A Woman's Cry for Help

She sat there facing down; her young daughter was lingering around playing with her mother and grandmother at the same time staring at some of the strange faces in the compound.  The strangers were a team from Malawi Television (TVM) “Reach out and touch program”, a television broadcast which show cases some of the people in Malawi’s three regions who are in need. TVM broadcasts this program to appeal to the nation and the community for help. Several people who were previously show cased in this program have been assisted and their needs have been met by well wishers who were touched by their stories.

I was sitting at home (taking a break from the World Cup 2010) when this show was on air. Today’s focus was on a young woman in her 20’s. She was sitting drawing on the ground not because she was artistic but I guess it was to hide the fear and emotions that lingered on her face. The TV presenter introduced her by name and the village where she came from. Then he looked at the lady and said; “we are here because we have heard that you have a problem and you would like to appeal to the nation for help”. 

The lady looked up and said; “yes I have a problem”.

“What is the problem?” The presenter asked, and the lady narrated her story.

Upon reaching puberty, her breasts started growing bigger and bigger and they never stopped growing since. One could not miss the pain and despair in her eyes. I watched eagerly to hear more of this sad tale. The presenter looked at the lady, he hesitated for a moment for the question which was about to follow needed proper thought and had to be constructed appropriately so as not to offend the lady or the viewers. He then asked the lady if she could show the viewers what her problem was. The lady did not hesitate, she snapped open her blouse and what a sight it was!  For every woman who was watching this show their hearts must have sunk. I starred at the screen in shock, I felt sad and I just could not imagine that breasts could grow that big and look so different.  Her breasts were hanging down below her belly button. The nipples were not visible at all because they were somewhere underneath the hanging breasts. She told the presenter that she has troubles breast feeding as she has to twist the breast to find the nipples so that the child could feed. The comfortable position she could breast feed was when she was lying on her back. Can you imagine how uncomfortable that would be (ladies)?

As the presenter continued with the interview it was revealed that she was married and the husband only came home when he had no money but spent most of his time somewhere else. The sad part was that this girl is still married to this man because she needs someone who can buy her some everyday needs. I felt sad, can you imagine the pain and rejection this woman must be feeling?

Further on I learned that this lady had been taken to hospital several times and the doctors could not figure out how to fix this problem. The grandmother and relatives then took her to traditional doctors to find out if this problem was something to do with witchcraft. The traditional doctors said that there was witchcraft involved but they offered no solution.

The reason I have put this story on my blog is to share this story and appeal for assistance. The presenter told the girl and her grandmother that they have to resort to prayer, because it seemed that was the only avenue they had not tried. I agree with the presenter, let us remember this woman in our prayers so that God can touch her and heal her situation. Not only does she need prayer but also any kind of help one can offer because she is struggling to do anything because of the big breasts. She can not farm because her breasts hang to the ground all in all she lacks a lot of day to day supplies.

The pride of a woman is in how she feels about herself, if she feels good about herself then she can easily mix in the society. This young lady has lost all hope and self confidence. The husband’s behavior makes her even feel worse about herself. What can we do to help?

Let us put our heads together to pray and ponder, so that one day this girl shall tell us another story.

For those of you who wish to help in one way or the other, please contact Malawi Television or leave a comment and I will get back to you with the contact details.

And keep those prayers going because the God we serve is able to do exceedingly abundant more than we could ever imagine.

“Stretch out a hand and lend a hand”.