A few months ago a local lady, Fereshteh*, came to me with a request for help. She helps a lot of women and a lady had come to her with her daughter, Noor*, who at 12 years old had been raped while begging for money to buy bread.
Noor was now 13 years-old, seven months pregnant and her family had threatened to kill her. Her mother was a widow, partially paralysed, had two other children and was very poor.
Cultural norms here are very different. A young, pregnant, unmarried woman brings much shame on her family – even if it is not her fault. Often girls in this situation are killed or the baby is killed at birth.
I tried to get a local hostel to take the mother and all of her children, so that when the baby was born a legitimate adoption could be arranged. However, it was another like-minded family who eventually gave the use of one of their windowless rooms.
I was very concerned as to how the family would explain the sudden arrival of a new baby to neighbours, but they assured me it would be OK.
Yesterday, my neighbour was knocking at my door and told me that Fereshteh had arrived with the newborn baby in her arms – as Noor’s mother had not taken her daughter to hospital as promised when her labour began.
During Noor’s labour the brother ran to Fereshteh’s house asking her to come quickly as Noor’s family were going to kill the baby when it was born. So Fereshteh got a taxi to take Noor to the hospital, but the baby was born in the taxi!
Fereshteh was beaten by the taxi driver – because the taxi was so dirty following the labour. He took her earrings and said he would keep them until she paid for the cleaning. Fereshteh took Noor home and then brought the baby to us.
I examined the baby, tied the cord properly (with dental floss!) and the neighbour’s husband went to the bazaar to get some powdered milk, bottles and nappies.
I contacted the people from the hostel where I had initially tried to get Noor into and amazingly they had had an enquiry from an Afghan couple living in Germany, who wanted to adopt a baby. The couple took the baby with them and we pray that the adoption will work out.
This outcome was a good one but it could so easily have gone the other way! As this precious little life has been spared, please pray that she will be special as she grows up. Pray also for Noor as she comes to terms with all she has been through.
*All names have been changedIf you would like to support important work, like that of this BMS midwife in Afghanistan, please click here