A Hero Named Hadizatou

What’s new in Hadizatou Makole’s life? She stands alongside LWR’s Africa Director, Dr. Evariste Karangwa, outside the storage facility and offices of the Hanzari Women’s Group in Dogondoutchi. In the past four years Hadizatou has a newly improved knowledge of peanut oil processing technology. Despite personal circumstances leaving her as the primary provider for eight children, she gleams, telling us how she manages a family budget for food and clothing, paying cash for everything. With proceeds from her peanut processing business she has purchased four ewes and one cow, representing unheard of viability for a woman in this community. Newfound personal leadership potential animates Hadizatou with a playful and savvy confidence as she outlines plans for her future.

Dressed in her hijāb, this lady courageously stands at a historical intersection of gender roles. Lutheran World Relief is navigating this crossroads with her. None of what she has done would have been possible for her unforgotten mother. All of what’s new to her will one day be viewed as normal to her daughters—“each person and every generation,” LWR’s vision statement proclaims. Oppressive cultural traditions are falling away with each harvest. Heroes like Hadizatou gradually and winsomely sow a new way forward. Félicitations à Madame Makole!