Empowerment Stories of Hope
Rising Up to Empower
The Votoka (“Rise Up”) team in Angola conducts campaigns that encompass prevention, treatment, and empowerment. All women, even those who do not receive fistula repair surgery, are able to participate in our trauma counseling program. Women arrive with hardly any life in their eyes, but after they have gone through the program, they start singing, sharing, and encouraging others. They learn that it is possible to leave pain and suffering behind, to reach for hope, and to experience joy and happiness again—even if there is not always a 100% chance of a successful repair surgery.
Our trauma team emphasizes communication in local languages and we now have three full-time staff: Elisa (Coordinator, pictured far left), Mariana (assistant and Umbundu translator), and Alberto (assistant and Tchokwe translator, pictured at right in photo). Our trauma and reintegration team have also added a beautiful hand-sewing component to the reintegration program, teaching women to sew simple skirts and handbags as they recover from their surgery.
After women complete the program, team members follow up with phone calls. These calls are particularly important for patients who may not be returning to welcoming families.
SGBV Group in Goma, DRC
We fund the work of several different efforts in Goma, DR Congo, including two programs run by World Relief. World Relief invites us to partner with them in providing funds to surgically repair fistulas free of charge to women and girls in need, and to administer Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) groups. Women who suffer from fistula after experiencing sexual violence are offered surgery and then connected with social and economic reintegration support. This support is vital to helping them begin to heal from their trauma and regain their sense of inherent dignity and hope for life.
SGBV groups also support vulnerable women, such as widows. The women pictured here are learning to weave baskets and mats, which they will be able to sell to support themselves and their families.
From Dream to Ability
The dream for an empowerment program at Central Evangelical Medical Center (CEML) in Lubango, Angola began in 2013. HFOS team members visiting at the time were heart-broken to see the beautiful women with fistula simply sit as they awaited surgery.
Three years later on a return trip, the team was overjoyed to see three of the women making baskets! Before returning to the US, Our co-founder and CEO, Brooke, purchased one of the baskets from Salome, a fistula patient, even though the basket was unfinished. The other women with fistula thought Brooke was crazy to buy an unfinished basket, but her purchase, followed by others, sparked something beautiful. Within a few months, as many as nine women were making baskets.
Seeing the women’s interest in learning practical skills, CEML staff soon began offering weekly classes in sewing where patients could gather and produce items such as bags and surgical hats for sale.
From these humble beginnings, the Aftercare program has grown to empower women waiting for or recovering from fistula surgery with craft skills, gardening lessons, literacy/numeracy education, and teaching in local languages. Funds from our supporters provide materials and staff compensation for the program so patients can fully participate regardless of their ability to pay.
Instead of sitting passively, believing that they are unable, the women become active participants in a community that regards them as valuable and capable. They return home with skills to support themselves and become active participants in community life.
