Halima’s Story

Halima is our oldest patient, a short crinkly woman who loves to dance. She is always the first one dancing whenever music is playing, shaking her hips with a big smile on. She has lived with obstetric fistula for ten years. She developed the injury giving birth to her third child. Her labor lasted for a full [...] Read More

Bamile’s Story

Bamile is nearly 30 years old and has been living with an obstetric fistula for over a decade. She has five siblings but since her fistula developed, they have refused to recognize her existence. Prior to receiving surgery, she lived in a small shack behind her family’s house and performed odd jobs in exchange for [...] Read More

Namu’s Story

Although all of Namu’s family members warned her not to travel to Danja to see the Western doctors, the misery of her obstetric fistula outweighed the discontent of her family. She first came to get screened by the Worldwide Fistula Fund’s team during their August, 2010 surgical trip. During that appointment, she was treated medically [...] Read More

Maryama’s Story

Maryama comes from a village 100 miles north of Danja, Niger. She was married and became pregnant while still in her teens. As is the local custom – and because maternal health services are not easily accessible – Maryama planned to deliver her baby at home. Since this was her first delivery, custom dictated that [...] Read More

Saratu’s Story

Saratu is a 25-year-old refugee from Liberia’s civil war. When the gunfire started in her village, Saratu was in labor. Deep in contractions, Saruta fled into the bush. With bullets ringing in the distance, Saruta and the friend she was with faced an awful choice: to stay where they were and die, or to deliver the [...] Read More