Fistula Ep 6: Searching for Redemption

Jackline’s journey to Kisii Teaching and Referral Level 6 started with a text from a family friend. The message was straightforward; there was a free medical camp whose objective was to address the challenges faced by women with fistula. The ask was even more succinct- would she like to be part of the camp?

"I did not think twice," she says. "I wanted to do something. I wanted to see whether I could be healed.”

She applied for a few days off her work as a machine operator in Kajiado, and once approved, she got onto the next available night bus and made it to Kisii. Ready for whatever the world would throw her way.

"But before I got on the bus, I had to take some pills that help me hold everything inside," she says.

A key characteristic of fistula patients is the inability to hold urine, feces, or both. The condition causes them to surrender control of their bowel movements, often resulting in embarrassing situations.

“This is what I have been doing for more than the past decade. Before I go to church…before I go to an event…before I go to a public place. This is what I have been doing,” she says.

Her overnight travel meant she was the first potential patient at the medical camp. After closely being examined, a nurse gave a name to what she had been living with for years- a rectovaginal fistula that causes the fecal matter to leak through her vagina.

Those without the luxury of understanding their condition and finding ways of coping are often surrounded by a constant odor that drives loved ones away—husbands abandon them, families withdraw, and communities shun them, believing the condition is a curse or punishment. The psychological toll is unbearable: depression and suicidal thoughts haunt those who once dreamed of raising children, working, and belonging.

To lessen the psychological toll of fistula to women living with the condition, the M-PESA Foundation, in collaboration with other partners such as the Ministry of Health, the Flying Doctors’ Society of Africa (FDSA), and Amref Health Africa, continues organize- since 2016- free fistula camps across the country. Here, women from all walks of life get diagnosed and, critically, access lifesaving surgeries at no cost.

These fistula camps are often the only way out for women like Jackline who suffer through the condition for years.

“This is our way of contributing to the United Nation’s goal of eradicating fistula by 2030,” Lynda Kasina, a trustee of Safaricom Foundation says.

Approximately 4,000 – 5,000 new obstetric fistulas occur in East Africa annually. FDSA (Flying Doctors Society of Africa) estimates that in Kenya about 1,200 fistula operations are performed per year. This represents about 30% of women and girls in desperate need of surgery.