Widows have been urged by the Samuel Amo Tobbin Foundation, a local non-governmental organisation to take the first responsibility when it comes to ensuring their personal development, happiness and good health.

The advice was given during the climax of the celebration of the International Widows’ Day over the weekend, a commemoration the Foundation celebrated with over 500 widows across the country.

Mrs Mary Tobbin Osei, Board Chairperson of the Foundation, addressing the widows at the event in Accra said, widows can live healthily and happily if they stop underestimating themselves as hopeless and poor.

“Put your destiny in your hands and tell yourself I will be happy and stay healthy. If you think staying sad will attract people’s sympathise for support then that is wrong. Nobody can make you spiritually strong than yourself”, she said.

She stressed that the first step for a widow to be happy is psychological preparedness and financial stability, and urged them to work hard with their hands and learn to save, to avoid unnecessary purchasing of less important things.

Mrs Tobbin Osei asked the widows to take care of their health and ensure that their lives are well lived.

“You should be aware that some health disorders cannot be completely cured by medical attention, so in some cases, the best treatment could be for a patient to live on prescribed drugs throughout the person’s life.

She urged them to be happy most of the times and avoid going through unnecessary depression due to financial instability.


Some of the participants and widows at the event

Mrs Esther Toboh, Senior Nursing Manager of Entrance University Hospital, a new private health facility in Accra advised the widows to take foods with little salt and avoid salty foods such as dried tilapia and eating oily foods which could be dangerous to their health.

She, however, encouraged them to take in more fruits and vegetables, water, exercise regularly and visit health facilities at least yearly for check-ups.

Educating the widows on diabetes, Mrs Toboh mentioned family history, age, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, hypertension, stress, consumption of alcohol and some medicines as some of the causes of the disease.

She also mentioned polyuria, polydipsia, polyphagia, nocturia, glucosuria, unexplained weight loss, blurred vision, numbness, fatigue, recurrent infections such as boils, frequent vaginal itching, weakness, and poor wound healing as some signs and symptoms of diabetes.