Judith

Judith is 32 years old, married with two children. She reported that she had a lower back problem after a complicated delivery of her second child at the referral center in Kigali. She couldn't lift or carry her baby on her back for at least 2 years. She couldn’t bend or do any work at home, she felt crippled. She then started feeling useless and deeply depressed as her husband was the one to do the housework and take care of the baby. “…I used to cry and many times felt like I wanted to kill myself and leave because I couldn't feel any reason to live anymore”, she said. She went to the clinic for treatment and she said that any time she tried to do something; she had to go back to the doctor. In addition to the pharmaceutical treatment, she was provided with a mental health specialist to offer psychotherapy on phone, but she had not improved. 

After she was recruited, convinced and encouraged by CHAs to join healing groups, she skeptically went through the healing process and eventually healed. “…I'm standing here thanking the Community Healing Assistants for all the efforts, encouragements and support they provided to me, and I thank God… because the breathing exercises helped. After I practiced I hid at home to see if it would last, then I recovered. Now I can carry on my back my 3 years old child, proud to be a mother. This family brought me back to life and I testify that the medicine I took from the doctor was not what I needed because it had not cured me. When the mental health specialist called to check on me, I told him that I had healed in the community and even the scars had disappeared”, she said. She recommended the Ubuntu Center for Peace to train health professionals so that they could also help more people.