Please help free mothers like Chizoram from the misery of fistula.
The birth of a child should be one of the happiest times of a mother’s life. But for some women, like Chizoram, they become prisoners in their own homes.
“I stay indoors and just cry. Wondering why this was happening to me.” – Chizoram
Chizoram has been trapped for two whole years! All because of a horrific injury she experienced during the birth of her last child – fistula.
Will you help free women like Chizoram from the misery of fistula forever?
You might not have heard much about fistula
It rarely happens in countries like Australia, where we have access to skilled maternal care. But for mothers like Chizoram who live in remote communities around the world, it’s a horrifying reality.
During labour, Chizoram’s baby became trapped. In an effort to save the lives of both Chizoram and her baby, the doctor performed immediate surgery… but this tore a hole in her birth canal – a fistula.
And tragically, Chizoram’s traumatic birth story doesn’t end there. While she survived, her baby didn’t. Like too many mums, Chizoram was left with the heartbreak of losing her baby, as well as the horror of fistula.
This is too much grief for one person’s heart to carry. We cannot turn our backs on this suffering.
Will you send a healing gift to help mums like Chizoram?
Chizoram can no longer leave her house
Fistula causes uncontrollable leaking of urine. It’s so difficult to hide, that Chizoram is simply too afraid to go out in public. Many women in this situation try to mask the leaking and smell by placing a cloth between their legs. But it’s no use – the cloth will soak through in minutes.
“I became ashamed of it and I stopped going out entirely… no church, no market.” – Chizoram
Please send your gift to help heal the pain, shame, and injustice of fistula.
Chizoram sacrificed everything to find a solution
She even sold her shop – the livelihood she worked hard to build as a much-needed way to provide for her family – all so she could afford to pay for treatment at a local hospital.
After such a sacrifice in the hope that this will finally bring her relief, the surgery failed. Not only did Chizoram’s suffering continue… she and her family were now in an even worse financial position.
Will you help mothers like Chizoram finally get the treatment they need?
If only Chizoram’s story was a one-off case
Tragically, obstetric fistula is so poorly understood by doctors in remote parts of the world, that mothers like Chizoram are often wrongly treated for the condition – or never even diagnosed.
In Nigeria, where Chizoram lives, around 150,000 women are living with untreated obstetric fistula.
To make the isolation even more crushing, many women injured by fistula are abandoned by their husbands. Even shunned by their entire community.
All alone and unable to work… they sink even deeper into poverty.
Please help free mothers from the fear and shame of fistula.
Chizoram was losing all hope until…
She heard about CBM’s Free Fistula Repair Program on a radio show. At first, Chizoram found it hard to believe it could be true, but her eldest daughter persuaded her to call our local partner.
Just think what successful, healing surgery could mean for Chizoram. She could live, work and socialise with complete freedom.
Your gift can make this happen for Chizoram and more women like her.
Here’s how your Faith in Action changes lives:
- You could help fund our outreach awareness work through Radio Shows, like the one Chizoram heard.
- You could free a woman from the misery of fistula forever, by helping her have Free Fistula Repair Surgery.
- You could help Train Doctors in remote communities to recognise, diagnose and treat fistula as soon as it happens.