Baltimore Women's Film Festival 2008

My Dead Husband’s Land’ tells the story of an HIV-positive widow, Betty Tom, and her fight against discrimination … An arduous battle that has transformed her community on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya. The local Luo culture prevents women from inheriting and owning their deceased husbands’ land and properties. It’s particularly HIV-positive widows who are affected, as they’re perceived as “sick and dirty” and unable to contribute positively to their communities. The widows themselves are deemed property, and are often ‘inherited’: forced to marry male relatives - usually brothers-in-law - according to an ancient Luo custom known as ‘ter’.

But the women of Orongo are emerging victorious in a battle against practices they consider oppressive and cruel. They’re using the AIDS epidemic to revolutionize their culture, in a fashion as yet unprecedented in Africa. This remarkable fight against discrimination has led to every widow at Orongo - whether HIV-positive or not - now having the right to refuse to be inherited. Moreover, they have defied tradition by writing wills, so that their children will have legal access to their land in the future.