For widows in Africa, COVID-19 stole husbands, homes, future


              Vanessa Emedy cries on the grave of her late husband Godefroid Kamana in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday March 31, 2022. The night of his burial, extended family members came to the family home where Vanessa had just begun her period of mourning. "They didn't wait the 40 days," she lamented. "I was stripped of everything, of all my possessions." (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              Anayo Mbah, 29, bathes her children in her home in Umuida, Nigeria, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. Mbah was in the final days of her sixth pregnancy when her husband, Jonas, fell ill with fever. By the time he was taken to a clinic, the motorcycle taxi driver was coughing up blood. He tested positive for COVID-19 and was still in the hospital when she gave birth days later. The baby would never meet her father. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              "No peace for the wicked " is written on Anayo Mbah's room in Umuida, Nigeria, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022. Mbah was in the final days of her sixth pregnancy when her husband, Jonas, fell ill with fever. By the time he was taken to a clinic, the motorcycle taxi driver was coughing up blood. He tested positive for COVID-19 and was still in the hospital when she gave birth days later. The baby would never meet her father. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              Vanessa Emedy cries on the grave of her late husband Godefroid Kamana in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday March 31, 2022. The night of his burial, extended family members came to the family home where Vanessa had just begun her period of mourning. "They didn't wait the 40 days," she lamented. "I was stripped of everything, of all my possessions." (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              Vanessa Emedy takes her son to school in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday March 30, 2022. The night of Emedy's husband Godefroid Kamana's burial, extended family members came to the family home where Vanessa had just begun her period of mourning. "They didn't wait the 40 days," she lamented. "I was stripped of everything, of all my possessions." (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
            
              Vanessa Emedy dresses her son before taking him to school in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday March 30, 2022. The night of Emedy's husband Godefroid Kamana's burial, extended family members came to the family home where Vanessa had just begun her period of mourning. "They didn't wait the 40 days," she lamented. "I was stripped of everything, of all my possessions." (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
            
              Vanessa Emedy holds her son as they watch television in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tuesday March 29, 2022. The night of Emedy's husband Godefroid Kamana's burial, extended family members came to the family home where Vanessa had just begun her period of mourning. "They didn't wait the 40 days," she lamented. "I was stripped of everything, of all my possessions." (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              Sandals sit in the rain outside Vanessa Emedy 's dwelling in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday March 31, 2022. The night of her late husband Godefroid Kamana's burial, extended family members came to the family home where Vanessa had just begun her period of mourning. "They didn't wait the 40 days," she lamented. "I was stripped of everything, of all my possessions." (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
            
              Vanessa Emedy looks at photographs of her late husband Godefroid Kamana in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday March 31, 2022. The night of his burial, extended family members came to the family home where Vanessa had just begun her period of mourning. "They didn't wait the 40 days," she lamented. "I was stripped of everything, of all my possessions." (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              Vanessa Emedy waits for customers at the Virunga Market in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tuesday March 29, 2022. On the night of her late husband Godefroid Kamana's burial, extended family members came to the family home where Vanessa had just begun her period of mourning. "They didn't wait the 40 days," she lamented. "I was stripped of everything, of all my possessions." (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              Vanessa Emedy sits on the grave of her late husband Godefroid Kamana in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday March 31, 2022. The night of his burial, extended family members came to the family home where Vanessa had just begun her period of mourning. "They didn't wait the 40 days," she lamented. "I was stripped of everything, of all my possessions." (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
            
