Sisters. Sisters. There Were Never Such Devoted Sisters...

I can't help but picture Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye singing this song as I sit down to write this... (if you have seen White Christmas you would know what I am talking about.)

Anyway, moving on.

We have a patient advocate who brings us many patients. The last group of women she brought were all from Guinea. Three beautiful women, all with the same last name. I didn't think anything of this since Barrie is a very common name especially if you come from Guinea. I quickly found out that these three women were related. Two of them sisters with the same mother and father and the other was the daughter-in-law of one of the women. They all came from Kaiyako, a samll village in Guinea. Fatmata Barrie was examined and it was seen that the extent of her injury was too much for Dr. Lewis so she had to return home. The other two, the sisters Mariama and Zainabu are still here and they even had their surgeries the same day. They both speak Fullah, the common dialect of Guinea. It is difficult to speak with them but we do have one woman who works in the office who can communicate with them. They both lived together in the same house before they got married. They never attended school.

Mariama met Bobakar, her husband, and became pregnant very soon after they got married. She stayed with her husband during her pregnancy and during the ninth month she went into labor. She was at home for six days in labor before it was decided to take her to the hospital. She did not make it to the hospital before her mother delivered a stillborn baby girl on the road. After arriving at the hospital the doctor told her to return home. At home she felt the urine starting to leak down her legs. When she told her husband, he sent message to Mariama's mother and told her to come. When the mother arrived she asked Mariama to explain the problem. After explaining to her mother, the mother and Bobakar discussed what they could do for her. Bobakar told her mother that he did not want her anymore and she would have to care for her. Mariama's mother took her in and cared for her.

Zainabu also became pregnant very soon after marrying Ibrahim, her husband. Again, she carried her child for nine months and during the ninth month she went into labor. For seven days she labored. On the seventh day she birthed a stillborn baby boy. If the child would have survived he would be twenty years old this year. Hew was delivered by Zainabu's mother in their home. The day after delivery she noticed she was leaking urine. She never went to the hospital to see a doctor about this. Her husband did not abandon her but they are not able to sleep in the same bed because she has this problem. Zainabu is one of three wives to Ibrahim. She is the only one not allowed to share a bed or even enter into his room.

Mariama and Zainabu were met by a woman who knew about this centre and she brought them down here from Guinea. They both had surgery on the ninth of August and they are doing well. They will be here for at least another week. All I can say to them is 'jarama', meaning hello. It always makes them laugh. Usually when I tell the women I want to take their picture they stand side by side with their arms to their side. When Mariama and Zainabu stood to get their picture taken they immediately put their arm around each other. It was really cute.

On a side note, the rain today was unreal. It has not stopped! Not just a drizzle. Torrential downpour. Even the locals say this is one of the worst rainy seasons.