This is Martha outside her straw house

This is Martha.

When Martha told her husband that she had cancer of the cervix and she should no longer have sex, her husband left her. When he left, he broke down the mud walls of their house and took all the blankets and everything they owned. He left Martha terminally ill and homeless. Martha could only build a house made of straw for herself. It had no floor so Martha slept on a mat on the sand.

Martha’s tumours meant that she could not sit down comfortably or move easily, and she required a catheter to empty her bladder.

Ndi Moyo did everything we could for Martha, supplying her with a mattress to sleep on, providing her with medical treatment, taking her to and from our clinic and the hospital, and supporting her in her daily struggles.

Like many of our patients with cancer of the cervix, Martha’s bleeding led to severe anaemia. Ndi Moyo were concerned that Martha needed a haemoglobin test but Martha was unwilling to go to the hospital because she had no clean clothes. She hadn’t asked Ndi Moyo for soap because she felt that she had already asked too much of Ndi Moyo.

When Martha had her haemoglobin test it was clear that she needed a blood transfusion. Despite two blood transfusions, Martha died within weeks. She was 30 years old.

Please help Ndi Moyo help people like Martha. Martha was cared for and pain-free because donors like you make Ndi Moyo’s work possible.