"Dress Ceremony"

A group of women that we particularly honor and celebrate is the VVF women. Vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) is a conditional usually caused by an obstructed and prolonged childbirth.  The complication arises from a cutoff circulation to the vesicovaginal wall.  This causes cell death, making holes develop between the birth canal and bladder or rectum, and leads to incontinence.   In other words, after carrying a child for 9 months, going through an agonizing labor (sometimes lasting days), and losing the child (almost always happens with this condition), the woman is also left with a humiliating condition in which she is smelly and constantly wet.  In their society, the condition is very shaming, leaving them ostracized, shamed, rejected, beaten, and abandoned by family and friends.   They lose all their dignity and hope. The “Dress Ceremony” is the celebration for the women who had a successful surgery to reverse this condition. It is a time to celebration the women’s physical, spiritual, and emotional healing.

There are moments on the ship, when we look at patients and the giant smile on their face makes it clear that there is joy just beaming out of them.  They are glowing, full of hope and happiness, healed and restored.  It is such a new feeling to them that they are also bewildered and unsure that this is not just a dream, but they stand strong now and desire to share their story…

(At the “Dress Ceremony”)

One of the patient women makes her way to the front to speak to us about her experience.  The nurses have adorned her in a beautiful dress in the traditional manner with headdress and jewelry.  She radiates and is absolutely beautiful.  She has her hands lifted high in the air, her eyes glowing and raised to the ceiling, and she sings “Alleluia, Praise be to God!” 

She shares how she was so excited to have another child; however, after being in labor for 5 days, fear and anxiety replaced that joy. Due to the gravity of the complications, she lost the child and ended up in the hospital.  She actually then ran away from the hospital because she knew she could not afford the care.  In her particular case, her husband actually passed away while she was at the hospital too. Although, she was leaking and completely depressed, the elders in her village still encouraged her to remarry, but she refused and ran away.  She stayed near a relative, but she was still an outcast there.  She lived in a bush, was beaten up by adolescence in the village, mocked and scorned, all because she was leaking urine.  After about 10 years, she returned to her village when she heard news that her eldest daughter passed away.  When she returned, the villagers scorned her, saying her condition and disobedience to become remarry caused her daughter to pass away.  They tell her she is cursed and should not live. 

All the women share a similar case of pain and devastation, of rejection and humiliation.  Some lived a few years with the condition, some lived 20 years.  But now their ail is alleviated, and they are healed.  Not only are they physically healed, but in their eyes you can see a new person, one of confidence, dignity, and strength. With hands lifted up, they thank God for His grace and healing power and declare the glory of His Name.  They praise Him for the love and mercy they received.  These women are absolutely beautiful and shining inside and out.

Be Blessed!

Psalm 103: 1-5

Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.  Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all yours sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.