By David Atangana
Love, some people say conquers all. This adage has been proven to be true by a Ugandan man who ignored public mockery to marry a woman rejected by the community for her health condition.
Niyindeba Janvier developed a love relationship with Nyirantezimana Domitila which ended up in marriage. This decision according to Janvier came with a cost as he lost friends, family, and job amongst others.
Domitila – Janvier’s wife suffers from tumors that have covered her face and her entire body. Despite the strange condition, Janvier says he found love in her and decided they spend the rest of their together.
Janvier says it was not easy winning the love of Domitila who constantly rejected his love and marriage proposal.
The story MMI gathered, “started in a church where Domitila was a singer in a choir. Janvier had just converted to Christianity and when he saw her singing, he could not help but fall in love.”
According to the spouse, he approached her but she had no interest in him.
Endurance
“It is me who proposed to her and she refused for the first time. I tried to convince her telling her that my intentions were good but she still refused,” Janvier said adding, “She denied me thinking that I just wanted to sleep with her but I told her that if she accepted we would start a family together. That is when she found me to be serious and from that time our relationship became stronger everyday.”
On her part, Domitila said she did not take Janvier seriously because boys are fun of lying to girls.
“When he came to me, I could not believe it for I know boys normally lie to girls,” Domitila recalled.
Janvier’s seriousness tested through prayers
As a Christian woman, she said, “As someone who prays I knew boys were so deceitful. They always come looking for something. So I told her to go with me for prayers in the mountains and he accepted.”
That was the turning point in the relationship that is today husband and wife.
A few months into the relationship, Domitila presented a gift of her pictures to Janvier on which one of them had the word ‘Ndagukunda’ translated as ‘I love you.
Despite getting to this level, Janvier recalls that Domitila turned down his marriage proposal believing that, “nobody will like to be with her because of her condition.”
Friends, family, others isolate Janvier
When she finally accepted the proposal for her hand in marriage, Janvier had his family and society to deal with.
He took the good news to his family that he had found a wife unfortunately, his family expressed disappointment when they saw Domitila.
They tried unsuccessfully to make him change his mind but he stood his ground.
He was isolated and conditioned to change the choice of Domitila as a wife.
Janvier then “adopted new parents who supported and stood behind him during their civil and church wedding.”
The society went against him as well. He lost all his friends, his job, his family, his house, and many others. He was ejected from a family house he was living in.
Today, they aren’t the richest in their community, but they are happy.
Though people see the union as a problem, the couple live happily while society has continued to question how and why Janvier decided to marry a woman with such a condition.
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