Monica is 43 years old and lives with her husband and nine children in Tanzania’s Dodoma region (the same region where we are supporting the build of Phaedra Maternity Hospital). She developed an obstetric fistula during childbirth complications, and her newborn passed away before being delivered.
For a year, Monica lived with a fistula. Her family tried to support her through this period, helping look for treatment and keeping her close, but she still carried shame and grief inside. She stopped going to the farm to work and stayed home, not wanting to see anybody.
“I rejected myself,” she says. “I never wanted to meet anyone or talk to anyone. I was just at home, very sad and very angry sometimes.”
When she looked into treatment, Monica was told it would cost 300,000 Tanzanian shillings. She didn’t have the money.
Then a relative heard about Kivulini Maternity Centre in Arusha and connected Monica with the outreach team, who were visiting Dodoma. The cost of her transport and treatment was covered, so Monica was able to go to Kivulini for surgery.
Today, Monica is healed. She’s ready to get back to the farm and has plans to cook and sell nuts to the school near her home – a skill she learned during her stay at hospital. She wants to teach her children how to prepare them too, so they have skills of their own to make money.
“Life in Kivulini is very good,” she says. “When I reach home, I’m going to tell people: don’t be scared. A fistula can be treated. I am okay, and I am free from shame.”
Fistula patients learning to prepare flavoured nuts for selling
Monica is one of many women from the Dodoma region who have had to travel to reach free fistula care. Our new partner hospital, Phaedra Maternity Hospital, is currently under construction in Chamwino, Dodoma. This hospital will enable women like Monica to give birth safely, preventing fistula injuries in the first place. Your support is helping women who need it most.
This June, you can help us reach 300 more women like Monica.