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Mark the Calendar: A Special Day in Nigerien History

 

Although they are a joyous and friendly people, the women and men of Niger don't have much time for big celebrations. With the daily struggle for food, shelter and survival foremost in their minds, it can be difficult to take a break from their tasks for the sake of simple enjoyment. And for women with obstetric fistula, holidays are often a distant memory. Shunned by their families and communities, they are frequently left to live each day with the same grinding hopelessness as the last. Alone and without any idea how to get help or regain the life they once had, it is easy to see how a lost day might turn into a lost year might turn into a lost lifetime. 

 

But February 11 will be different. While not a holiday in the traditional sense, February 11 marks the grand opening of the Danja Fistula Center in southern Niger. And the celebration is expected to be an absolutely glorious one. 

 

 

Men and women from the local villages are invited to join the excitement as Worldwide Fistula Fund staff and volunteers officially open the hospital for year-round service to the birth-injured women of Hausaland (the region of Niger and Nigeria that the Danja Fistula Center will serve). It will be a chance to reunite with old friends -- and make many new ones -- as we all come together to tour the hospital and learn about the services it will provide and the hope it will bring.

 

It can't be said enough that the hospital would be little more than an unrealized dream without your support over the months and years it has taken to get us here. Indeed, February 11 is a time to celebrate for all of those who care about ending the devastation of obstetric fistula. It is a time to realize the power we have when we work together to accomplish a goal. And it is a time to reflect on how much further we have to go to make sure that every woman with a fistula receives medical treatment and that no woman gives birth without the care she needs and deserves. The Danja Fistula Center sends a very strong message of support to the mothers of Africa: we can end this, we will end this, and we're not going anywhere until we do. 

 

To continue supporting the Danja Fistula Center -- and bring healing and medical care to the thousands of women living with the agony of obstetric fistula -- please make a tax-deductible one-time or recurring gift today. We thank you for your incredible generosity.



Hospital Highlights
 
Many of you have asked about the special features of the Danja Fistula Center. What makes it such a top-tier fistula hospital? Who can go there? And how does the WFF even get the supplies it needs over to Niger? Read on for all these answers and more:
 
- The DFC has three operating rooms, 42 beds for short-term fistula patients, and hostels for those who want or need to stay for an extended time. 
 
- The DFC is the only hospital of its kind in Niger.
 
- The DFC plans to perform up to 500 free fistula surgeries (and train several surgeons in obstetric fistula repair) in its first year of operation!
 
- The DFC is open to and free for all women with obstetric fistula, regardless of age, nationality or religion.
 
- The DFC is equipped to handle complex incontinence problems, with capabilities rivaling western hospitals and including ureteral reimplementation and urinary diversion.
 
- All supplies for the DFC have been donated by supporters, medical companies and other NGOs, or purchased with funds raised by the WFF. They have been sent to Niger via cargo ship.
 
- While the DFC will concentrate only on fistula repair, it will partner with local hospitals to ensure women in the area receive the prenatal and delivery care they need. 
 
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