Somaliland man stabs wife, seizes baby, Edna Adan helps her

[spartacus]

NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – When Naima’s husband came home after the birth of their first child in a village in rural Somaliland, there was a rank smell of urine in the house.

 

He asked his wife what it was.

 

“This happened to me after I gave birth to our son,” she said. Her body had been torn during her prolonged labour, leaving a fistula, a hole between her vagina and bladder.

 

At least two million women in developing countries live with fistula, a devastating childbirth injury which results in uncontrollable leakage of urine and/or faeces.

 

The story of Naima (not her real name) is told by Edna Adan Ismail, a midwife who founded a hospital, speaking to Thomson Reuters Foundation in the Somaliland capital, Hargeisa.

 

Naima’s husband instantly disowned her and told her to go back to her family. “You are damaged goods,” he said. “I cannot have you leaking and dirtying my house.”

 

He grabbed the baby out of her arms. Naima tried to snatch him back.

 

“He takes a knife and he goes: ‘Let go of the baby.’ And he puts the knife through here,” said Ismail, pointing to the middle of her chin. The blade went up through Naima’s tongue and hit the roof of her mouth.

 

SLASHED FROM EAR TO EAR

 

Undeterred, she lunged for her child again. This time, he slashed her from ear to ear along her chin and left with the baby.

 

Naima crawled out of the hut to her neighbours, who sutured her with a needle and thread, and carried her to the nearest hospital in Burao.

 

Days later, the hospital in Burao telephoned Ismail, asking her to send an ambulance to collect Naima – a six-hour journey - and bring her to Ismail’s hospital, the Edna Adan Hospital in Hargeisa.

 

Ismail, who could not spare her only ambulance, asked if they could put her on a truck. “And she says: ‘I cannot because the truck drivers refuse to carry this woman because she smells.”

 

“I said: ‘Ok. Go into town. Get the most foul, smelly perfume that you can get. Get a couple of big plastic bags. Put as many padded things as you can on her. Punch holes on the sides of the bags and put them on her as Pampers (nappies),” she said.

 

“Put her on a truck and tell the driver Edna will give you $30 if you will bring her auntie to her.”

 

And so Naima made it to Ismail’s hospital and had surgery to repair her fistula. She worked in the hospital kitchen for several months while she recovered her strength.

 

ATTEMPTED MURDER

 

Ismail offered to help Naima prosecute her husband.

 

“If you want to take that man to court, I will stand on my head to put that man on trial because that is attempted murder,” she told Naima. “If it’s the last thing I do, I am willing to support you and to bring that man to justice.”

 

Naima refused. “No, I can’t do that to my child’s father,” she said.

 

Ismail doesn’t know what became of Naima after she left the hospital. She is just one of hundreds of women who Ismail has helped since 2002 when she started holding fistula camps, at which visiting surgeons carry out operations.

 

Around the world, more than 50,000 new fistula cases occur each year, the overwhelming majority in Africa. Only one in 50 of those women receives treatment.

 

In Somaliland, which broke away from Somalia in 1991, the number of new cases is dropping thanks to Ismail’s work, both in treating fistula and in training more midwives to help women deliver their babies safely.

 

She feels blessed to have been able to help so many women. Patients usually start crying when they use the toilet normally for the first time after the operation, she said.

 

“And that’s when we start crying too because we are so happy that one human being has been given back life,” she said.

 

 

 

http://www.trust.org/item/20131203165707-e4mp7/?source=hpeditorial&siteVersion=mobile

[Kaluun]

She is the greatest thing we have. She is the mother of this nation because every second when this nation bleeds, Edna bleeds.

 

 

After the Somali civil war, hospitals were destroyed and deaths in childbirth were among the highest in the world. Health pioneer Edna Adan Ismail tells the story of how she set up Somaliland's first maternity hospital and set out to train a thousand...

 

 

[Alpha Blondy]

the way this story is written, you'd think it was a horror movie. it's blatantly written by a Somalilandiider. shame, really.

[Khayr]

Dr. Edna Ismail is a valuable asset to all Somalis in terms of her medical knowledge.

[Alpha Blondy]

Khayr;989185 wrote:

Dr. Edna Ismail is a valuable asset to all Somalis in terms of her medical knowledge.

chances are you're probably more endowed with medical knowledge, lakinse where she wins, is her ability to facilitate an environment, condusive enough, for others to practice their medical skills. kala sar knowledge and know-how.

