Fund Life Saving Maternal Care for Women in DRC

Hope for Our Sisters is excited to share our quarterly report with news from the Wellness Clinic in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). We continue to raise funds through GlobalGiving to provide life-saving care for women who seek cesarean deliveries at this clinic to prevent injury to themselves and their babies. While our organization began with the intention to address fistula (severe incontinence from obstructed labor or trauma), time showed us that by making deliberate efforts to intervene at the root causes of fistula, such as the inability to access quality health care, we will not only play a role in preventing it, but we will also ensure that the next generation of women are healthy, empowered and free to reach their potential. 

Our partners at the Wellness Clinic informed us that between May and mid-August of 2019, 128 cesarean deliveries were provided by way of your thoughtful investments. This is even more cesarean deliveries provided in the preceding period, which had totaled ninety-nine. These procedures cost $120 USD, and that cost is simply out of reach for many people living in developing nations like DRC. Of the women who needed surgical deliveries, 107 could make partial payments and twenty-one could pay nothing at all. Our fund ensures that all women coming to the clinic seeking life-saving maternal health care can receive the care they and their unborn children require.  

Fimi was one such woman. During her seventh pregnancy, Fimi's husband left home in the third trimester without leaving word of where he was going. She had not seen him in three months when her labor began. She had been working to keep her other six children fed, but was unable to afford school fees for them, let alone the enormous cost of a cesarean delivery when the need arose. Thanks to the Maternal Health Fund you have established with your generosity, her baby was safely delivered and the entire cost of the surgery was covered. 

Thank you for coming alongside us to give these women and their babies the best possible outcomes. We are honored to partner with these beautiful women in the pursuit of hope and health.

Links:

• HFOS Home Page