A long awaited dream has finally been realised with the official opening of the fistula centre in Surkhet, mid west Nepal, over the weekend.
The purpose built facility will build on the work of INF gynaecologist Dr Shirley Heywood and her dedicated team who have tirelessly provided life-changing surgery, treatment and care to women with obstetric fistulas for many years through INF’s outreach medical camps.
Dr Shirley had been working in Papua New Guinea before moving to Nepal to train Nepali doctors in gynaecology. She began hearing that women in Nepal were developing obstetric fistulas from long and protracted childbirth, and little was being done to help them.
Dr Shirley met a young woman named Suwa after moving to Nepal. Suwa had been married at age 14 and by her next birthday she had a fistula – a tear that creates a hole between the vagina and bladder and leads to incontinence. Suwa was devastated and felt as though there was no hope for her future.
However after Dr Shirley operated on Suwa’s fistula she recovered, became dry and went on to remarry and years later, deliver a healthy baby.
It was Dr Shirley’s encounter with Suwa that sparked her dream for a dedicated fistula centre in the mid-west of Nepal to help women suffering the stigma and discrimination of obstetric fistula. She gained training in fistula repair and treatment in Ethiopia.
The journey to build the centre has been long and not without its challenges. The devastating earthquake of 2015 and the blockade on the Indian border created difficulties in importing building materials. The ongoing road strikes, visa issues and other challenges provided additional hurdles.
In the Nepali Spring of 2018 the building work on the fistula centre was completed. It has been a facility built in partnership between INF and the mid-western government hospital in Surkhet. The building was handed over to the government in May 2018 and the services will gradually be transferred over the next ten years. The ongoing partnership will be crucial to the centre’s success in helping women in need.
Nepali fistula surgeons from across Nepal traveled to Surket for the opening of the fistula centre, all sharing a passion for transforming the lives of women suffering from obstetric fistula.