Rugiatu - deadly complications

A 26 year old woman from Bo district is the head of the ‘bundu’ society in her village. Bundo is the W Africa wide practice that initiates virtually all girls around or before the age of puberty. Typically it is a 6 week period of training in all sorts of female roles in society, some healthy and some very frankly occult. The course ends with genital mutilation (called ‘female circumcision’ see www.wikipedia.org), which renders the girl ‘clean’ and fit for marriage.

Rugiatu developed a fistula from bearing a child and came to us for surgery. Her smouldering introspective manner indicated an occult involvement. Her operation was difficult but no problems were expected. Suddenly on the third day however she became feverish and developed pain in her upper abdomen. I felt a bubbling crackling sensation under the skin, and instantly knew that she had ‘gas gangrene’, a condition with a 50% mortality in the West. I injected antibiotics and transferred her to an emergency hospital where large incisions were made to drain off the infection. She survived. After 48 hours she underwent further surgery and 2 weeks later came back to us, her fistula re-opened. She is still spitting fire and venom at me in particular. She is going home tomorrow and will return in 3 months for further surgery.

Pray for a turnaround for this woman, and for protection for our staff.