.Mwape

By Yvonne Noombo –

“I WILL never be able to have children of my own”. These are the emotional words of Lillian Mwape who had her uterus removed and is now living with a condition known as versical vaginal fistula.
She is an example of what early marriages can do.
Mwape, who comes from Mununshi Village in Milenge District, is now 19 years old and is the fourth born in a family of nine.
She was married off in 2013 to Peter Bwalya who has since abandoned her.
She narrates that when she was 17 years old she got married and shortly afterwards she conceived.
When she was due for delivery, Lillian was taken to East Seven Rural Health Centre in Milenge District where she was later referred to Mansa General Hospital as she needed special attention.
“I could not deliver at East Seven Rural Health Centre in Milenge, so I was referred to Mansa General Hospital where I delivered through a caesarean operation,” she said.
Narrating her ordeal, Mwape said after the caesarean operation, her sore healed from outside but she continued feeling pain and went back to Mansa General Hospital where she was told that the wound did not heal properly and another operation was carried out which revealed  that her womb was rotten.
It was at this time that doctors removed her uterus and told her she would never be able to have children again.
As if that was not enough, Mwape developed another strange health problem where urine was oozing out from her private parts uncontrollably, a condition she did not know was vaginal fistula.
She later went to Mansa General Hospital for treatment but she was told by hospital management that the doctor who treated such conditions (Gynae) only came once a year and she was told that she would be informed when the doctor came.
She narrated that when her husband found out that they would never have a child he abandoned her.
She said because of being wet all the time, she has also developed sores on her private parts and that many of her  friends are no longer close to her.
She said that she felt betrayed that her husband who was also part of the problem could abandon her at such a time when she needed him most.
“When I married my husband I never had that problem and now that I have this problem and I will never be able to have children he has abandoned me for another woman,” she said.
Mwape says life will never be the same for her as she will have to live knowing she will never have children.
She says because of this condition her life has been greatly affected to the extent that she almost committed suicide.
“I no longer go to public places or mingle with my friends because urine comes out uncontrollably,” she said.
She said having vaginal fistula was bad as it had robbed her of a chance to go back to school or even mingle with friends.
She said once she got better, she would want to go back to school.
“I am appealing to well-wishers to help me with money so that I can go to the University Teaching Hospital and receive specialised treatment and once my problem ends I want to go back to school and become somebody in life,” she said.
She urged parents not to marry off their children at a tender age but educate them.
“I am urging all the parents out there not to marry off their children early as it is a bad thing which can ruin one’s life, and that young children, especially girls should take education seriously,” she said.
Luapula is the second highest province in the country with a number of child marriages after Eastern Province and this year alone, according to the Society for Family Health (SFH), 1,000 girls under the age of 18 got pregnant between January and March.
Measures to ensure that such conditions are prevented have already started. With the launch of the Sexual and Reproductive Health for All Initiative (SARAI) on July 11, 2015 in Luapula Province, we can only hope for the best.