Destitute mother seeks help in raising 6 children alone
A destitute Saudi mother of six children has appealed to the authorities to help feed, clothe and educate her family.
Umm Muhammad, 50, phoned Arab News recently to highlight her plight. She said she was abandoned by her husband about eight years ago. She has to singlehandedly raise four girls and two boys, of whom the youngest has cerebral palsy.
Arab News found her living in a dilapidated house in Shuhada neighborhood, with three rooms and a living room. People living in nearby buildings can see the interior of the living room.
“My husband left us about eight years ago. He works for an important government agency in Madinah,” she said.
“He just walked out on us after divorcing me, although I can’t be sure of that because I never got the divorce document. So I resigned myself to earning a living to support my children. This life has taken a toll on me, and I can’t reach the father to force him to support his children,” she said.
“My son Yusuf has cerebral palsy, and I simply cannot afford his medical expenses. I keep begging people at medical centers and government hospitals to give me refills for older prescriptions. The Ministry of Social Affairs gives my child monthly support of SR 1,500, which does not begin to cover the basic requirements, not to mention that we use part of the money to support the family, because we have no other source of income,” she said.
“Because of the high cost of living, people of low income find it difficult to make ends meet. So you can imagine the kind of life that a woman like me leads, with no income at all.”
“My children dream of going to school and shopping at the malls and playing in the parks. But they cannot afford any of these things. My son Muhammad, who is 11, cannot go to school, because he has to stay home to take care of his sick brother and his sisters while I am out,” she said.
“Over the eight years that the father has been away, he has not made a single phone call to check on his children.”
During the interview, she received a phone call from her landlord demanding the rent for the past few months. When asked about the amount, she said: “It’s SR 10,000 a year. He gave us until Ramadan, after which we will be evicted.”
She has also not been receiving social security. “We have not received a penny for the last three years. We used to receive between SR 1,500 and SR 2,500 a month.
But not anymore. I know that there are government agencies that have to support the poorest families like us. It seems we are not on their radar.”
Umm Muhammad, 50, was abandoned by her husband about eight years ago. She has to singlehandedly raise four girls and two boys, of whom the youngest has cerebral palsy.