Act of Faith

For many of the women we serve, coming to the center is an act of faith. On Thursday we discharged an old woman who had her fistula repaired and she is dry. In the clinic as we were doing her final discharge screening and education she told us it was difficult for her to come in the first place. She didn't have the support of anyone in her family or village. They kept telling her that the problem she has is not treatable. There is no help for her. It is pointless for her to even try. She has this problem for a reason so she needs to learn to live with it.

She came anyway.

I laugh thinking about it because she told us there are four other women waiting for her return in her village. They all have the same problem she did but they waited for her to come back and report what happened here. This older woman came out as a guinea pig to see what would happen to her. I have heard this before. Patients coming out, knowing others in their villages who have fistula. There has to be one brave enough to make the first step to come. For this one woman, if she goes home dry, the others will follow.

No pressure here.

The hard part is when a patient comes and she leaves wet. There are many reasons a patient can leave wet: a failed surgery, a healed fistula but the woman has stress incontinence, some women need multiple surgeries to be completely dry... When she goes home this won't be translated well. You are either wet or dry. If you are dry, others will come. If you are wet, they don't see the point in coming.

This patient is dry and she will go home and report what she experienced here. I am looking forward to the day I look out the windows in the clinic and see the four patients from her village sitting there waiting...