Undeserved

She came in on a stretcher ,wheeled by two elderly women. I still remember vividly ,Saturday 11:07 ,it was. I was covering for the weekend call  and this time round luck had been poured in plenty.Friday was smooth ,events not very alarming and by 2am I was dragging my exhausted body to asleep. No more eventful events. At least. A call came in at 8am ,that we were expecting a referral. 3 hours later ,I'm standing at the right side of her stretcher.She was confused ,I couldn't tell the colour of her clothes. Pungent smell filled the house and before I knew it ,I felt my head 'revolving' as they call it. She had multiple layers of metal bracelets on her wrist and ankles and necklaces and I remember wondering if she wakes people at night from the noise .She was semiconscious and she looked as if she had taken a bath with mud. Literally. Eclampsia ,read the diagnosis from the referral note.She had been referred  to 3 hospitals before arriving. All miles apart with no proper means of transport.Once she stabilised ,we rushed in for an emergency ceaserian.Unfortunately her baby had longed died. 10 days later she fully recovered and on the 11th I couldn't resist to take another social history. 17 years ,married off ,lives in a neighbouring country near the boarders. At the end of the interview all I could mumble is how God loves this woman ,days of labour at home ,convulsions and days later ending  in the hospital,at the butchers table ,and walking out of all this. If you ever think this is purely luck ,it would take an eternity to halfway convince me

Silenced innocence

If you ever thought you are fighting too hard to be alive ,trust me you aren't. There is always someone worse than us and still satisfied with what they have. After all ,what is life ? Presence of cardiopulmonary activity period. If it ceases we all die ,one death. What is the pride for ? Whether you are buried on a golden casket ,wooden or in your natural suit ,it never reverses the rigor mortis.Those of us who still need a bed , shoes ,clothes ,I can swear are living a luxury . If you ever managed an edication ,you are in paradise ,atleast according to some standards .There are people who have nests to call home and you got no right to think that now that you live in some posh estate your house got more rights to be called a home. We all wake up to the same sun ,we all got 24 hrs a day irrespective of what we do with them. I met her during one of my rather slow days.Someone had made a diagnosis of hematocolpos and to me this remained in the confines of medical books,one of the differentials you give when you are about to score a distinction,that is if you ever remember. And this was/is only for the chosen few ,the outliers of the normal curve coz medical school is survival from day one.Baptism is only by fire and sulphur smoke ,nothing less   At barely 11 years you expected a look of innocence .She didn't disappoint ,all I saw at a glance was a soul,beautiful ,probably enjoying her childhood were it not for a disease process. Little did I know what lay behind that strong face.I couldn't believe someone at this age would have undergone an extensive FGM.School in a halt and probably a homohabilis of a husband in waiting ,dowry already paid without consent. Who says you have to consent to anything as a woman? Recently i watched a document on the Trokosi girls , raped ,married off to gasping old men with rigor mortis setting in ,enslaved for sins they didnt commit At first I thought I saw a SUMI scar ,atleast I was sure. Amidst shock and fighting tears i asked her who the barbaric surgeon was ,and when she mentioned her grandmother i felt devastated. Our grandmas are an equivalent of our mothers. We all think they want the best for us and would never hurt us. I m sure when she was told she would be beautiful in the tribe ,a woman ,she didn't hesitate to bear the pain.I felt guilty ,of ever complaining about things in my life others would consider blessings, of ever thinking even for a second that I was unfortunate. And to the people who are at the forefront of this barbaric practice ,I never cease to wish the worst to you ,if you are still stuck at the idea that women should never enjoy sexual experiences or whatever reason you hold for this ,I bet you deserve some two nails ,6 inches through your occiput. Perhaps then you could see light ,even flashes. We are human with a half-life of 70 years ,let's embrace everyone ,show some kindness for we shall pass through this world only once.