When a brave man in Manyara stepped up to save his partner
Among the hills of the Mbulu District in central Tanzania, lives a farming couple, Mr Martin and Ms Rehema, along with their eight children.
Mr Martin and Ms Rehema could be having nine children, if they had not lost their last baby in a miscarriage. The father, Mr Martin had always wanted to have four children, unlike his wife who wished to possess a bigger family like her mother, who had eleven children.
In as far as the two couples now love their bigger family of eight children, they admit to The Citizen that it has been a toll experience in providing for so many children.
When Ms Rehema conceived her first baby, she was sick throughout her pregnancy. They both thought things would change with the other pregnancies; however, throughout all of the pregnancies, she had to experience a lot of struggles and suffering.
Even during the ninth pregnancy, when Rehema was 43 years old, she was sick and could not do anything but lie in bed all the time. Not only did Martin feel sorry that she (his wife) was suffering, but she would get so ill that the husband could be worried, as at times he felt like his wife could not survive further due to the suffering she incurred.
Mr Martin was determined to find a solution to this misery. He approached a healthcare worker at Mbulu Town Council Hospital, where the specialist explained to him the family planning options available for women and men. Mr Martin was excited to learn that finally there was a solution, especially after all that his wife had been through.
He decided to talk to his wife about the options, but Ms Rehema was not ready. While she agreed that additional pregnancies were a risk to her health, she also worried about the safety of family planning methods due to various myths around the initiative from within the community.
Mr Martin knew he had to do something to save the life of his wife. If family planning methods were not a good option for his wife, maybe they were for him. He made a decision to get a vasectomy. After discussing it with his wife, they both agreed, and Mr Martin went to the health facility to get the procedure in coordination with a USAID Afya Yangu Northern family planning event.
Mr Martin explains that the procedure was relatively painless, and that the myths were proven wrong. In addition to rumours of major discomfort, many of Mr Martin's community members feared that after one goes through the procedure, they lose their sexual desire. Mr Martin was happy to reveal to The Citizen that the belief was not true.
"After my experience, I am set to educate my community on family planning and curtail all these myths and negative mindsets around family planning," says Mr Martin.
Oliver Tembo, an assistant nursing officer at Mbulu Town Council Hospital, adds that “because of the culture and traditions in Mbulu, there is very little male involvement in family planning.” For instance, during February and March, 2022, only one man had a vasectomy, while 13 women opted for tubal ligation.
“We see this as a challenge,'' says Tembo. “However together with the USAID Afya Yangu Northern project, we are having male involvement activities such as outreach activities."
