From Silence to Strength: Atika's Journey from Hopelessness to Healing

Atika Abas, a 40-year-old mother of six from Gabashi Ward in Wammako LGA, Sokoto State, has faced profound loss. Without capital her rice-processing business had fallen apart.

"A wancan lokacin, rayuwa ta tsaya cak. Ina zaune kawai a gida ba tare da aiki ba." (At that time, my life was stuck. I was just sitting at home doing nothing.)

After joining the Gabashi VSLA, supported by LHI and WFP, she took a ₦20,000 loan to buy water, firewood and a bag of unprocessed rice.

"Cikin sati guda na sayar, na sake sayen wani buhu. Gida ya fara samun abinci." (Within one week I sold and bought another bag. Food returned to our home.)

Two months later she can afford five bags of rice at a time, and community members pay her to process rice for them. For the first time she pays her children's PTA and school fees herself.

"Yanzu mamanmu kullum tana murmushi." (Now our mother is always smiling.) Her daughter

From Cultivating Resilience, Vol. 1.