              Overhead view of Umuida, Nigeria, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022. In many African countries, the pandemic has created larger populations of widows as men are more likely to die of COVID-19. Widowhood has long befallen great numbers of women there. Many widows are young, having married men decades older. In some countries, men frequently have more than one wife, leaving several behind when they die. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              Anayo Mbah, 29, gathers palm leaves at her home in Umuida, Nigeria, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. Mbah was in the final days of her sixth pregnancy when her husband, Jonas, fell ill with fever. By the time he was taken to a clinic, the motorcycle taxi driver was coughing up blood. He tested positive for COVID-19 and was still in the hospital when she gave birth days later. The baby would never meet her father. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              Anayo Mbah, 29, bathes her children in her home in Umuida, Nigeria, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. Mbah was in the final days of her sixth pregnancy when her husband, Jonas, fell ill with fever. By the time he was taken to a clinic, the motorcycle taxi driver was coughing up blood. He tested positive for COVID-19 and was still in the hospital when she gave birth days later. The baby would never meet her father. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              Children of Anayo Mbah wait to be bathed at their home in Umuida, Nigeria, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. Mbah was in the final days of her sixth pregnancy when her husband, Jonas, fell ill with fever. By the time he was taken to a clinic, the motorcycle taxi driver was coughing up blood. He tested positive for COVID-19 and was still in the hospital when she gave birth days later. The baby would never meet her father. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              Anayo Mbah, 29, gets ready to bathe her children in her home in Umuida, Nigeria, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. Mbah was in the final days of her sixth pregnancy when her husband, Jonas, fell ill with fever. By the time he was taken to a clinic, the motorcycle taxi driver was coughing up blood. He tested positive for COVID-19 and was still in the hospital when she gave birth days later. The baby would never meet her father. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              "No peace for the wicked " is written on Anayo Mbah's room in Umuida, Nigeria, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022. Mbah was in the final days of her sixth pregnancy when her husband, Jonas, fell ill with fever. By the time he was taken to a clinic, the motorcycle taxi driver was coughing up blood. He tested positive for COVID-19 and was still in the hospital when she gave birth days later. The baby would never meet her father. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              Anayo Mbah, 29, holds her child in her home in Umuida, Nigeria, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022. Mbah was in the final days of her sixth pregnancy when her husband, Jonas, fell ill with fever. By the time he was taken to a clinic, the motorcycle taxi driver was coughing up blood. He tested positive for COVID-19 and was still in the hospital when she gave birth days later. The baby would never meet her father. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              A man rides his bicycle through Umuida, Nigeria, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. In many African countries, the pandemic has created larger populations of widows as men are more likely to die of COVID-19. Widowhood has long befallen great numbers of women there. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              A bible is open during church service attended by Roseline Ujah in Umuida, Nigeria, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022. Ujah's husband Godwin fell severely ill with a fever and cough. Everyone assumed at first that the palm wine tapper had contracted malaria, but then he failed to improve on medications for that disease. Doctors at a local hospital diagnosed him with COVID-19, though there were no tests available locally to confirm their suspicion. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              Roseline Ujah, 49, prays during church service in Umuida, Nigeria, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022. Ujah's husband Godwin fell severely ill with a fever and cough. Everyone assumed at first that the palm wine tapper had contracted malaria, but then he failed to improve on medications for that disease. Doctors at a local hospital diagnosed him with COVID-19, though there were no tests available locally to confirm their suspicion. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              Roseline Ujah, 49, prays during church service in Umuida, Nigeria, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022. Ujah's husband Godwin fell severely ill with a fever and cough. Everyone assumed at first that the palm wine tapper had contracted malaria, but then he failed to improve on medications for that disease. Doctors at a local hospital diagnosed him with COVID-19, though there were no tests available locally to confirm their suspicion. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              A photograph of Roseline Ujah's husband Godwin is placed on his grave outside her house in Umuida, Nigeria, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. Godwin fell severely ill with a fever and cough. Everyone assumed at first that the palm wine tapper had contracted malaria, but then he failed to improve on medications for that disease. Doctors at a local hospital diagnosed him with COVID-19, though there were no tests available locally to confirm their suspicion. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              Roseline Ujah, 49, knits palm leaves in Umuida, Nigeria, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. Ujah's husband Godwin fell severely ill with a fever and cough. Everyone assumed at first that the palm wine tapper had contracted malaria, but then he failed to improve on medications for that disease. Doctors at a local hospital diagnosed him with COVID-19, though there were no tests available locally to confirm their suspicion. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              Roseline Ujah's children play outside her home in Umuida, Nigeria, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022. Ujah's husband Godwin fell severely ill with a fever and cough. Everyone assumed at first that the palm wine tapper had contracted malaria, but then he failed to improve on medications for that disease. Doctors at a local hospital diagnosed him with COVID-19, though there were no tests available locally to confirm their suspicion. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              Roseline Ujah, 49, exits her home in Umuida, Nigeria, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022. Ujah's husband Godwin fell severely ill with a fever and cough. Everyone assumed at first that the palm wine tapper had contracted malaria, but then he failed to improve on medications for that disease. Doctors at a local hospital diagnosed him with COVID-19, though there were no tests available locally to confirm their suspicion. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              Roseline Ujah, 49, stands in her home in Umuida, Nigeria, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022. Ujah's husband Godwin fell severely ill with a fever and a cough. Everyone assumed at first that the palm wine tapper had contracted malaria, but then he failed to improve on medications for that disease. Doctors at a local hospital diagnosed him with COVID-19, though there were no tests available locally to confirm their suspicion. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              Roseline Ujah, 49, sits on her bed in Umuida, Nigeria, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022. Ujah's husband Godwin fell severely ill with a fever and cough. Everyone assumed at first that the palm wine tapper had contracted malaria, but then he failed to improve on medications for that disease. Doctors at a local hospital diagnosed him with COVID-19, though there were no tests available locally to confirm their suspicion. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
            
              Roseline Ujah, 49, sits on her bed in Umuida, Nigeria, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022. Ujah's husband Godwin fell severely ill with a fever and cough. Everyone assumed at first that the palm wine tapper had contracted malaria, but then he failed to improve on medications for that disease. Doctors at a local hospital diagnosed him with COVID-19, though there were no tests available locally to confirm their suspicion. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
For widows in Africa, COVID-19 stole husbands, homes, future