Strength beyond measure: Bayise’s story

Bayise, 26, is from Dano area in northern Ethiopia and lives in a rural village, together with her five-year-old daughter.

As her only child, Bayise’s daughter is the centre of her world – tragically of the five other pregnancies she has had, all have ended in stillbirths.

However, her sixth and most recent pregnancy brought even greater trauma, as sadly after delivering a stillborn baby Bayise suffered an obstetric fistula.

“By the time I realised I had become incontinent, I completely gave up on life and wished I could die rather than living in such a condition. My husband never returned after he found out about my incontinence and I was left lonely”.

Strength beyond measure

Bayise stayed at home in her village with her mother and daughter for five months without support, until she heard about the free treatment offered at Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia from a relative living in Addis Ababa.

But the strength Bayise had held onto all those years hadn’t diminished – with renewed hope she left her daughter with her mother and began her journey, alone, to the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital.   

Treatment and recovery

Bayise arrived at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in July 2020, and was ready for surgery in September. Her treatment was successful, and she is now dry and ready to get her life back:

“Right from the moment I entered the hospital compound I received the utmost care and love from everyone at the hospital. A kind of care that I didn’t even get from my own mother. If it was not for you, I might be dead by now. You gave me my life back and I have no words to express my gratitude.”  

Bayise, fistula patient