By Gabrielle Blair
In "Part 1" of her journey to Ethiopia, ONE Mom blogger Gabrielle Blair shares her experience interacting with children at the Mary Joy Organization.
Blair with Ethiopian girl at Mary Joy. Photo Credit: Karen Walrond, ONE
Gabrielle's story continues in "Part 2" below with reflections on a life-changing visit to a fistula hospital in Ethiopia.
Yesterday I learned about fistula. At its most basic, it means a hole. A hole that can be repaired with a few stitches in a surgery that takes as little as 45 minutes. But, what it really means to the women who experiences it is a stillborn child, loss of a husband and marriage, loss of dignity, and total ostracization from her community.
The basic story is this: A woman goes into labor. (Imagine her as a late teen or in her early twenties, but it can happen to anyone in child-bearing years.) She lives in a rural area and has little or no access to health care. She is delivering the baby at home with her mother or grandmother. They are not midwives. They have no training.
There is a complication with the labor. The baby is stuck. The husband or parent does not think to send the girl to a hospital, they just wait, assuming the baby will be born eventually. They don't know how to recognize the signs that this is a real complication that requires medical attention and ideally an emergency c-section. (Honestly, I wouldn't know the signs either. I don't have to know, because I have access to doctors.) And even if they did understand, that is likely not an option.
There might be a clinic in her region, but the road to the clinic may not be drivable or passable. And if it is drivable, there may be no ambulance or other vehicle. And if there is a vehicle, the family may not have money to hire it. They may need to sell a goat first, which might take a week. Or so.
So the woman (or girl) labors for three or four days. The baby dies of suffocation. The tissue of the woman's body, where the baby is stuck, dies as well. Eventually, days later, the stillborn baby's head shrinks and the baby is able to be pushed from the woman's body. The dead tissue is pushed from her body too, leaving a hole in her bladder or her rectum. Or both.
Sometimes it's a tiny hole. Other times, her entire bladder is gone. Either way, the affect on her is the same. She can no longer control her bodily functions.
At that point, her husband rejects her and sends her back to her family. They often reject her as well. She loses all dignity and is ostracized by the community. She has no education. She has been taught her whole purpose is to marry and bear children and she can't do that now, so she is ashamed. She is suicidal.
But here's the thing. Fistulas are extremely fixable. Extremely fixable! Over 90 percent of treated cases go on to full recovery.
And now, we get to the Hamlin Fistula Hospital. It has 140 beds, and sometimes, there are two people to a bed because they never turn anyone away. The women are treated for fistula, but not just that. They're not sent home the next day. The approach is whole. The women are counseled; they receive physical therapy, they learn to read and they're taught marketable skills like embroidery, basket making, sewing. They get their dignity back. They get their life back. And when they're healthy -- whether it takes three weeks or three years (in the really disturbing cases) -- they are sent home with a new dress and transportation money to get home. Wherever home might be. The hospitals services are free of charge.
What I walked away with:
Sometimes, it comes down to one-on-one.
Once you know how fixable fistula is, the first thought is: We must tell all the women affected as quickly as possible so they can get to a hospital! We need a major media campaign across the whole country! But, here's the thing; that's been tried fand big campaigns don't work for something like this. It is too private and there is too much shame and stigma around fistula. What works? Representatives from the hospitals have to literally go door to door in the rural areas. They have to talk with an individual woman one-on-one, share stories of fistula repair person-to-person, privately. And then help the woman get to a fistula hospital.
Education. Education. Education.
One of the doctors we met with is about 55 years old. She's one of the only two female fistula surgeons in the country. She's fantastic. She was not raised in the city. She was born in a tiny rural village, but her father insisted that she be educated. Fifty years ago, very few rural kids were educated. Parents couldn't afford to send them. And if they could afford it, they sent the sons. But her father sent both his son and daughter. Like I said, insisted on it. None of his friends supported this. They thought he was crazy. So did his wife. She said, "You're taking my one daughter, and you're sending her to school?" But he did it anyway. And she excelled. And she still excels. And in her 20+ years of being a fistula surgeon, she's helped more women than we can count.
One person with passion can make a real and enormous difference.
The Hamlin Hospital was founded by Dr. Hamlin from Australia. She saw the need. She knew she could help. She raised the money. She made it happen. Because of Dr. Hamlin's efforts and determination, the Hamlin Hospital and satellite clinics reach 6000(!) fistula patients every year. This treatment drastically improves their lives. Drastically is an understatement.
Doesn't that make you want to dedicate your life to something awesome? Me too.
P.S. -- Today, we'll be traveling to a city called Mojo, about an hour and a half from Addis Ababa, to visit a DFID education site. I look forward to seeing what the landscape is like outside of the city!
Gabrielle Blair is a designer, mother of six, and the author of the blog, Design Mom. She is traveling in Ethiopia with ONE this October. This piece, originally published on Design Mom, is part of our ongoing coverage of the trip.
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This week, I'm in Ethiopia at the kind invitation and expense of The ONE Campaign, a nonpartisan, advocacy organization dedicated to the fight against extreme poverty and malnutrition, particularly in Africa. ONE works to convince governments to invest in smart programs that save lives. While here, I'm with a group of parenting bloggers to observe how the organizations for which ONE advocates are effecting real change in Ethiopia.
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