I had seen Ella a few times in the church on the back bench, but her disfigured face had made me to turn the other side and ignore her presence. This day our paths crossed each other and I was forced to get into a conversation. Ella said she had a desire to talk to a sister, yet her shame and fear kept her away. When I stopped to listen, she came out this most moving true story.
From Romance to Rejection
While she was still in high school, a young man belonging to another religion fell for her beauty, Her parents were against inter-religious marriage. Intoxicated with their youthful love, she left her home and settled in a distant land. After five years of life together, and with a little baby girl of four years, things started turning sour. One day, under suspicion that Ella flirts with other men, her husband pushed her on to the fire while she was cooking and left for better prospects with a woman he loved. A kind-hearted neighbour helped Ella to recover in the hospital. After a month, when she returned to her rented room, she had no idea of what had happened to her child. Her world had been shattered. Since she had cut off all her family ties, she could not think of returning to her native village with a disfigured face. So, to make ends meet, she took up washing dishes for families.
Sr Theresa Viegas PBVM
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