While I was reading the New York Times Magazine special edition on
Saving the World's Women I got immediately hooked by one organization that was mentioned in one of the articles:
The Fistula FoundationWhat is a fistula?A fistula is a hole. An obstetric fistula of the kind that occurs in many developing countries is a hole between a woman's birth passage and one or more of her internal organs. This hole develops over many days of obstructed labor, when the pressure of the baby's head against the mother's pelvis cuts off blood supply to delicate tissues in the region. The dead tissue falls away and the woman is left with a hole between her vagina and her bladder (called a vesicovaginal fistula or VVF) and sometimes between her vagina and rectum (rectovaginal fistula, RVF). This hole results in permanent incontinence of urine and/or feces.
A majority of women who develop fistulas are abandoned by their husbands and ostracized by their communities because of their inability to have children and their foul smell. Traumatic fistula is the result of sexual violence. The injury can occur through rape or women being butchered from the inside with bayonets, wood or even rifles. The aim is to destroy the women and the community within which the sufferer lives. Once committed the survivor, her husband, children and extended family become traumatized and humiliated. How many women does this problem affect?Because fistula affects women in the most remote regions of the world, an accurate count is very hard to achieve.
The most common estimate is that 100,000 women worldwide develop fistulas every year, though some estimates put the number closer to 500,000. Because most fistula sufferers are young women—many still in their teens—they are likely to live with their condition for upwards of 25 years. By any estimate, there are at least two million women currently living with fistula throughout the developing world. The world capacity to treat fistula is estimated at 6,500 fistula repair surgeries per year.
Can fistula be "cured"?Yes. An obstetric fistula can be closed with intravaginal surgery. If her surgery is performed by a skilled surgeon, a fistula patient has a good chance of returning to a normal life with full control of her bodily functions.
The costs for one surgery are $450. If this is too much for you to donate in one donation, you can also become a monthly donor through the
Love-a-sister Program. By this you will make 12 monthly payments of $37.50 a month, charged to a credit card.
