In Nepal, when aid workers stopped coming, women and babies started dying
GAUR, Nepal — The young mother’s breath had grown ragged. Inside her mud home in rural Nepal, she hunched over in agony, pain pummeling her pregnant belly, her swollen legs scarcely able to support her. Kabita Mukhiya was in the midst of an emergency, but didn’t know it. For weeks, she’d suffered at home, because there was nobody around to tell her to rush to a hospital. The aid workers who once…
Gaur, Nepal — A young mother named Kabita Mukhiya lay in agony, her breath shallow and ragged. Unable to comprehend the severity of her condition, she had been suffering at home for weeks. With no one to guide her, Kabita remained unaware that she was in the midst of an emergency. The aid workers who once regularly visited her village to assist pregnant women had ceased their visits, following U.S. aid cuts that had shut down the program meant to save mothers and babies' lives.
Kabita, uneducated and impoverished, was oblivious to the medical issues plaguing her body. Desperate for help, she turned to her aunt, who dragged her to the hospital, where both women cried as doctors spoke in incomprehensible medical jargon. Unable to understand the situation, Kabita turned to something she could grasp: prayer.
"Please save the baby," she pleaded through her tears. "Please save me." Amidst the chaos, the words that Kabita and her aunt desperately needed arrived.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
