Lives of widows a hidden issue.

• Author: Loomba, Raj

I grew up the son of a widow and witnessed first-hand the suffering my mother endured. When my father passed away, my grandmother ordered my mother to remove her jewellery, including her bindi, and never to wear brightly-coloured clothes again. I was too young to comprehend these restrictions at that time, however, at my wedding the Hindu priest who was conducting the ceremony asked my mother to move away from the wedding altar because as a widow, she could bring bad luck to the newly-wed couple.

This incident left a huge mark on me. How could a mother who gave birth to me, who educated me and always wished me good luck, ever bring me bad luck? This was the reason I was inspired to set up a charity, the Loomba Trust, for widows.

Over the years, we have raised awareness of the plight of widowhood worldwide. We are currently educating more than 3,000 children of poor widows in India. As part of our global work, the Loomba Trust works to alleviate the plight of poor widows world-wide. Currently we operate in 12 countries to support widows who are victims of poverty, disease, wars, genocide, rape and social injustice.

I established the Loomba Trust in 1997 in the United Kingdom together with my wife, Veena Loomba, primarily to raise awareness of the plight of widows and their children who are suffering due to poverty, illiteracy, diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria, conflict and social injustice. The charity is named after my late mother Shrimati Pushpa Wati Loomba, who became a widow in Punjab, India in 1954. She was fortunate that my father, who was a successful businessman, left her ample financial resources. Although my mother had never gone to school herself, she had a vision to educate all seven of her young children. My two sisters graduated from Punjab University at a time when girls did not even go to school. I was educated in the United States thanks to my mother.

The plight of poor widows and their children is a serious one, yet it has remained unnoticed and unaddressed to date. The problems faced by a woman after the loss of her husband are that she is left with no support in a society where the presence of a husband is essential for her security. These widows and their children remain vulnerable to all forms of exploitation--even through their own family members. Many of these cruelties and biases are ordained by religious belief and social practice. In many developing countries, when a women loses her husband she loses her place...