Somalia

Our partner in the field, National Borama Fistula Hospital, is helping suffering women in Somaliland. Read the story of Khadra Ibrahim Ahmed, who has a bright new future thanks to a successful operation at Borama hospital to repair the obstetric fistula that has marred the last 14 years of her life. “Whenever I visited my relatives in their houses I was not allowed to sleep in their beds, I couldn’t ride in public vehicles, or go to weddings or other public gatherings. I was under house arrest! I couldn’t mix with other people, and my husband even left me because of it. People would only call me on my phone but nobody wanted to stand close to me,” said Khadra, 40, who lives in Bosaso.

Halima was in her twenties when she endured a horrible childbirth that left her with an obstetric fistula. Ten years later, Halima is now 36 years old, living in Elasha Biyaha, Somalia and shares the story of how she got her fistula. “When I went to labour, the pain got stronger and stronger and lasted on and on. Something was not right. It took two days to convince my husband to bring me to a health facility. The doctors that saw me decided to immediately carry out a cesarean section. But they had no anesthesia. The pain was unbearable, and when I screamed they started beating me. ...