A Story of Life and Death

At the village, Sacha and I together have witnessed and joined different villagers in their joys and sadnesses. In our month at the village, we have assisted the nurses in four births. When the first mother gave birth in the labor room lighted by kerosene lamps, my first “real” birthing experience was over in less than 30 minutes. The baby was delivered within minutes and with great ease. My first time seeing a newborn baby still with the umbilical cord attached was amazing. Then, when the placenta came out, it was incredible to witness God’s perfect design of the human body to create and sustain a new life. When the second mother gave birth, it was still a relatively simple birth. The mother and all her relatives were overjoyed and we felt consumed in happiness, laughing and celebrating the life of this new baby girl.

However, life is not easy in the village. Successful births are as common as miscarriages, stillbirths, and children never making it to the age of 5. Most of the mothers we met have lost at least one baby and some have given birth 5 times with only one surviving child. One Saturday night, we have met family members of an anemic patient who has come from another village for medical treatment. However, the dispensary was unable to give blood transfusions which the patient needed, so they were referred to another clinic about 3 hours walk away. The next morning, we heard that the patient passed away at the other clinic just as the family was arranging a car to take them to Iringa Hospital (the other clinic did not have the facilities to give the patient a transfusion). The patient, a 16 year old mother who had just given birth 2 weeks prior has died because she could not get a blood transfusion. The families and friends grieved and sang for 4 days and 4 nights. All we could do was to visit the family, pray and grieve with them.

On a Tuesday night, a mother was giving birth to twins. The first child was delivered successfully, but the second child was in the wrong position (his arm came out, but not the head). The mother was in excruciating pain. She was screaming and crying as the doctor and nurses waited for the baby to turn position. However, it was a premature birth, the mother started labor 2 months earlier than expected. After an hour of screaming, the doctor thought it is an emergency to take her in the dispensary vehicle to Iringa Hospital for a Caesarian Section. When we finally drove off, within 5 minutes, the baby came out, dead. The firstborn who was still alive was to be taken to the hospital to an incubator, but he also died within 40 minutes of the drive. The mother had lost all hope and gave up on the child when the child was still alive.

It is sad to think that both deaths could have been prevented anywhere else, but this is “real” everyday life in the village. Life is so precious yet so fragile. We laugh and we grieve, but with God’s grace, we live on, we continue breathing and living, we go on.