Leaving or receiving an inheritance can lead to family tension and divide. Insight looks at how to transfer wealth without damaging family relationships. Watch on SBS On Demand .
I was broke and broken when an unexpected inheritance came my way.
The inheritance came with the intention to make the lives of my children and I ‘lighter.’
I had recently returned to Australia after 25 years in Africa, Asia and The Middle East. After losing my job in Qatar with a bank loan needing to be repaid, I was put under country arrest while a court case to decide my fate was conducted.
I put my three oldest children, then aged five,10 and 16 on a plane to their dad in Melbourne, little did I know I would not live with them again for three years. My oldest two I had adopted from Kenya as babies and Marley had been born in Qatar. At the time of losing my job I was seven months pregnant to a child who was subsequently born illegally in Qatar as I was a non working mother.
Three years of missed birthdays, Christmas’ and Mothers Day’s, not only had I lost my children, I had lost two houses, everything I owned. When I was able to return from Qatar the children and I were forced to live with my mother in Adelaide.
Susan pictured with her family in Africa.
And change our lives it did.
Keeping the intention with which the money was intended, I decided the children and I would go to Kenya and create educational facilities with high quality education for children in resource poor communities.
I wanted my children to understand that their lives would be lighter if they understood their roles to be contributors rather than consumers.
Our schools opened in January of 2020 and closed in March due to the pandemic. As restrictions eased we created a dance, drumming and theatre group and now our schools are operational. Our facilities are very basic, but inside our classrooms are brightly coloured and full of dignity and love.
As the inheritance money started to run out, the kids and I had to come up with a longer term sustainability plan. My three youngest now run their own social enterprises in Adelaide.
Our inheritance changed our lives because it empowered us to change the lives of hundreds of other people.
Marley, 12, has created his own line of clothing under his brand of and has a podcast called 99 seconds with Marley. He has created three hashtags 99%Kindness 99%Gratitude and 99%Courage and the intention of his business is for the world to embody these virtues. Marley’s profits go towards dance lessons for the kids in Kenya.
Amalia, eight, is a fashion designer and candle and soap maker and the profits from her business go towards soap and sanitation products for the children in Kenya.
Aaliyah, 18, upon finding out girls could not always access education without sanitary pads created her own organisation called Aaliyah started public speaking (even though she hated it at first) to raise money for girls who she says could have been her if she had not been adopted and come to Australia. She has a goal to give one million girls the opportunity for uninterrupted education through the provision of menstrual education and sanitary packs.
Tashania, 24, who I also adopted from Kenya as a baby, works within the development side of .
Our inheritance changed our lives because it empowered us to change the lives of hundreds of other people.
Our organization In2EdAfrica is now a registered charity and we see this as just the beginning of the impact we can create for ourselves and others.
We still live with my mum, but when asked if the kids would rather have bought a house with the inheritance money, they usually reply with, "That will come later. This was the right thing to do because if we had bought the house first we would never have built the schools."
Being separated from my kids for three years taught me the essence of what is important in life. We have so much gratitude towards my auntie for leaving us this money and empowering us to empower others.
