Laila* is a 13-year-old girl from a rural, mountainous province in central Afghanistan. Growing up, she had dreams to attend school and one day become a teacher. Instead, because of an agreement her parents had with another family, she entered into an arranged marriage when she was just 11 years old.
She soon become pregnant and after childbirth complications, she developed a fistula—this happened before her 12th birthday.
Her injury, which caused her to leak urine uncontrollably, made life with her husband’s family extremely difficult. “My mother-in-law said to me, ‘You are too smelly, and people don’t want to come to our house because of you,’” she says. “I was crying softly all the time, and stopped drinking for one and a half years. I stayed unmoving on the floor and survived by little bread and tea. I was also beaten by my husband. It was better to die than to have this problem.”
Our partners at Cure report that when she arrived, Laila was severely malnourished, unable to walk, and severely depressed. Once she was healthy enough to undergo surgery, the surgeons there were able to successfully repair her fistula. Although her physical injury has healed and Laila is no longer incontinent, she remains at the hospital, where she can receive ongoing psychological counseling. She feels as if she has been given life again. And one day, if her family is successful in finding a way to legally bring her back home, she may truly have a second chance at life.
*Name changed