“Now I am glad, I am joyful, I can do whatever I want.”
Amarach, 45, from a rural community near the Bucama Health Clinic outside Soddo, Ethiopia
Those are the words of Amarach, a 45-year-old mother of 11 children who suffered with a prolapsed uterus for a year. What she remembers most about the condition?
The shame, the pain, and the smell.
“I was smelling, it was not good. Even the wound was bleeding,” Amarach told us when we sat down to chat at the Bucama Health Clinic in Ethiopia.
No one understood what was wrong – but they could smell it. So Amarach hid herself away and share her suffering with anyone.
Her kids noticed something was afoot. But Amarach felt ashamed about what was happening with her body.
When her family asked what was wrong, she said, “oh, I don’t know.” Her husband threatened to leave her, and told her “there is no pain.”
Amarach was tired. She’d been leaving with near-constant pain. She felt so weak.
The nuns at Bucama tried to help Amarach, giving her medication. But three weeks later, the pain came back with a vengeance. She was referred to Soddo Christian Hospital. She needed surgery to correct her prolapsed uterus.
Without Mothers with a Heart for Ethiopia, the procedure would have been impossible.
“I had nothing, not even one cent, one birr,” Amarach said about paying for an operation.
She was overwhelmed with gratitude, thanking us profusely. Amarach raised her arms to the heavens to thank God for answering her prayers when she spoke about the surgery.
It gave Amarach her life back.
“Now I am glad, I am joyful, I can do whatever I want.”
“I am so sorry for those who did not have a chance to have this surgery like me,” she said.
Everything has changed for her.
“Now I am happy. My body smells like perfume – better than perfume.”
Thank you, Amarach, for your courage, your heart, and for inviting us to share in a moment of beautiful vulnerability. We are so thankful.