Four years ago, SowHope met Dr. Itengré, a surgeon specializing in obstetric fistula repair. We were so moved by the stories of women living with fistula and the lifechanging results of the fistula repair surgeries, that we hoped to provide $50,000 to cover the cost of surgeries for 100 women over two years. At the time, Dr. Itengré only had access to a local operating room, allowing him to perform 50 surgeries per year, making a dent in a country that has some of the highest incidences of obstetric fistula in the world.
Dr. Itengré has a dream to build his own hospital dedicated to obstetric fistula repair. The price tag would be around $1 million and seemed to be a goal for the future. In 2020, to alleviate the issue of capacity, SowHope helped raise $50,000 towards renovating a building to serve as a fistula repair clinic. Supporters like you gave generously to not only make this clinic a reality, but you helped build a second floor! In addition, your giving provided the opportunity for SowHope to procure and send a shipping container full of necessary medical supplies to fill both floors of the clinic. In two years’ time, you helped us raise over $114,000 to make this dream a reality.
We are ecstatic to announce that the building project has been completed and the shipping container arrived full of all the items that had been purchased. Miraculously, customs did not even open the container upon arrival, as the original seal was still intact. This was a huge blessing since there have been many problems of theft during customs clearance. The new two-floor clinic will allow Dr. Itengré and his staff to perform, conservatively, about 250 surgeries each year, 5 times the capacity he had previously!
Dr. Itengré is so grateful for the generosity of our SowHope donors. He explained, “The clinic has contributed to improve the life of the community through employment and specialized clinical care in a community that has no health center. We are overjoyed!