Desta mander... God's work ... living Right...

Have you ever been to those stinky public urinals?


Natures call seems a real torture then. That typical suffocating stench could make you gasp for fresh air. You might hold your breath while your grimacing face is reflexly covered by your hand or 'kerchief. But the good thing is you can always leave that place just in time .....


 Imagine somebody who can't escape it.... 'cos her body itself has transformed into a stinky urinal.... and no matter how much she tries the stench never leaves her... and to add to her misery people shun and despise her...she is ostracized..


  I am talking about a much neglected obstetric condition caused during childbirth called  of vesico-vaginal fistula in which injury to the bladder during prolonged labour leads to constant leaking of urine for the rest of the women's life. It's not life threatening but that constant leaking is life damaging...


 In third world countries like India and Africa where good obstetric care is not available to a large population a good number of young women suffer from VVF post obstructed labour.... In Africa 1 in 12 women and approximately 3 million women worldwide suffer from VVF(vesico-vaginalfistula).


Now imagine that such a suffering young woman meets somebody who treats her and transforms her into a human again ....What would you call that ....??? I would call that reconstruting a broken life and mending a hopeless heart.....

Well this angelic person who does God's work is Dr. Catherine Hamlin who had worked in Africa (Ethiopia ) doing reconstructive surgery for VVF almost her entire life. With her husband she constructed a Addis Ababa Fistula hospital in 1974... Since then they have cured around 30,000 fistula patients.... I was introduced to her amazing work in 2009 when she got the Right Livelihood award for dedicated work in Africa.... which is an alternate to the Nobel.... Hats off to Dr. Hamlin....and to her 'Desta Mander' (Village of joy ).