'I adore her now': Mother learns to cope with child's autism in a country with little help

'I adore her now': Mother learns to cope with child's autism in a country with little helpJust nowShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleNicky MilneBBC Africa Eye, Mzuzu & LilongweBBCMartha is now able to smile with her daughter Rachael, but things were much darker two years agoMartha Ongwane looks adoringly at her bouncy, giggling four-year-old, unable to believe that just two years ago she had wanted to kill her.Non-verbal, biting and unable to sit still, her daughter Rachael, who had been diagnosed with autism, had slowly overwhelmed Martha leaving her desperate and depressed.She was shunned by her neighbours in the east African country of Malawi, who blamed her for what Rachael was doing. Martha was told to lock her little girl inside.There was no sympathy, and little understanding of autism and how it should be treated.Martha describes how she had poured poison into a cup, intending Rachael to drink it."I told myself it would be better if she died because that would mean she would rest and that would be the end of our problems."[But] my heart didn't let me. I changed my mind and cried so much," she says softly, looking down at her hands.Two years on, it is hard to imagine that scene as mother and daughter share a loving domestic moment.Rachael clambers onto her mother's lap as they sit on the floor of their home in Mzuzu, northern Malawi.The girl laughs, hugging Martha's face, as the 33-year-old cuts vegetables to serve with nsima, a thick porridge made from maize, for lunch.The transformation has been incredible and is largely down to the family getting access to expert care.On one of their many visits to Mzuzu Central Hospital, Rachael was referred to Saint John of God, an organisation that helps disabled children. Funded mainly by the Catholic Church, it not only provides community-based mental health services, but it has a school for children with special educational needs. It became a lifeline for the family. Ma...