For years, Tabitha lived with the condition not knowing who to share with her sufferings. As she aged it continued to worsen. One day she decided to confide in her daughter and her daughter in law of her condition. They were very supportive of her and sort to get her treatment. It was during their quest to get their mother treatment that they heard of Makueni Fistula camp for women leaking urine and stool. They went to their mother and brought her to Makueni Mother & Child Hospital.

On discharged sitting between her daughters, she is very happy that she is not leaking anymore and she laughs as she is being explained the exercise that she has to do to strengthen her muscles. She looks over to her daughter and tells her to keep reminding her of the same. She says “it was not too late for her; she has control of her urine and stool until the toilet”

In the late 2018, she was diagnosed with cysts, and the doctors recommended that she goes for surgery for the removal of the cysts. To her, the surgery was supposed to be a simple process. After the surgery, she noticed she started leaking urine. She went to sort treatment at Kabete Gardens in February 2019 and after repair was done it was still not successful. While still at the hospital, she kept talking to her children on phone who gave her strength to carry on. She was discharged and went home, with a fresh wound, being weak and having a 3 year old child carrying out simple house chores was an uphill task for her. It was not long before the husband burnt a few of her good clothes and chased her out of her matrimonial home. With no money, she sought the support of the brother in law who gave her fare to go to her sister’s place. While still at her sister’s place she heard of the fistula camp at Makueni her sister encouraged her to come and try her luck once more. She sits at the hospital bed with faith that all will be well. She will is consoled daily by the voice of her children and prays that she will stop leaking and be reunited with her family.

As the norm of the school for every girl discovered to be pregnant, suspension was imminent. She sort for guidance from her mother on the pregnancy and so she felt what she believed to have been labour pains but did not bother about it. She stayed home and the labour continued and lasted 7 days. While at home, she felt the urge and the pressure of the baby coming out and with all her strength she pushed the baby out delivering at home. The joy of looking at her baby boy overwhelmed her so much that she did not notice that she was damaged. Nobody had cautioned her on what to expect after delivery of her baby.

After a few days, she noticed that she could not control the gas that came through her birth canal. Being a teen mother, she decided to consult her mother and other elder women within her family for advice on what that could have been. Everyone gave her the same answer that it was a normal occurrence after birth; that the reason was that during the birth of her child, cold air must have entered her body through the birth canal and that, was the air coming out. She took their word as truth, after all, these women had been in that journey long before her, they therefore, knew better so she thought.

After several months, she vowed to herself that it was a matter of time and everything would go back to normal. Her urge to continue with her education led her to the decision to leave her child with her mother and go back to school to finish secondary school education. It was then, that she noticed that  all was not well, even after washing  herself, she noticed her under pant was not clean; stool was passing without her being able to control. Her body started having a stench and this lead her to lose her friends. She was eager and determined to get better. She sought for treatment from different clinics and all she was given was medicine that was meant to clear the smell. The medicine however didn’t help; she finally resorted to keeping to herself, finish her education.

After completing secondary school in 2014, she resulted to staying at home assisting in household and farming activities to avoid public interaction. She lost appetite of consuming food, with the mind-set that eating made the situation worse. During gatherings where it was mandatory for her to attend, she would attend but refrain from eating in order to remain clean. It was not until; the year 2019 that she saw an advertisement on Television for a fistula camp and recognized that the condition explained on the advertisement was what she was suffering from. She called the numbers provided but being miles away and with no job or income she could not afford to attend. She explained her predicament on phone and when she was told she will be facilitated with transport to attend the Nyeri Fistula Camp nothing could hold her.

Jennifer believes her life has been given back to her. Looking back at her child Daniel, now 8 years old, she is looking forward to normalcy to her life with no shame. She parts by saying “I thank Safaricom and The Flying Doctors Society for helping me, May God Bless you and may you continue doing the good work”

By Lesley C.

A friend will ask, how are you? Often we reply, am OK. But inside we’re not fine at all. We are all created as beautiful vessels. But sometimes the vessels break. We break, emotional, spiritually or physically. Others can be mended, others take long and others suffer silently alone without being mended.

A woman is a beautiful vessel, made by God. We are strong vessels but life can be so hard and leaves us broken. Though broken a woman can smile and takes care of her baby and family, carrying the wound and scar for years. I thank God that this scar wasn’t on our face, coz all women could be ugly, and we carry this scar for our families, our clan, our community, and our country. Without this scar there are no people, no presidents, no CEO’s, no Doc’s, no life on earth, this is the scar of ‘life’, scar of pride, scar of honor.

Today we come out to honor our scars, to heal our scars and to tell the world we are still the most beautiful and strongest vessels made.

We thank our Almighty Potter, who is mending our hearts and our scars through the gifted hands of our surgeon’s through the Flying Doctors Society, Created by our own children brought into this world by the scar.

Fistula doesn’t choose the vessel to destroy, whether you are poor, or rich, educated or not. It’s like any other disease but carried by shame and stigma.

Let’s lift our pride high women. This is a Scar of pride and Honor. We were beautifully and wonderfully made. Let’s shine and dance with Pride & Honor.

We call upon our children, our husbands, brothers & sisters. Don’t abandon us as we struggle to bring forth humanity.

GOD BLESS US. WE ARE PHENOMENAL WOMEN, GOD’S OWN CREATION

See Photos here

FDSAs key intervention in the area of Medical Outreach is in conducting of surgical repairs for a condition known as Obstetric or Vesico Vaginal Fistula. This intervention is done in the form of VVF Surgical Medical Camps held periodically throughout the year in various hospitals.

