Overview

My name is Margaret and I am a 50 year old fistula survivor. The first time I was pregnant my labor was difficult and painful and I lost the child and got a fistula. I was in pain and ashamed and very isolated. For many years I tried again to have a child, and I was pregnant seven times but with every birth the child was stillborn. In 2000 I had my first surgery to repair the fistula and it broke open again so I had a second repair in 2018. I live with my husband and I am raising his first wife’s four children since she died. I sell clothes for an income and I own four acres of land.

My goal is to use my land to farm. After my second fistula surgery I learned farming and business skills from an organization called Beyond Fistula. I want to earn an income by farming instead of selling clothes because it will make much more money and I need money to raise my husband’s first wife’s children.

I need funds ($200) for farming supplies - sugar, rice, corn, beans, chickens, a chicken coop, and chicken feed. I also plan to buy a goat and sell the milk.

Meeting this need will help me because I have land and the skills to farm and sell the yield at market, and once I have the supplies I can get started making my own income. I will use this income to help pay the school fees of the four children I am raising.

Validated

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

Margaret is one of the women who came to our farm skills training seminar. She has been through so much pain and suffering in her life, yet remains stoic and strong. She has a great business plan for adding chickens and a goat to her farm, in addition to wanting to use her new farming skills for more effective/efficient/productive farming. Our organization, Beyond Fistula, will be following up with her and supporting her in 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