widows struggling to care for themselves and their children after they lost their husbands. Others are single mothers abandoned by their partners, others have unsupportive husbands or their husbands don't make enough money to support the family.
But no matter the problems they face, they do not give up on their families.
🌺🌼🌺🌼🌺🌼🌺🌼🌺🌼🌺
These women have unimaginable strength to work. If hard work were indeed the key to wealth, these women would be millionaires many times over. But even though they are not wealthy, they have very rich character and unwavering love for their family. That's what truly matters to them!
Images were taken and edited by me unless otherwise indicated
