Asi *, 15. Santé Centre Rural de Lukula
Asi * is here with her son who is 17 months. She’s still taking MDT for leprosy – 5 months out of 12 so far.
She completed class 6, but left in 2019 when she got pregnant. She lives with her mum Mbumbi and her little sister. Her father died when she was small.
In 2018 she saw patches on her face. She was spotted by a man doing active case-finding for leprosy in her area, a program initiated by TLM and the local health zone. The PLUBL project, funded by TLM Switzerland.
She was immediately put on MDT, and has had no other leprosy-related complications. She walks here once a month from Lumba. It takes her about 2 hours, and she carries her son the whole way.
Asi * now sells cassava leaves and wood and uses the income to take care of her child at home. “I get very sad. I have no husband, and it’s just me to take care of myself. My mum is worried and stressed all the time, and so I am too.”
“I just want to go back to school.” Asi * starts crying, while holding her son to her at the same time. It’s a deeply sad situation, that at least is no longer being exacerbated by leprosy.
“When I got it my mum was very worried. People used to tease me about my patches. When the community would all dress up on Sundays for church the ladies used to tease me about what skin lightening cream I was using.”
Asi ’s mother rents a house, but they struggle to pay the rent. “I was wondering if there was someone who could help me.” TLM is no longer doing income generating activities in the area sadly.
Asi ’s mother comes to the clinic shortly after the interview. She has concern etched onto her face. “The main problem is I… we want her to go back to school. But it’s difficult to pay the bills now too. So I sell peanuts.” Mbumbi makes around €0.40 profit per day. Rent is about €4.00 a month.
They are both very grateful leprosy is not a big problem in their life. Mbumbi says “I’m very thankful to the TLM staff and doctors who have helped diagnose my daughter, and provided the medicine free of charge.”
We realise it is likely a sensitive subject, but tentatively ask about her son. She doesn’t know where the father is. She used to see him on the way to and from school. They spoke quite a bit, and she knew he was an orphan. We don’t ask, and it’s difficult to tell how willing she was – of course being underage it’s not consensual. She gave birth by Caesarian aged 14. The father was 22 at the time.