white with red polka dots...

(this entry is a bit graphic, so please read on with caution)

is the color of her dress today. She's six years old. She has hair plaited into a few braids that fly away from her head in different directions (which means she must not be in school, you have to shave your head to be in school in these parts, girls and boys). She has two siblings who follow her, and mom is very pregnant. On Friday mom was resting, and this little girl and her 2 younger siblings went to the mom's garden to find casava for dinner. An old man who is related to their neighbors found them there and grabbed the 6 year old girl. He warned the other two younger siblings that if they made any sound he would call the police and have them shot...they took off for home as fast as their little legs could carry them. They reported to their mother, between gasps for breath no doubt, that this man had spread their sister's thighs and was breaking her arms...my mind must have got lost at that point because the story I remember skips to the hospital...Friday night she is brought to the health center, bleeding profusely and unable to walk properly, her legs spread in pain. The male nurse on duty went across the street to the police station and reported the case himself immediately around 11pm.

Two full days pass, this morning she's sitting on her bed in her white dress with red polka dots with her mom reclining in rest, eagerly takes the sweet offered to her by Dr. Jennifer. After we finish seeing the rest of the ward, miss polka dots and her mom came into the treatment room and sat on the bench with Jennifer. The male nurse who had received them on Friday stood by to translate and retell the story. I sat on the procedure bed and listened with a sick stomach, smiling at the precious little girl whenever she looked my way as she sucked on her sweet. "Where's her father?" Jennifer asks, "he's outside there" the nurse says and goes and brings a man with yellowed teeth and eyes into the room. He somberly/gingerly eases his body down onto the bench next to his wife.

A medical police report surfaced for Jennifer to complete after her assessment. But first she asked the nurse to translate directly to miss polka dots..."I'm not going to hurt you, I just need to look to be able to tell what happened so that we can get the man who did this to you, do you understand?"...the little girl lifts her chin in agreement..."you know what happened to you was not your fault, this is not the way it is supposed to happen, you did nothing wrong, some people do very bad things, but it's not your fault, it was okay for you to be in the garden, but we need to make sure this man is punished for the bad things he did to you" she went on. "Do you have any questions or want to say anything about what happened?" The little girl with the white dress and red polka dots and the plaits in her hair goes on in her little girl trying to be brave voice and retells the whole story of what happened...what do you even say?...

Jennifer does her physical assessment, as gently as she can, but the little girl cannot help but gasp in pain...The old man was a soldier and so the parents are handed a box of tablets for post exposure prophylaxis she is to take for one month, for which they are grateful when it is explained to them. She waddles back to her bed with her mom.

After rounds, Jennifer and I and the nurse and the father head across the street to the police station...remember the police station? "So what is keeping this man from being arrested?" Jennifer asks. "No one knows where he lives" the guy behind the desk tells her. "Well, go and FIND where he lives! The police are supposed to investigate, yes?" she adds. "We have to be sure before we go because if we are wrong then he will find out we are looking for him and then he will be very hard to find." AAaaaaaahhhhhhhh....maddening. A six year old girl was RAPED! And you are all sitting around playing mankala and chatting?!?! "You know we will need money for transport to go and find him.".....AAaaaaahhhhhhh! Absolutely maddening. A plan of action involving the identification of the man's whereabouts and then his arrest is made, and Jennifer requests a message from the nurse as soon as he is apprehended.

What is the perception of justice here? Sexuality? Childhood? HIV/AIDS and the thought that it can be cured by sex with a virgin? Parenthood? Work ethic? Evil? The questions are swirling in my head as I ride my bike up the road, and those are just the questions arising from cultural differences/norms...Then there is miss polka dots...her life and future...her interactions with boys/men from now on...her future of sexuality...the value she understands herself to have or lack...the safety of her life for coming and telling her story...the future of her physical health...the tears come easily as I write.