Read Mariatus heartbreaking story in her own words.... My name is Mariatu. I am 19 years old. I first came to the Aberdeen Women’s centre 2 years ago after a nurse from the centre came to my village. She told me that there were doctors at AWC who would be able to help me…. My problems started four years ago. I lived in a town in the northern part of Sierra Leone. I was living with my uncle and was going to school. I had lots of friends. Life was simple but happy. I was hanging out with an older boy in school and a few months later I found myself pregnant. I was so scared; I did not know what to do. I told my uncle’s wife, who then told her husband. When my uncle learnt of my pregnancy, he took me to the boy’s house and handed me over to his parents. He told me he never wanted to see me again. The boy denied responsibility for my pregnancy and moved to Freetown. His parents did not want to have anything to do with me but did not know where to send me. So I lived at their house for a few months, working as the house help and also working in their farm. After a while, I ran away to my mother’s house. She was happy to see me and promised to help me. I lived with my mother and attended ANC. It was late one evening when my belly started hurting. I stayed at home with my mother and another woman looking after me. I labored for days without end but the baby still did not come. I lost count of the number of days. After a while my mother decided to take me to the health centre in our town but the nurse there refused to see me. She told my mother to take me to the big hospital as there was nothing she could do for me. By that time, I was so weak and exhausted; I could hardly stand let alone walk unaided. I had to be carried around in a hammock to the big hospital about two days away. At the hospital, an operation was done to get the baby out. It was already dead. Read more...
Posted on: Fri, 23 May 2014 12:15:06 +0000
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