Fifteen-year-old Rose was found sleeping along the roads of Kampala, Uganda. The village woman who found her quickly realized Rose was unable to take care of herself, as she was deaf, non-speaking, and pregnant.
The good Samaritan took the girl from the roadside where’d she’d been sleeping into her little house.
The woman was kind and compassionate, but unprepared to take care of a pregnant girl and unable to communicate with her. She’d heard of a maternity center nearby, Wakisa Ministries, and within a few days she brought Rose there. Rose seemed grateful to the woman and initially didn’t want to stay at Wakisa.
Wakisa, which means “mercy,” is Vivian Kityo’s maiden name.
In 2005 Vivian began the pregnancy ministry after witnessing a young girl die after an abortion at the hospital where she worked. Since then, Wakisa has served over 1800 girls from ages 12 to 19.
[Click here to subscribe to Pregnancy Help News!]
The maternity center was well prepared and experienced with pregnancy and all related issues, but they were unfamiliar with communicating with a deaf person.
For the first few days, Rose made it clear she didn’t want to stay there. Only Vivian, providentially, knew a very few basic signs that she remembered from her childhood.
“I thank God I grew up in a place where a neighbor’s son and daughter were deaf,” she said. “We used to play together and were very good friends. Years later, I was the only one at Wakisa who could communicate just the bare minimum with Rose.”
“I too was amazed at how we managed to keep her for almost six months at Wakisa, Vivian said. “We had no information about her, nor did the woman who brought her.”
“Well, it took us all by surprise,” she said. “We didn't know where to start but we gave her hugs and smiles, new clothes and a clean bed. She seemed to like the food.”
Vivian contacted a school for the deaf, and the director came to see Rose.
Through sign language Rose revealed that she’d been at another school for the deaf about 50 miles away. It was there that she’d slept with a man who met her when she went to get water each day.
A friend of Rose’s told her about a church in Kampala where deaf and non- speaking people sometimes received a healing. There people would sit or lie around, day or night, waiting for their turn to be healed.
But with the Covid lockdown, the church was suddenly closed, and people had to leave. Rose realized she couldn’t find her friend. She wandered into the slum area and began sleeping there until the local woman took her in.
Rose was taken for prenatal visits with a doctor, along with ultrasounds, just like all the girls at the center. She was willing to follow along what she saw the other girls doing. She attended childbirth classes at Wakisa so she would be prepared when the time came in labor to push.
In the meantime, the school where she had been living was contacted and a plan made for them to get Rose and her baby after the birth.
When the time for Rose’s delivery came, “pain was written all over her face,” Vivian said.
“She managed to point at her lower abdomen, and we rushed her to hospital,” continued Vivian. “She resisted the midwives checking to see how far she was in labor. It was a real nightmare for the doctor and midwives to the point that they feared she would kill the baby if she refused to lie in position. It was by the grace of God that natural spontaneous delivery pushed the baby boy out.”
Back at the center, convincing Rose to breastfeed was a struggle. Rose would make a face if she didn’t want to, or her breasts were sore.
Rose’s grandparents were located near the school she’d been attending. They were ready to welcome Rose and her baby home. Her mother had died when she was a young child, and she’d never known her father. Her grandparents had raised her and her sister and were able to communicate with her by sign language. Her sister is not deaf but suffers from epileptic seizures.
The time came for Rose to return home. A little going away party was held for Rose and her new son, Paul.
To everyone’s surprise, Rose said she didn’t want to leave, that she loved it there at Wakisa. The pastor from the school for the deaf who came to get her had to convince her that she needed to be where people could communicate with her, especially now for her child.
Little Paul is surrounded by the love of his family now and is now starting to walk.
“That was the experience of a lifetime for Wakisa Ministries, and I wonder if we can admit a deaf pregnant girl again!" exclaimed Vivian. “Our Lord Jesus took us through this ordeal for five months and we give Him the glory!”
