Sponsorship - July 2016 Fistula Camp at Kagando, Uganda (31-Aug-2016)
Some of the happy ladies
We made a donation to HADA towards assisting women with fistulas. We picked HADA as all the funds go directly to the people intended. The doctors and other volunteers do not get paid and donate their time.
Here are some photos and the e-mail that came with it.
More happy ladies - they have their pails and indwelling catherers still on but only for a short time more !!! :-)
Judith Goh, Hannah Krause, Jackie Smalldridge, GI Tan, John Taylor and I have just returned from Uganda, where we did a prolapse and fistula camp at Kagando hospital. Once again we were welcomed by a large group of ladies with big smiles and cheery dispositions - all the more so after we were able to help improve their previously desperate lifestyles. The ladies in the above photo have all had VVF repairs - as evidenced by their indwelling catheters running into their brightly coloured buckets. They are now dry - most of them having spent months to years being continually wet and smelly. Their joy is obvious!
We Operated on 52 patients with prolapse, 29 patients with Vesico-Vaginal fistulas, 26 patients with Recto-Vaginal fistulas and 10 others with causes of incontinence requiring less major surgery. In addition, one patient presented with a large rectal prolapse, and one with a huge thyroid mass (she had a lump - just at the wrong end of her body!!). We were able to fund their operations by the general surgeon at the hospital. 19 patients were managed on the ward with conservative medical treatment for their incontinence (all after previous successful closure of their fistula).
The total cost of the camp was approximately AU$46,000. Thanks to your overwhelming generosity, we have been able to fund this camp and will be able to return to Kagando in December to conduct another prolapse and fistula camp.
These women are deeply grateful for your generosity and wish to thank you for changing their lives.
We will be heading off again in mid-December, and will keep you informed of our work.
Kind regards,
Barbara Hall