I have two beautiful kids; a girl and a boy. We are a perfect family on paper. The kind of TV commercials ride on to sell products. I work hard to take care of my family. I believe God is also on our side. He is the one who sustains us.

In 2020, my husband’s business folded up as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Or so he made me believe. He spent two years with me at my place because he lost everything and couldn’t sustain himself.

From the beginning of our marriage, we lived apart due to work. So I took care of everything at my side, including the children’s needs too. He supported me once in a while but he wasn’t consistent. Thus, I didn’t find it tedious running the home without his support. And it’s not because I am rich. Lord knows I am not rich but I learn to live within my means.

My work requires me to manage people’s money for their projects. One day I withdrew some cash to pay a contractor but due to some personal reasons on his part, the payment was delayed. Once the contractor was ready for his payment, I couldn’t find the money. I almost went mad; GHC 15,000 is no joke considering my financial status.

The most painful part is, that the thief took everything. Not even a pesewa was left. I confronted my husband and he claimed he took it. “I invested it in some deal but it went bad.” Eeei, without my knowledge? How?

I was livid! I promised to raise hell and brimstone. He had to fall on some close friends to calm me down. I had to go for a life-wracking loan to pay off my debt to avoid public disgrace. I couldn’t even tell my family. I didn’t want them to lose respect for him. My mother especially, always sent his favourite foodstuffs even when she knew he was jobless. She believed he was a responsible hard worker and would bounce back.

Indeed, he doesn’t look like what he did. I forgave him because as advised, “Marriage has ups and downs. And after all, isn’t this the first time he acted this way? He’s just desperate to bounce back…blah blah blah!”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the last time he did it. He turned into Oliver Twist, except this Oliver wouldn’t ask for more, he would rather steal. He borrowed from Quick Loan on my phone. He’d steal people’s money no matter where I hid it in the room. I became tired. The story wouldn’t end if I were to give a breakdown of the financial mess he placed me in.

I stayed. Where would I go when he was staying with me? There were days I swore to behead him if he didn’t leave. But he wouldn’t budge. He cried his big eyes out, knelt to kiss my feet and showed remorse. I refused to be fooled again. I insisted he tell me the kind of investment he did. He kept giving me different stories.

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I got pregnant through these ups and downs. What broke the camel’s back is his decision to steal GHC 2000 to put his heavily pregnant wife in debt. I brought my parents in to drive him away. It wasn’t easy being by myself with younger kids around in such a state. But it had to be done.

It wasn’t until later that I realized I lost my six-year-old marriage due to sports betting. My husband was betting all this while. I would have to waste ten years of my life paying all the debts on my payslip because my husband was addicted to betting.

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He wants us to make things work between us for the sake of our kids. Me too I love my kids way too much to put them through more trauma. These children may not understand why they can’t see their dad now but it’ll make sense one day.

It aches my heart to see my innocent kids suffer financially and emotionally because their father resorted to betting over hard work. I am a survivor. I am still staying afloat for the sake of my kids. I just want to tell the young ones here; “Say no to betting!” Take it from me, that this thing destroys lives.

— Betty

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