Widows of Kilimanjaro

• Author / Creator

  Geekie, Constance

• This ethnographic study examines how social structure constrains the well-being of widows in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania, explores the role of women’s agency in bettering their lives, and looks at tension between international and local development projects. I collaborated with the Moshi Widows Education and Counseling Centre (MOWECCE), an organization that provides community sensitization seminars, individual counseling, social support, legal advice, and a small loans program. Focusing on gender equality, the organization promotes widows’ rights to raise their children, to protect themselves from AIDS, to economic security, and to respect within their communities. Factors that appear to mitigate the structural challenges of widowhood in Tanzania include education, social support, employment out of the home, having children, and strong relationships between the widow and her husband’s clan. While social structure influences outcomes, understanding the role of social action in constructing healthy communities offers insight into the process of social change.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Widows
  • kilimanjaro
  • social action
  • gender equality
  • development

• Graduation date

  Fall 2011

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3TM5D

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.