Dorcas is a 50-year-old woman from Kogi State, Nigeria, who lived nearly half of her life with obstetric fistula. She developed the condition after enduring a prolonged, obstructed labor during the delivery of her first and only child. Fortunately, the baby survived the traumatic delivery. Much less fortunately, Dorcas now had to endure a decades-long ordeal marked by incessant leaking of urine.
“Life has not been easy with fistula, especially when my neighbors find joy in bad-mouthing my condition behind my back,” said Dorcas. “That is why my family and I [were] searching for a hospital that can completely treat and cure me.” The search finally ended in 2023, when Dorcas received free repair surgery at Evangel Vesico-Vaginal Fistula Center, a partner of Fistula Foundation that is based in Jos, Nigeria.
According to Dorcas, the surgery has transformed her life. “I am grateful to this center for taking and treating me,” she said. “Before the surgery, my body was usually drenched in urine due to the leakage, but I thank God that I have been healed today. Now that I am well, I am free to go to church. I am free to go to the market. I am free to go anywhere I like.”
