My mother brought the 8 of us up almost single handedly. My father was not dead, he just did not think he had to make all the sacrifices that parenthood requires. And he controlled all the family property that my mother was prohibited from touching since "she came with nothing"

Her suffering and resilience taught me from an early age that a woman has to seek independence, both emotional, economic and otherwise, above everything else to deal with the challenges that women and more so mothers face in the world where gender equality has continued to elude

To elude us. Where the men still control almost all the resources, have all the time to study, work yet leave the burden (also both financial and emotional) of raising the children to the women. Happy mother's day to us. We continue to hope fora better, fairer world.