From a young age, Jackie Odhiambo understood the struggles of widowhood.
When she was just 11 years old, she lost her father, and in the years that followed, three remarkable women raised her: her widowed mother, aunt and grandmother.
Watching them navigate life’s challenges with strength and resilience, she developed a deep empathy for widows and was determined to support them.
“My father died when I was 11 years old, and from then on, I was raised by widows — my mother Rebecca, my aunt Peninah and my grandmother Wilikister. In my childhood, I saw how loneliness and financial hardships affected these women,” she recalls.
“I was also inspired by the sacrifices each of them made for us children and the resilience they demonstrated amidst adversity. My mother instilled the value of education, arguing it was my pathway out of poverty to dignity.”
Rather than allowing grief to define her, she transformed her pain into purpose.
Her hard work in school earned her a scholarship to study at Williams College in the US.
“When I set off on a full scholarship to Williams College, through mentorship from Zawadi Africa, I had one mission at heart — to make my mother proud. From Williams, I joined the Global Health Research Core at Harvard Medical School to support research capacity-building initiatives at Partners in Health,” she said.
“I completed my MSc with distinction in International Public Health - Planning and Management at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in Liverpool. From the UK, I came back to Kenya in 2019 to officially begin my work with widows,” Odhiambo said.
Her journey to bring hope to widows culminated in the registration of Nyanam Widows Rising in 2019 in Kisumu.
Nyanam is a restorative justice organisation preparing widows to lead positive community transformation through holistic programmes in leadership, health and livelihoods, justice and youth education.
“I began working with widows in 2017 after seeing the mistreatment they experience in community projects we had initiated. I was disheartened to see that when widows spoke, no one listened and when something went wrong with the projects, widows were the first to be blamed,” she said.
Through the NGO, she stands as a beacon of hope, dedicating her life to empowering widows through innovative initiatives that provide not just shelter but dignity, economic stability and a renewed sense of belonging.
She said the journey started with 80 widows but now the number has grown to more than 3,000.
“We use capacity development and strengthening as the core approach in implementing our programmes in leadership, livelihoods, health and justice.”
“This training has helped change the way these women perceive themselves because one thing about a person being stigmatised is that you end up stigmatising yourself. The attitude of the people in the communities we serve towards the widows is also changing,” she said.
Odhiambo said through her research, she has discovered the extensive scope and burden of widowhood stigma across sub-Saharan Africa, and its detrimental impact on widows’ social, psychosocial and economic wellbeing.
“If I were alone, I would have lost it by now or would have died,” one of the beneficiaries of Odhiambo’s efforts said.
“When I joined, I got encouraged through the testimonies of other widows and the teachings we get,” another said.
Her journey has been one of resilience and unwavering commitment, breaking barriers and challenging societal norms.
“For us, stigmatisation remains the biggest challenge, widows face discrimination and some are disinherited, rejected by family, being blamed for the death of their husband. This has a huge effect on their mental health,” Odhiambo said.
This is the story of a trailblazer, a woman whose vision and compassion has changed countless lives.
As the world marks International Women’s Day on March 8, the remarkable journey of Odhiambo is one to be celebrated as her unwavering dedication has left an indelible mark in society.
Through resilience, compassion and determination, she has broken barriers and uplifted communities.
Her legacy is not just in the lives
she has transformed but in the inspiration she ignites in others to dream
to lead, and to make a difference.
