“I didn’t ever think in my life that I would get fistula,” says 34-year-old Fatima of Nigeria. “I thought I was educated enough not to get it, and I received prenatal care when I was pregnant. It was because of the negligence of the doctor and birth attendants that I developed fistula.”

Fatima was married at 26 and became pregnant soon after while studying at Bayero University in Kano, Nigeria. When she began to experience labour pains, she went to a hospital, but was turned away. She returned the following evening and was admitted to the facility, but received inadequate care. “On the fifth day of labour, I finally had my baby. But by that time it was too late; I had already lost my child,” she said.

Shortly after the delivery, Fatima began leaking urine and faeces uncontrollably. Despite three fistula repair operations, she is still not fully continent, but manages her condition. Later this year, Fatima will undergo a fourth operation in Kano, Nigeria, with Dr. Kees Waaldijk, a world renowned fistula surgeon. She hopes this operation will be her last: “Maybe, if I can get repaired, I will have a new husband,” she says. “And then I will get pregnant.”

In February 2007, Fatima travelled to Brussels to share her story with Members of European Parliament and encourage political support for the Campaign to End Fistula. Fatima has completed her college degree and is now working at a non-governmental organization in Kano that provides counselling, empowerment and reintegration services to women who have suffered with fistula.