Stories
Annet - A First Time Mother
Annet held in her arms a three-month-old baby boy. She didn't have any manuals telling her how to be a mother. She didn't have a video or TV shows, giving advice of how to best bring up her child. Annet, however, was just excited that she was a mother and she was going to do her best. The baby, however, was sick. Her baby had diarrhoea. She did not know why and there was no medical help nearby to give advice. The Witch Doctor had given her medicine and performed dances and chants. He said the evil spirits were leaving the child and the diarrhoea was proof of that. Annet believed him, but her child seemed to be getting more and more sick.
As the child became more and more sick and wouldn't stop crying she decided that she needed more help and would walk to the nearest hospital. It would take about a day. Half way through the night the baby stopped crying. Afraid to look she held him close. The next day she arrived, exhausted from walking
but desperate for help. As she drew near the hospital she somehow found enough energy to run the last few yards. She handed over the baby to one of the doctors, who quickly rushed in to see what he could do. A few minutes later he returned with an African nurse. The nurse had a tear running down her face. She translated the doctor's words. "I am sorry…Your child died from the diarrhoea, he died from dehydration". A simple salt and water solution would have said the babies' life, but how was Annet to know, if no one told her. Many babies die in Africa from diarrhoea.