is perceived as death'* (Respondent 1, focus group discussion 1). The women who had previously managed to reach the hospital (five in total) had, similar to Hanna, experienced having to wait for a long time for the examination, reducing the limited funds available. Some had been sent home with remedies for ulceration treatment and been told to return once the wound had healed. Most had not managed to return. Besides the barriers of cost and time, the unsuccessful healing of the ulcer with the remedies they had been given made some of the women feel hesitant to return. The only woman who eventually returned did so through the strong support of her husband and by borrowing money from neighbours.

Unlike Hanna, the majority of our informants had not heardabout the surgery*. *Part of me is worried*, *but on the other hand a part of me is telling me that it is better to have the surgery than continue living this way'* (40-year-old married woman, prolapse stage III).

Aberash's story {#sec016}
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When we first met Aberash, a 50-year-old married woman, she had been admitted to the hospital. She got married at around 18 years old and had given birth to a total of seven children but lost two of them after having reached the health clinic. Aberash never went to school. She could not tell us exactly how long she had had the prolapse but explained that over the years she had gotten used to it and somehow managed to live with it. Two years ago, however, the prolapse