My husband was working as a driver in a reputable company until the Covid-19 pandemic landed on the shores of Ghana. We hoped the pandemic wouldn’t affect his job. We hoped and prayed that our household would come out of it unscathed. Fortunately, nobody got ill in my home. Unfortunately, though, my husband was laid off.

When he lost his job we were shaken, but we did not lose hope. After all, I am a nurse. I am a frontline worker so there was no way I was going to lose mine. I stepped in and started taking care of everything concerning us and our three children.

My husband and I sat down and agreed that we would buy a taxi, so he would be able to work and earn some income for the home. We didn’t have the money for the Taxi lying around so I took a loan.

We bought the taxi but it came with a lot of problems. Every day, something had to be repaired. He would take it to work and it would break down. We spent more time fixing the taxi than he spent using it to work. And of course, we spent more money on repairs that we made from it. Something that was supposed to be an asset became our liability. The best decision was to sell it and direct our attention elsewhere.

It wasn’t easy. The money we made from the sales couldn’t even cover the cost of the taxi. At the end of the day, our attempt to alleviate our situation rather made things worse for us. How many times have we not sent in our CVs for job applications? How many times has my husband not heard the phrase, “Your interview went well, you will hear from us”? Only to hear dead silence. I have even lost count of the number of times our friends and family have told us, “There is a vacancy at my workplace. I will see what I can do for you.”

I married a good man. I know he is hardworking. He takes care of the kids when I go to work. He does chores around the house. While I am grateful for everything he does to help in his own way, I feel drained. I have not been happy in the marriage for a while now.

I am trying to focus on the positives but there is so much pressure on my meagre salary. We are a family of five depending on a nurse’s salary. Meanwhile, the salary doesn’t even come in full. I am still paying for the loan I took to buy the taxi so they still make deductions. Whatever is left after the deductions is what I use to take care of the home. This is what is draining me. I wish he was bringing home something to help share the burden but everything is my cost to bear right now.

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Things are so bad that the other day we sold our wedding rings to pay part of our children’s school fees. In all this, my husband is trying his best to be strong for all of us. So he has not opened up about how his unemployment is affecting him. But I know that it really bothers him. He is the kind of man who likes to provide for us. So the fact that he is not able to do it is something that is taking a toll on him psychologically.

I know this because, after eight years of marriage and three children, I know my husband well enough to know when his hiding his pain behind forced smiles and playfulness. Besides, it’s taking a toll on me too. I feel his pain and I feel mine. Most importantly, I feel the pain of our children when we are not able to provide for all their needs, let alone wants.

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I am worried that my husband and I will keep pretending we are okay so that nobody feels bad about the situation, and that will affect us badly in the long run. To be honest, the only way things will change is if our finances improve. This is why I am here with our story. My husband is humble and hardworking. He is a quick study as well.

He has a driver’s license so he can drive. He also has experience with auto mechanics. Apart from this field, he can do anything as long as it will earn him an honest living. So if anybody has a job, whether driving-related or not, that they can connect him to, I will be very grateful. He can easily learn on the job. If it helps to know, we live in Dansoman. Please if you can, help us out.

—Nadia

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