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More and more women are the breadwinners because of fighting in Somalia

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From IRIN, 10.1.11

Fighting in the Somalian capital of Mogadishu – which has been going on for years between government forces and opposition Islamist groups – has meant that more and more women have become the sole breadwinners for their families.

Take 75-year-old Aagan Mahamud as a good example. Although at an age when her children should be looking after her, she is looking after her six grandchildren after their mother disappeared.

“I used to live in Waberi [neighbourhood] but was forced to move to Hodan district because of the fighting,” she told IRIN. “My daughter was with us at the time. Today I don’t know whether she is alive or not. I have not seen or heard from her in four years.

“Like any elderly person, I would like to rest and depend on my children but that is not to be and we must somehow survive.”

She works every day, with a little help from the children. “When I have to wash people’s clothes, one of the children takes the peanuts for sale. It is the only way we are going to eat.”

Some days, she makes about 30,000 Somali shillings (US$1) and on good days about 40,000 Somali shillings ($1.10). But “there are days I don’t make even that much”, she says.

Her biggest fear is being killed by stray shells. “Last week alone, shells landed not far from where I was selling peanuts,” she said. “I always worry what will happen to the children if I am dead, but I have no alternative; I have to work or we starve.”

Read the full story in IRIN.

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