Fatuma

For women who cannot read or navigate phones independently, digital access works only when someone nearby can reliably help, interpret, or act on their behalf. Capability may live with the family, not just the woman.

How She Uses the Phone 

Fatuma is a 44-year-old woman living in rural Kwale with her husband, co-wife, and five children. She never finished primary school and earns a small income repairing brooms at home. Most days are split between household chores and broom work, and she depends heavily on her husband and children to communicate with customers.

Her exposure to phones began late in life. When her eldest son was still in school, her husband bought him a small feature phone. Fatuma would watch him answer calls, play music, and message friends. ​“I was curious about this. I also wanted to speak to my sister or my customers, so I asked my boy how he does this,” she says. ​“He told me to press the green button to answer and the red to disconnect. That’s how I learnt.”

Today, Fatuma shares a basic button phone with her co-wife, using it mainly to answer calls from customers bringing brooms for repair. She never makes calls herself. When a message arrives, she cannot read it and waits until her son comes home to interpret it. ​“I just wait,” she says. ​“When he comes, he tells me who sent me a message and what was said.” 

The radio has become one of the few things Fatuma enjoys during her long workdays. Her co-wife knows how to operate it through the phone and plays morning programmes. 

“My son has shown me many times, but I wish I could do it correctly,” she says. ​“When I try alone, the station is wrong and nothing works. I don’t know how to bring it back.” 

M-Pesa brings a different kind of anxiety. It is essential for her broom repair work, as customers increasingly prefer to pay digitally. ​“If I touch the wrong thing, maybe the money will disappear,” she says. When payments come in while her husband or children are away, she must wait — sometimes for hours — before confirming whether she has been paid. 

Her Ecosystem of Learning and Facilitation 

Fatuma’s son is her main teacher, the person she turns to whenever she wants to understand something new. He is patient and shows her the same steps again and again. For e.g. how to move between radio stations, how to check if the phone has enough charge, how to recognise an M-Pesa alert. Fatuma tries to follow along, but without the ability to read, she relies on other cues to remember.

Recently, her son has begun showing her short videos and movies on his phone so she can see the difference between her basic device and a touchscreen. Fatuma watches closely as he swipes across the screen. ​“This one shows things clearly. I want a phone like that,” she says. ​“I will learn how to use this one day.”