{"id":151,"date":"2017-04-12T19:59:40","date_gmt":"2017-04-12T19:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/finding-home\/?post_type=project&p=151"},"modified":"2023-01-16T14:10:20","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T14:10:20","slug":"fatima","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/finding-home\/project\/fatima\/","title":{"rendered":"Fatima"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” admin_label=”Section” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_fullwidth_header title=”Fatima” header_fullscreen=”on” content_orientation=”bottom” content_max_width=”none” title_font_color=”#000000″ admin_label=”Fullwidth Header” _builder_version=”4.16″ title_font=”Lato|on|||” title_text_color=”#000000″ title_font_size=”80px” background_color=”rgba(255, 255, 255, 0)” background_image=”http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/finding-home\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/Fatima-house-banner-photo.jpg” parallax=”on” background_layout=”light” background_url=”http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/finding-home\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/Fatima-house-banner-photo.jpg” button_one_letter_spacing_hover=”0″ button_two_letter_spacing_hover=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”on” button_one_letter_spacing__hover=”0″ button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”on” button_two_letter_spacing__hover=”0″ button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off”] [\/et_pb_fullwidth_header][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}” column_structure=”1_4,1_2,1_4″][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.16″ text_font=”Lato||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”18″ text_line_height=”2em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” global_colors_info=”{}”]Fatima\u2019s home is an assembly of thick bamboo poles and sticks. She shares its one small room with five of her seven children. The interior is covered with layers of stained and fraying cement bags. Sturdy tree branches are buried deep into the sandy earth of this structure, carrying its weight. The ceiling is a crisscross of sticks, roofed with tarpaulin and thatch. A torn straw mat takes the place of a door.
\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.16″ text_font=”Lato||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_text_color=”#000000″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Photo gallery<\/strong><\/h3>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery gallery_ids=”162,163″ fullwidth=”on” admin_label=”Gallery” _builder_version=”4.16″ title_font=”Lato||||” title_text_color=”#ffffff” title_font_size=”18″ background_layout=”dark” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” global_colors_info=”{}”] [\/et_pb_gallery][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}” column_structure=”1_4,1_2,1_4″][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.16″ text_font=”Lato||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”18″ text_line_height=”2em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_line_height_tablet=”2em” text_line_height_phone=”2em” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” global_colors_info=”{}”]Two beds occupy more than half of the room. Each one is about two feet above the ground. The bed frame is a horizontal arrangement of tree branches. A straw mat is placed on each of them, serving as Fatima\u2019s mattress. There is another mat on the floor, for those who cannot find sleeping space on either bed.
\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/finding-home\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/Fatima-house-bed.jpg” align_tablet=”center” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”Image” _builder_version=”4.16″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” animation=”off” sticky=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” global_colors_info=”{}” align_phone=”center”] [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.16″ text_font=”Lato||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” global_colors_info=”{}”]Fatima\u2019s bed was built with tree branches. A straw mat serves as her mattress.<\/strong>
\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}” column_structure=”1_4,1_2,1_4″][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.16″ text_font=”Lato||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”18″ text_line_height=”2em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_line_height_tablet=”” text_line_height_phone=”” text_line_height_last_edited=”on|” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” global_colors_info=”{}”]When I met her, Fatima, 35, had been living here at the Malkohi host community \u2013 a settlement camp in northeastern Nigeria for displaced people \u2013 for six months. She leaves this place daily, after dawn, to look for work on nearby farms or construction sites.<\/p>\n

When she finds work, she is not paid more than 500 naira, about $2 CAD, for the day\u2019s sweat. This is money that supports her and her seven children.<\/p>\n

But Fatima\u2019s life was once different.<\/p>\n

Gwoza, in northeastern Nigeria, is the town of Fatima\u2019s birth. She lived there with her husband and children until 2014. Her husband was a butcher. They owned more than a dozen goats and chickens. Fatima made an income from grinding maize, rice, and millet in a community where many did not own personal blenders to grind their food.<\/p>\n

One Tuesday, Fatima was in her kitchen cooking from the bag of rice her husband had bought the previous week for Eid, a Muslim festival. She was alone except when two of her youngest children came around to play. Her husband and other children were in another part of the house.<\/p>\n

She was still cooking when she heard the gunshots.
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