Give Women Recovering from Fistula a Bright Future

Dear Friends,

As we shared in our last report, in honor of Mother’s Day and International Day to End Obstetric Fistula on May 23rd, this month we’re celebrating mothers and the healthcare workers who keep them safe.

Today, we also want to celebrate you for partnering with us to help women holistically recover from obstetric fistula, as well as to prevent and eradicate fistula in Tanzania, by sharing recent program updates from our local partner CCBRT.

In mid-December, ten trainees graduated from The Mabinti Centre’s vocational training program, after receiving eight months of instruction in skills like sewing, screen printing and beading, as well as numeracy, English and business. At graduation, each woman received both a diploma and a business starter kit that included a sewing machine, calculator, pair of scissors, and fabric. Just this month, Mabinti welcomed its 2019 class of 12 trainees!

The Mabinti Centre also took a significant step forward this spring when it opened a storefront in a popular outdoor shopping mall in Dar es Salaam. By increasing revenue from product sales, Mabinti will be able to increasingly reinvest both in its operations and in CCBRT’s fistula program, helping to provide free, high quality holistic treatment to more women in need. Take a one minute tour of Mabinti’s new store here.

Finally, at the end of last year, CCBRT’s continued advocacy led the government to agree to include fistula in the official training curriculum for its community health workers (CHWs). Based at the village level, CHWs are uniquely placed to identify and refer women living with fistula. CCBRT’s fistula program team is working closely with the Tanzanian Ministry of Health to teach all government CHWs about fistula, making them fistula “ambassadors” - a testament to the importance of engaging health workers to #EndFistula in Tanzania.

Thank you for helping make this life-changing work possible.

Warmly,

Abbey Kocan

Executive Director, Kupona Foundation