She is a young refugee from Daadab coming for repair for her second time. She had an extensive fistula (complicated) which more often than not predicts higher chances of repeat repair or failure all together.
‘This is a huge problem I got in Somalia before i came to the camp which I think needs high level specialisation to resolve. Having married at 14 years old, I used to be a housewife but not anymore. My husband divorced me after I developed the OF about four years ago. There were no health facilities in the region where we lived in Somalia. We were mostly in the forest due to insecurity but when my time came I laboured there before proceeding to health clinic where I continued labouring for hours. I gave birth naturally but the baby was long dead. It is bad in Somalia as there are many girls raped by gangs in the course of war. I escaped from Kismayu and came to Kenya. Girls bleed lot in the forest due to rape and birth and there are no doctors. I have met many doctors in Kenya though the ones dealing with these problems are not many’.
Ifra (right) and another patient while awaiting surgery
It has been very difficult living with this condition. Last year I heard of this camp and we were brought here (Garissa) by the UNHCR, I was repaired and the problem improved. We live in the camp and it is very congested with little privacy. Everybody knows you leek urine and you cannot seclude yourself. People tell me I am beautiful but I feel worthless and wonder what beauty is when one is leaking urine throughout”.
Asks what she thinks caused her problem, Ifra quips, “This is a natural problem and that’s why it’s difficult to resolve.” She hopes that one day I will be able to lead a normal life like everyone else in the camp. She is very positive and has confidence with the doctors from AMREF and hopes that after successful surgery she will get a husband and children.
She was counselled and linked with personnel in Ifo health centre in Dadaab who had accompanied some of the patients to Garissa for further management.