Kenyatta National Hospital, being the largest VVF repair centre in the country receives over 400 VVF related cases each year, close to half of the 1,000 VVF cases nationally. The funding is earmarked for a project, run by FDSA aimed at reclaiming women’s dignity as well as protecting families and marriages from disintegration – a key consequence of VVF. A significant part of the project includes training of local specialist gynecologists, surgeons and registrars in fistula surgery as well as building capacity on the ground to handle Fistula.

Obstetric (or Vesico Vaginal) fistula is a devastating condition affecting poor rural women and girls. It manifests as an abnormal communication between the urinary bladder and vagina, which leads to uncontrolled, continuous leakage of urine and/or fecal matter. The condition most often occurs as a complication of obstructed labor but can also be caused by radiation, surgical trauma or accidents.

Inadvertently, majority of VVF incidences occur due to lack of access to qualified health care personnel during the labor period especially in cases of obstructed birth process.  The situation is usually worse off for new mothers, especially teenage mothers because their pelvis is still too small for the baby to pass through. Obstructed labor can therefore lead to injuries to the mother, child or both. This condition has perverse effects on the emotional well-being of the sufferer and completely destroys the individual’s social capacity. Obstetric fistulas affect women of all ages and account for 8% of maternal deaths worldwide.

The Flying Doctors’ Society of Africa (FDSA or The Society) was established in 1971, to raise funds for the spread of Medical Outreach in Africa through a membership scheme which guarantees free evacuation services to paid-up members. The Society also raises funds through fundraising activities, selling branded merchandise as well as donations. The Society is a charitable organization which puts to good use all unutilised subscriptions not spent on evacuations by funding Charity Evacuations and Outreach Programmes that ensure Medical facilities are accessible across the region. Since its inception, the Society has contributed the equivalent of 1 billion shillings to the spread of Medical Outreach in Africa.

FDSA works hard to ensure people all over East Africa have access to life saving medical attention. Part of the proceeds from membership subscriptions are used to help people like Rose. Become a member or donate today and help by being part of the solution.

FDSA and OWIT joined forces to set up a Movie Night to raise funds to help fight Fistula in Kenya. This is done by funding a Medical Outreach programme that identifies gaps in health care systems and develops methods and intervention to support hospitals through pre-planned visits by specialists, who provide expert advice, services and training of professional health workers. Of particular interest to FDSA and OWIT is the area of Obstetric Fistula.

To help raise funds toward this cause, FDSA and OWIT held a Movie Night on 30th November 2012. This is the second event that FDSA and OWIT have put together in the past. Although there were weather and transport issues on the day of the showing, the event managed to collect a net contributed income of KShs. 454,350.

FDSA would like to thank all the individuals who bought tickets or attended the movie. FDSA would also like to thank our sponsors; OWIT, Consolidated Bank, Citi Bank, Genesis Investments and the Awendo Foundation for their support. A big thank you to our members as well who, through their membership, contribute greatly towards the Outreach Program as well. 

This Festive season, we are offering a special discount to all our members and clients. If you purchase any new annual or short stay membership between the 1^st and 31^st of December 2012, we are offering you a 10% discount on the subscription!

You cannot afford to be without Flying Doctors cover this festive season. No matter where you travel to, whether to visit your relatives up country, or going on holiday with family and friends, you need this cover. Many who live in East Africa wonder if they will ever need to be airlifted. The truth is, you never know when you will need the service, and for a cost starting at KShs. 1,500, you can avoid the hassle of trying to raise over KShs. 500,000 on short notice for an evacuation expense.

Get your membership today!

Vesicovaginal Fistula (VVF) refers to an abnormal fistulous tract extending between the bladder and the vagina (a hole develops between the two organs) that allows the continuous involuntary discharge of urine into the vaginal vault. This condition is easily preventable and treatable but awareness is low.Funds got from this movie will go towards funding the VVF campaigns.

Watch the preview below to get an idea of what the movie is about. Come and have a great time and contribute for a good cause

Norah Nyaboke 23 years old from a small village in Gucha had VVF/Bladder stones. She says that she was orphaned at early age when she was 6 years old, I was raised by my aunty and I never went to school and was forced to offer labour to make a living at that tender age by tilling people’s farms in the neighborhood.

When I reached 18 years another man from our village asked to marry me and I accepted, although he was older than me at 40 years then I accepted and we have three children together 2 boys and 1 girl. I enjoyed my marriage until I delivered my third child who brought about this problem. When I arrived home after delivery and my husband realized I was leaking urine, he abandoned us and left us with no help.

He left me saying “you are dirty and smelling …”, and he went ahead and married another woman who was a widow. With no one to turn too since I don’t even have siblings, I totally depended on well wishers to give us support. Its then that the village elders met and told my husband that he had to provide for us. All this made me so stressed and I lost a lot of weight. Am so happy to have gotten free treatment and I plan to start working again when I get better to be able to take care of my children. I was so surprised when my husband visited me at the hospital and he was glad to hear that I will be well again.

During the hospital stay Norah was always in deep thoughts and isolated herself from the other patients, she never finished her food and she said “I thought I was the only one with this problem, and I had no one to turn to I have no parents or siblings” one of the nurses said she had depression and Norah was linked to a counselor and will be followed after the camp.

We participated in the launch of the Kenyatta VVF camp on Friday 25^th May, 2012 and are happy to report that the next few weeks will see over 100 women receive this life-changing treatment. We will continue to fundraise so that the women of Kenya and East Africa with this condition can have their lives restored.

With this issue, we update you on the various ways that your membership contribution is helping change lives. Keep up the momentum as it is through you that we are changing lives!