Background:

Seema (name changed) was born into a poor family in a remote village in Ramechhap, where there was rarely enough to go around. Because of that poverty, her family married her off while she was still very young. That first marriage, entered before she was even ready for adulthood, didn't last and the two eventually separated.

            Trying to rebuild her life, Seema married a second time. But her new husband's family was also struggling financially, and with no way to make a living in the village, the two of them moved to Kathmandu, hoping the city would offer a better future. It didn't come easily. Work was hard to find, no matter how many doors her husband knocked on, and no matter how many places Seema herself searched. Rent was due. Meals had to be found. Slowly, the pressure became unbearable.

Eventually, under pressure from neighbors and the need to survive, Seema turned to sex work. The income kept her and her unemployed husband afford food and a place to live, but it came at a heavy personal cost.

Crisis

            One day, in the course of her work, Seema met a man who told her he was in the army. He asked her to go somewhere more private with him. Not suspecting anything was wrong, she agreed. He led her toward an isolated, wooded area and there, he attacked her with a knife in an attempt to kill her.

            Badly wounded, Seema screamed. Nearby residents heard her cries and called the police immediately. She was rushed to Bir Hospital in critical condition. Her injuries were so severe that doctors and her own relatives believed she would not survive the night. But she did.

            When she was discharged from the hospital, she had no other way to support herself, and was forced to return to the same work that had nearly cost her life. Seema became pregnant by a client and despite everything, she made up her mind to carry the pregnancy and raise the child. Her husband could not accept it, and left her without any information.

            Alone now, and still recovering from childbirth, Seema fell into deeper crisis. She was too weak to work and could no longer pay rent. When her landlord and neighbors discovered the child wasn't her husband's, they insulted and mistreated her, even targeting her infant baby. Her landlord forced her to leave. Under the weight of it all, Seema reached a point of such deep despair that she began to think about ending both her life and her child's.

Turning Point

            It was in this darkest window of time that Seema came into contact with a mental health orientation program run by FAITH. There, for the first time in a long while, she was able to speak openly about the pain she was carrying.

            Once we understood the severity of her situation, help came quickly. She and her baby received food support and milk to make sure the child was properly nourished. She was taught simple techniques; deep breathing, relaxation exercises, ways to talk through what was on her mind to manage the overwhelming stress she was under. Perhaps most remarkably, our team located her husband and communicated with him. Though the child wasn't his, we gently reminded him that in moments this difficult, human compassion has to come first. After continued conversation and support, he came to recognize his own part in what had happened and agreed to return.

Present

            Today, Seema and her husband live together under one roof with their daughter. They have left the darkest days behind them, and are rebuilding their life side by side happier now than they have been in a long time, raising their child together with the love and care she deserves.