By Agnes Orang’o
In September 2020, Maureen Wayua Nzwili’s stomach started growing bigger and bigger. With schools closed due to Covid-19, news that the Form Three student at Musingini secondary could be pregnant swirled at Kwa King’eli home, Machakos County.
Determined to prove them wrong, she visited a health facility, eight kilometers away. One look at her convinced a nurse that she was indeed pregnant and visiting a clinic looked ideal.
“I explained that I wasn’t pregnant but was met with deaf ears as nurses saw it as a lie and sent me to the lab for a blood test,” says the 19-year old girl.
A disinterested lab technician threw a book at her, feigning she was tired and wanted to enjoy her afternoon siesta.
Dejected, she was directed to prenatal care where nurses keenly listened to the foetus’ heartbeat.
“I was taunted with questions if I could feel the baby kick and after answering in the negative, I was referred to Matuu Hospital for an Ultrasound,” she adds.
At the Matuu Level Four Hospital, an ultrasound was done and instead of a baby, massive ascites and fluid buildup were found within spaces in her abdomen.
Five liters of fluid was emptied but after some hours it was back. She was referred to Machakos Level Five Hospital.
With a deaf and dumb father, and a mother doing menial jobs, unable to raise the required finances, she went back home, her hopes dashed.
In January 2021, Sister Mary Musembi got wind of her plight and took her to Kenyatta National Hospital where the fluid was emptied, again.
Several tests were conducted and Maureen was diagnosed with Sertoli, Leydig cell tumor grade one, a rare cancer of the ovaries. An oophorectomy was done and Maureen spent a month in the hospital.
And when she went back home without a baby, many thought that she had procured an abortion.
The cancer was at stage 1A and was curable and she had to start four cycles of chemotherapy and my last session was in September 2021.
When schools reopened in 2021, she went back to Form Two and though she had initially dropped Biology to do physics, she rescinded her decision.
Determined to put her troubles behind, she focused on education, saying it was her only hope.
Instead of a baby, Maureen surprised many after she emerged top of her 2022 KCPE class after scoring a mean grade of B Plan, of 63 points.
Initially, she wanted to be an engineer but now wants to become a gynecologist. Her sickness and how she was handled motivates Maureen to pursue a course in the medical field to ensure no patient is victimized.
“There are times my suffering and humble background blurred my vision and I would sink into despair but the school was very supportive in such times,” she flashbacks.
Sister Mary Musembi said the journey to recovery was not easy as people at home thought that Maureen had procured abortion after going home without a baby.
The baby the village hoped to take back home has been replaced with a mean grade of B plain of 63 points, topping her school.
When Education News visited her at Mercy Servants of the Poor Center in Kaonyweni, the firstborn in a family of seven children was upbeat that her life is set to change for the better.
“Her parents were ex-communicated from their church because of the issue. I had to take the girl from home because the stigma and environment were not friendly for her,” stated Sister Mary. .
Some had misled her parents to believe that their daughter was bewitched and didn’t have cancer as the doctors at KNH had diagnosed.
“The mother called me one time asking me to take her daughter back, claiming that she had found a person to treat her,” she says.
However, she refused and even threatened to call the authorities on her but after a while, she understood and apologized.
“I’m glad Maureen is okay, the sorrow and pain that was on her face replaced by a big smile.”
She credits all that to God and well-wishers, adding that she is not positive about life and pleads for sponsorship to help Maureen complete her university education.
