Walls closing in

Abila had recently lost her husband and everything that came after felt like she was falling into a bottomless pit.

Ever since her husband Ahmed had passed away, Abila simply could not take control of her life. Despite all the fights they had and even the drugs and other habits that Ahmed had fallen into - the one thing Abila did not have to worry about in his presence was managing the family finances. Now she was inundated with bills, rental payments, school fees, monthly card payments and so many more expenses that she just could not keep up.

To make things worse, people had started contacting Abila to pay debts Ahmed had accrued due to his drug addiction. She was now at a point where it seemed like she might be unable to pay her rent. Her landlord was quite understanding at first but more recently he started being physically suggestive with her. When she could not tolerate his behaviour, he started being less understanding. She desparately wanted to move out but before she could she needs to take care of her husband's debts first. All of this while she had 4 young kids to look after. The weight of these responsibilities were building up to be an unbearable burden.

Abila reached out to NZF for help. After reviewing her financial situation, our team identified that Abila was not actually in need of financial assistance. What she needed was help and some guidance on how to best manage her finances, while also being able to pay off her husband's debts. We got her in touch with one of our financial counsellors who was able to structure her finances and budgets so that she had a small surplus each month. To ensure that her children were not neglected, we were able to also enrol them into our Brighter Futures (Orphan) program through which they would be getting Islamic education, academic support as well as access to sporting programs if needed.

Abila was really grateful that someone was able to help her out of what seemed to be an impossible situation. Thanks to your support, Abila can now concentrate on being there for her children while looking forward to a better future.