Overview

My name is Gladys and I am a 45 year old wife, mother of 5, and fistula survivor. I developed a fistula giving childbirth when I was 18 years old, and I lived with it for 26 years. I felt ashamed and I could not work as much as I wanted to because of the pain. In 2017 I had surgery and my fistula was repaired and now I am dry and healed for the first time since I was a teenager. My husband and I own one acre of land where we have two cows and five hens. We farm but do not grow enough food to feed our whole family.

My goal is to lease more land to farm to feed my family. I will also purchase seeds, fertilizer and some farm supplies. I also plan to teach my children the farming skills I have learned so we can make better use of our land. I just participated in a farm training seminar, so I am hopeful that may new skills will help us get a better yield of crops.

I need funds ($200) to lease a plot of land and purchase supplies to expand our farming. Once we have more land, we will be able to grow enough to feed our family and maybe enough to sell the excess at market for income. Right now our property is not large enough for all of us to eat enough.

Meeting this need will help me because I will be able to farm and grow enough food to feed my family. I haven’t been able to work as hard as I want while I had a fistula for 26 years because I was in pain. Now I am healed and motivated to farm and grow more food now that my body is healthy and I can do more labor.

Validated

Validated by Debra from Beyond Fistula (What does this mean?)

Gladys lived with her obstetric fistula for 26 yrs before learning it was a medical condition that could be repaired. She had difficulty working, became depressed and lost her sense of self worth. She is finally repaired, has met with our social workers and a peer support group, and is now stronger and ready to work hard to better support herself and her family. She completed our farm training seminar and has a plan to lease more land and grow crops to feed her family and to sell at the market. Beyond Fistula will be following up with her and supporting her efforts.

About Debra

I am the co-founder and Executive Director of Beyond Fistula. I founded the nonprofit in 2012 after seeing how much these young Kenyan women needed help rebuilding their lives after recovering from a childbirth injury known as obstetric fistula. I am endlessly motivated by their hope and tenacity… Read more