Make Motherhood Safe for Tanzanian Women

Dear Friends,

Women living with obstetric fistula are true heroines. After surviving prolonged and/or obstructed labor – often losing a child and sometimes narrowly escaping death in the process – they frequently live for months or years burdened by chronic incontinence and all that comes with that condition: stigma, misconceptions and isolation. Many women don’t realize that treatment is an option; among those who do, many don’t know how to access it.

That’s where we come in.

Through our local partner, CCBRT, we provide life-changing, holistic treatment to women with fistula in Tanzania. Perhaps equally important, we train maternal health workers and strengthen the healthcare system to manage complications during childbirth, and prevent obstetric fistula from occurring. In addition to providing fistula surgeries and physical rehabilitation, our expert staff offer health education, counseling, family planning consultations and crafts training. All services – including transportation to and from the hospital, food and accommodation during treatment – are provided completely free of charge.

With your support, we’re working to end fistula by ensuring that women who need fistula treatment can access it, and by equipping maternal health workers with the skills and tools they need to prevent fistula in the first place.Your donation today will be amplified through GlobalGiving’s 2018 Giving Tuesday matching funds campaign.

Thanks to the generosity of donors like you, so far this year CCBRT has:

• Provided 488 fistula surgeries
• Reached 658 women living with fistula with holistic care services
• Trained 746 maternal health professionals in 22 partner sites to handle complex deliveries. We’re on track to reach another 300 health workers before end of year!

Walking through the hospital’s halls, CCBRT COO Brenda Msangi sees the profound impact that our high quality healthcare services have on our patients and their families every day.

As Brenda shares in this video message, your support is instrumental to our ability to provide the comprehensive care our patients need and deserve – but otherwise couldn’t afford. Our maternal and newborn healthcare capacity building team’s dedication and consistent presence since 2010 has meant so much to realizing the quality improvements that we’ve seen -- including a 40% increase in maternal survival since 2012.   

For women affected by fistula, CCBRT’s services offer physical and emotional relief – as well as hope for the future. Ninety-five percent of our fistula patients in 2018 reported feeling more accepted and supported by their community after surgery.

For these reasons, Brenda and I are asking you to please join us in giving the gift of health and hope to an expectant mother or woman with obstetric fistula by making a donation today. All donations we receive on Giving Tuesday, will help us earn a share of $150,000 in matching funds and bonus prizes from GlobalGiving – meaning that your gift goes further to change lives. Recurring monthly donations up to $200 will be matched at 100%.

Thank you for your incredible support and for being part of the Kupona family – we couldn’t do this without you.

With gratitude,
Abbey
Executive Director

Links:

• A video update from our partner's COO, Brenda Msangi