Impact Stories about sita

The first case operated by COSAN in the late 1990s at the Seventhday Adventist Mission Hospital in Banepa, sheds light on the difficult life and the suffering faced in many remote parts of Nepal. The breathtaking landscape of Nepal, with mountains and hills, pose a variety of challenges to people who live here, especially women. The patriarchal and conservative society, alongside the prevalence of gender discrimination, has given rise to many obstacles for women. Sita Acharya comes from an area near the Chinese border. She had suffered much agony for many years, and here is her story: “I am Sita Acharya. I am 62 years old. I was married when I was 14 years old, and my husband was ten years older than me. In those days there was a tradition of letting the girl stay with her parents for a year before they moved into their in-laws house, as most of the girls were given off in marriage at a very young age. I also had the opportunity to live at my parents’ place for a year after my marriage, but while I was there, I was told that my husband had left his home and gone to India. I did not care much back then, as I was still young. Later one day, one of my uncles came to get me and told me it was bad to stay at my parents’ home for so long after marriage. Soon after this, my family decided that I should go to my in-laws’ home. I spent the next four years at my in-laws’ home without my husband, working and serving them. “I had my first baby when I was 20. I had labor pain for eight days. My mother-in-law kept asking me if I felt better so I could return and get fodder for the cattle. My husband was angry that I didn’t fetch water from 22 the well, which was half an hour away from our house. One of my cousins was passing by our village, and she stopped by to see how I was doing. I was lying on the floor drenched in sweat, the last thing I remember is her offering me water and helping me to sit up against the wall before she left. I had been unconscious for three days when my mother and brother arrived. My mother pulled the dead baby out, and I was separated from my baby before the cremation. On the fourth day, I woke up drenched in blood. I slowly got back to my daily work routine, since I did not have a baby to care for. And at that time, I had the first symptoms of uterine prolapse. “Within a year of the incident, I had another child. I gave birth to all my children alone without any assistance. I gave birth to my second child in a cowshed and crawled into the house to call my mother-in-law to help me clean up the baby. The son that followed was born with a cleft palate and lip. After a prolonged labor and a painful childbirth, which I bore all alone in the cowshed, my mother-in-law arrived. She screamed at me saying that I had given birth to a demon without a mouth, and left without helping me. That day I cleaned my child all by myself, washing him off with my tears. I had another son after this who passed away when he was two years old. My youngest daughter was born while I was coming back home carrying a pot full of water on my back. I left the vessel on the way, wrapped my daughter in my saree, and walked back home. “I suffered for 27 long years like this. Until one day, I saw children returning early from school. I asked one of them, ‘Why was the school closed today?’. He told me that a health camp was being conducted by an organization named COSAN in their school. I had been experiencing a severe toothache for several days, so I went to the school to get some medicine. When I arrived they had already finished their camp and were packing to go back. I approached one of the nurses and asked if they could give me some medicine for my teeth. She happily offered me the medicine and told me they were here especially for women’s problems 23 and asked me if I had such problems. I told her about my prolapse. I was examined and was referred for surgery. I came back home and told my husband. He got upset and told me not to waste my time in all these unnecessary things and to do my work properly. However, I was determined, so I left for town with the 300 rupees I had saved. “I was sad that my husband, who knew the town well and knew where to go, would not help me. When he saw me going alone, he did follow, and later accompanied me. When I came home after the operation, I felt like I would never die, like I was immortalized. “Since my operation, I have helped many women from my village suffering with similar problems. Sometimes the women are scared and reluctant to go ahead with the operation. At such times, I tell them that I will be responsible if anything happens to them. I know the suffering that a condition like prolapse can cause, and also the difference a simple procedure to cure it can make in the lives of women. “The eldest of my seven sisters also had a similar problem. Her husband left her when he found out she had uterine prolapse. This was after they had their first baby. She suffered a lot too, and had given up on any hope of living a normal life. After my operation, I met her and told her about the help available. I took her to the hospital and got her treated. Now she has been accepted back into the family. She is healthy, happy, and is able to work and make a good living. “Both my sister and I would like to thank you for the help you offered us. You gave us a new life. I am now determined to help other women going through the same hell that I had been through. The uterus is a women’s gem – we create new life within it – but it can also prove to be a curse if timely care is not taken.”