Bintou Sambou is a 45-year-old widow. She lives at her father’s compound in Bignona, Casamance province, Senegal, together with her four children. Bintou supports the family by growing groundnuts, sorghum and millet, and through petty trading. She buys moukirr (a bitter traditional healing ointment) in bulk, hiring transport to bring it from the town of Boukitigho, and sells it locally, making “a very small profit because this area is poor. And I can’t leave my children to go somewhere else to sell it.”

Bintou explains that in 2007, the year of the national elections, her husband was “caught up in the conflict” in Casamance and “was [among] those killed by the army in the village of Belaye”. The news of the shooting came as a complete shock to her. She describes how the continuing violence has affected the community: “You know, this conflict has disrupted life here. It has made it impossible for people here. You cannot go to the fields without fear… I am always worried about what can happen to my children. My mind is never at rest… this situation is really a burden for people, especially the poor.”

Bintou has no land. Every year she approaches community members who own land and asks whether they have a plot they are not using. “Often they would say: ‘Go see such [and such] a parcel [of land] and if you are interested you can work on it.’ … sometimes you may use the plot for years. Of course the problem is you can never own it.” She explains, “The land is passed on from father to sons… Girls do not inherit because the Jolas say that the girl has no right to the land.” After the death of her husband his land was given to his brothers. “This is in line with the Jola tradition: the wife never gets the land [because of fears that she might marry into another family]… I find it unfair,” Bintou says. “Look at me – if my father didn’t have a house in Bignona, I wouldn’t have anywhere to live with my children. After all, they are also my husband’s children.”

She finds it very hard to look after her children on her own: “Sometimes I get stuck. I don’t know what to do for food... I tell them that their father is no longer here and that I am alone to fend for them, and that for that very day I don’t have a solution.” Although she has declined several offers of marriage Bintou says she is considering marrying again: “I believe [marriage] is a shelter against poverty... For instance when you are sick there is someone beside you; you can turn to someone for all the other problems: education, clothing, food, I can’t list them all.”

Bintou talks about local facilities and services. Sanitation has been improved as “a lot of households around here have built latrines”. The village has a health post and vaccination is free for pregnant women, but prescription charges are hard to meet. “Surely they can stop making women pay for their healthcare,” Bintou remarks. “It is the best way to improve their health.” She also calls for safe drinking water to be provided, and explains: “In fact I have to walk at least half a kilometre to get water from a well… We could have, for instance, public water taps.”