Immediately after a burial, the widow participates in a general washing of the hands, and the feet and the grave is sprinkled with water treated with leilane (Pelargonium sp. The widowhood effect is the increase in the probability of a person dying a relatively short time after their long-time spouse has died. It seems that practices like these are simply meant to demean the widow. While divorce has become much more frequent in our society in the past several decades, widowhood is still the most likely way for marriages to end among older persons, and the most … The study of Manyedi et al. I observed this also with widows in the three congregations in three Pretoria townships which I served in my 35 years of ministry. Source: msmagazine. (2012) mention the following: The widow wearing black clothes also has to sit at the back of a bus or taxi so as not to expose other travellers to her back and the possibility of a 'bad omen or bad luck'. The practice of head shaving is almost the same amongst many other peoples of Africa, for instance the Igbo of Nigeria, the Zulus of South Africa (both in rural KwaZulu-Natal and urban Soweto), as well as the Bapedi of Phokwane and many other villages (see Nowye 2005:152; Pauw 1990:79; Rosenblatt & Nkosi 2007:78). Traditional widowhood rites: Pros and cons. Many widows are also forced to marry into their late husband's family (CBC 7 July 2004). The above statement expresses a widow's negative feelings regarding the isolation and stigmatisation as a result of African traditional widowhood rites and practices. THE rite of mourning the demise of a husband in Nigeria has for a very long time been taken to the extreme by the relatives of the dearly departed either because they have plans of punishing the grieving widow or for other reasons best known to themselves. The widow is thus rendered abnormal. Nkhwashu (2012:1-2) writes under the title Culture shock for rich widow! It also explores and describes the Batswana community beliefs about widowhood and the mourning process. That was not the only incident of discrimination against newly widowed women still in black mourning clothes. The following statement of one widow confirms the above-mentioned perceptions: The support you will get it from your own parents, but the in-laws, ooh! ... As earlier noted, there are many benefits in combining sporting talents with education. Using critical feminist frameworks, we explore the plight of widows and the concept of widowhood in African society. Members of this mainline church are therefore equally guilty of discriminatory conduct against widows. Is all the above-mentioned maltreatment of widows the appropriate way for traditional Africans to support widows and help them to survive? To those involved in the widowhood process this often involves harrowing and sadistic experiences from the very social support network intended to cushion the traumatic impact of widowhood. (pp. The above view of widowhood rites rather represents them as defeating their claimed purpose, which is therapy. All these, together with other symbols, are regarded as the symbols of the sorrow that a bereaved widow is expected to display. 2) Second, some aspects of the rites are aimed at equipping the widow with the necessary courage and bravery to cope with the life of self-reliance which the death of the bread winner has exposed her to. Ownership of properties: Widows now have the right  to hold onto properties that are  in their names at the time of their husbands passing. He uses two data sources: (1) nationally representative demographics and health survey (DHS) data from 15 sub-Saharan African countries and (2) a 13-year longitudinal study from the Kagera region of north-west Tanzania. Baloyi and Makobe-Rabothata (n.d.) state the following: In South Africa some of the Bapedi tribe[s] that originate from Limpopo province believe that when a married man dies, his widow is forbidden from arriving home after sunset, visiting neighbors, attending family and community functions. Widowhood experiences can, therefore, be pleasant or painful. The church I serve has not, as an organisation, attempted to correct this situation and usher in a more humane and caring dispensation. Some cultures even go as far as asking her to sleep in the same room with the corps or drink the water used in bathing her husband. It is not clear how eating with the left hand from a lid and wearing clothes inside out protect both the widow and the community from defilement. Some known reasons why this is often done are the following: This widow was, however, in no danger of poverty, and the family already had four children, two of their own and two adopted ones. 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