We had a chance to talk to Norah Nyaboke during the Kisii fistula camp and this is what she had to say:

Norah Nyaboke 23 years old from a small village in Gucha had VVF/Bladder stones. She says that she was orphaned at early age when she was 6 years old, I was raised by my aunty and I never went to school and was forced to offer labour to make a living at that tender age by tilling people’s farms in the neighborhood.

When I reached 18 years another man from our village asked to marry me and I accepted, although he was older than me at 40 years then I accepted and we have three children together 2 boys and 1 girl. I enjoyed my marriage until I delivered my third child who brought about this problem. When I arrived home after delivery and my husband realized I was leaking urine, he abandoned us and left us with no help.

He left me saying “you are dirty and smelling …”, and he went ahead and married another woman who was a widow. With no one to turn too since I don’t even have siblings, I totally depended on well wishers to give us support. Its then that the village elders met and told my husband that he had to provide for us. All this made me so stressed and I lost a lot of weight. Am so happy to have gotten free treatment and I plan to start working again when I get better to be able to take care of my children. I was so surprised when my husband visited me at the hospital and he was glad to hear that I will be well again.

During the hospital stay Norah was always in deep thoughts and isolated herself from the other patients, she never finished her food and she said “I thought I was the only one with this problem, and I had no one to turn to I have no parents or siblings” one of the nurses said she had depression and Norah was linked to a counselor and will be followed after the camp.