[spartacus]

Alpha Blondy;989184 wrote:

the way this story is written, you'd think it was a horror movie. it's blatantly written by a Somalilandiider. shame, really.

it's horror+sad movie, but the guy he is really so ******, she is too humble that's why he dumb her, she should have put him under the jail or something.

[DoctorKenney]

So this man divorces his wife, stabs her face and then slashes her from ear to ear simply because she has fistula, an uncontrollable illness?

 

Why isn't this man executed? What use does our society have for such a creature?

[Hawdian]

A doctor job is to help every patient that he/she gets to meet. If there is a criminal case report to the police. But to take one extreme case and highlight is wrong . Criminals exist in every country stop making look like its in HOA only mise waxa jira wax kale warka naloo qareynaya.

[DoctorKenney]

^^ Yes most definitely. All of us are familiar with what goes on in other countries. Everyone knows about what happens in India, where brides are sometimes burnt to death over dowry money, or in China where they kill infant girls. But Somalia is a pretty tight-knit society, it'll be easy to find and track down criminals responsible for such crimes. Everyone knows everyone through Qabiil.

 

This man should definitely be executed. A harsh crime deserves a harsh punishment

[Tallaabo]

Cases like this should involve the police and judicial courts with or without the victim's consent and corporation. It is a matter of public safety as this crazy man can easily harm or kill another person.

[Alpha Blondy]

Tallaabo;989254 wrote:

Cases like this should involve the police and judicial courts with or without the victim's consent and corporation. It is a matter of public safety as this crazy man can easily harm or kill another person.

what nonsense!

[Safferz]

Tallaabo;989254 wrote:

Cases like this should involve the police and judicial courts with or without the victim's consent and corporation. It is a matter of public safety as this crazy man can easily harm or kill another person.

I was just typing this. It is absolutely insane that you can stab/slash someone with a knife and the police and courts leave it up to the victim to decide whether or not to press charges. The role of the justice system should be to support victims of crime and act in the interest of public safety, but the way it is now in Somaliland almost certainly means victims of crimes like domestic violence will face pressure from their partners, families and communities that can make it impossible to pursue charges.

 

I'm not a fan of Edna, but she's doing important work.

[Alpha Blondy]

Safferz;989261 wrote:

I was just typing this. It is absolutely insane that you can stab/slash someone with a knife and the police and courts leave it up to the victim to decide whether or not to press charges. The role of the justice system should be to support victims of crime and act in the interest of public safety, but the way it is now in Somaliland almost certainly means victims of crimes like domestic violence will face pressure from their partners, families and communities that can make it impossible to pursue charges.

 

if the woman is allegedly ''abused'', lets say, and she runs to NGOs for support, and she's given support, say in the interest of public safety..............what then, other than, family breakdown, is the result?

[guleed_ali]

Safferz;989261 wrote:

I was just typing this. It is absolutely insane that you can stab/slash someone with a knife and the police and courts leave it up to the victim to decide whether or not to press charges. The role of the justice system should be to support victims of crime and act in the interest of public safety, but the way it is now in Somaliland almost certainly means victims of crimes like domestic violence will face pressure from their partners, families and communities that can make it impossible to pursue charges.

 

I'm not a fan of Edna

, but she's doing important work.

I don't know much about her but I'm not too big on the whole "saviour" of Somalia persona. I may be wrong but I would prefer if she kept a lower profile and did her good work. People hype her up like wonder woman but I'm sure there's good people that surround her as well. But all actions are by intentions so may Allah forgive me if I've wronged her.

[OdaySomali]

guleed_ali;989295 wrote:

I don't know much about her but I'm not too big on the whole "saviour" of Somalia persona. I may be wrong but I would prefer if she kept a lower profile and did her good work. People hype her up like wonder woman but I'm sure there's good people that surround her as well. But all actions are by intentions so may Allah forgive me if I've wronged her.

The reason why she chooses to be so visible is because this increases donations to her hospital, to buy expensive equipment, training equipment and to fund the day to day running of the hopital's operations and the field clinics/community nurse-midwifes she has set up in the region. By attending engagements, making documentaries this raises awareness and more people donate. Dani kaa adag.