“Out of Desperation, We Gave Her Raw Liver”, The Story of a 17-Year-Old Mother Giving Birth Under a Tent
- Ariahn Raya
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
The scorching sun beats down on the old tents, and the heatwave has made breathing difficult for those living in them.
Hot wind shakes the thin, worn-out tents. The rustling sound of torn plastic echoes in the heavy silence of the summer afternoon. With every gust of wind, dust rises and swirls in the dry, burning air.
Tent dwellers say living in this unbearable heat feels more like being inside an oven than a shelter. Children with dust-covered faces take refuge in faint patches of shade, and women, with tired faces, pull aside the tent curtains in search of a little air.
Amid these hot and worn-out tents, Bibi Gul, a 17 year old girl, gave birth to her first child, without a doctor, a midwife or a health centre nearby.
Bibi Gul is a resident of Badghis province. She says that six years ago, when fighting between the former government forces and the Taliban intensified, her family was forced to leave their home in Qadis district and seek refuge in Herat.
The refuge that was supposed to be safe has today left Bibi Gul with nothing but a hot tent and a life mixed with poverty.
In a weak voice, affected by pain and illness, she says:
“When my pain started, I thought I would not survive. The weather was very hot, my body had become weak and there was no one to help me.”
Bibi Gul says the labour pain led to severe bleeding, but she had no way to go to hospital because her family had neither money for transport nor a vehicle to take her to Herat city.
Beside the tent, Lailuma, Bibi Gul’s mother-in-law, gathers pieces of paper and plastic to create a little smoke and keep the flies away. But her suffering is greater than anything visible in this place.
Lailuma says her husband and son are unemployed and the family is unable even to provide food for the night.
Lailuma says:
“My husband and my son have no work. Some days, we cannot find anything to eat. How could I take my daughter-in-law to hospital?”
She stresses that there is no health centre in the area where they live.
According to Lailuma, Bibi Gul’s bleeding had terrified them, but poverty and a lack of health awareness led the family to make a dangerous decision.
She says:
“Out of desperation, we gave her raw liver. They said it would stop the bleeding. Now not only has she not recovered, but her illness has become worse.”
Bibi Gul is now struggling with severe illness. Her face is pale and her voice trembles with fear of the future.
She says:
“I have become very weak. I am afraid I may not be able to see my child grow up. My life may be short.”
On the other side of the tent, Ghulam, Lailuma’s husband, speaks with concern about the health condition of their daughter-in-law.
He says:
“We worry every day. If her condition worsens, we have no way out. There is no money, no doctor.”
Bibi Gul’s story is not only the account of a difficult birth. It is a picture of the lives of women who become mothers on the margins of cities, far from basic health services.
Her child’s birth took place not in a well-equipped hospital room, but under a hot tent, where hope and fear breathe at the same time.
