Seeing Tears Turn into Smiles

by Loy Tumusiime, Reproductive Health Program Coordinator

It had been a boisterous day filled with stories and camaraderie. The UVP office was filled with all of our Fistula Ambassadors. It’s one of my favorite activities because I get to hear many stories about successes; our Fistula Ambassadors conduct educational outreaches in faraway places. They cover about 4,000 square miles in eastern Uganda. Today, I got to catch up with Aidah who made the trek to Iganga even though she is expecting her baby any day. As a former fistula patient, Aidah has been reflecting on her previous birth experience.

After a prolonged labor, Aidah left the hospital with what turned out to be a very complicated fistula. Her first husband, distraught by the loss of the baby and his wife’s health condition, left. After one year of living with fistula, Aidah attended a UVP fistula camp and received treatment that resulted in the successful closure of the fistula. She was so grateful for the services, she started conducting informal educational outreaches – before UVP established the Fistula Ambassador program. Once UVP partnered with The Fistula Foundation and established the Fistula Ambassador program, Aidah didn’t have to think about the offer to become a Fistula Ambassador. Her passion for educating women on how to avoid fistula shines brightly six years later.

Now remarried, Aidah is expecting her baby any day and she and her husband have prepared very well with a small savings that will provide them transport to the health center and supplies needed to support a healthy and safe delivery. When I asked Aidah what inspired her to keep acting as a Fistula Ambassador, even traveling in the final days of her pregnancy, she had this to say: “When I see a woman leave the village crying only to return with a smile on her face, I know her life has been changed, just like mine was.”

To find out more about UVP’s fistula program, visit our website. You can support Aidah’s work to educate women in remote places by making a contribution to reproductive health programming!

The Connection between Health and Wealth

by Josephine Asio, Program Coordinator

“Having a pit latrine in my village was considered a luxury,” Harriet laments. Based on this comment, it doesn’t surprise me that she scoffs when she tells me that her neighbors used to think that it was witchcraft that made children fall sick. Harriet knows it was the poor health conditions of the village.

But now, three years later, Harriet is pleased with the changes she has seen in Namufuma. She says that seven out of ten neighbors now have latrines and many more people sleep under mosquito nets. These numbers were confirmed by the graduation survey in the village – there was a 20% increase in latrine coverage and a 10% increase in knowledge of how malaria spreads and is prevented during the three years.

One notable thing Harriet shared with me was the difference in how the community members saw the government health workers. Prior to UVP working in Namufuma, the sub-county Health Assistant was known for arresting people who did not have a proper latrine. Although that practice had been outlawed nearly ten years ago, community members still feared a visit from the Health Assistant. The VHTs and UVP staff visited the village many times with the Health Assistant to provide valuable education and slowly debunked the myth that those without proper facilities would be arrested.

She finishes our conversation by making a bold statement: “A healthy community is a wealthy community.” I pondered this statement for a while, wondering why she so clearly understood the relationship between health and poverty, but that others still seemed far away from this revelation. I came to a conclusion I’ve had before: behavior change is a slow process and we must be patient and persistent.

Do you believe that health and wealth are intertwined? Learn more about UVP’s Health Villages program by visiting our website.