I would not wish fistula even on my worst enemy, woman says

Inviolata Nabwire and her husband Joseph Ogola in their single-roomed house
in Kwa Rhonda Estate, Nakuru County. The 40-year-old woman developed fi stula
when she was a teenager after undergoing a caesarian section operation. [PHOTO: HENRY KWENYA/ STANDARD]

Seated on a wooden chair in her single-room house with her husband, Inviolata Nabwire has not known happiness since 1991.

An obstetric fistula victim, the 40-year-old woman has to contend with all manner of public ridicule. A person suffering from the condition has no control of the bowels.

“I do not know what happiness entails. I am not able to travel long distances and unfortunately whenever I board a vehicle, people alight claiming they cannot stand my condition,” says Ms Nabwire.

The woman who lives in Kwa Rhonda Estate, Nakuru, does casual jobs like cleaning clothes and baby seating for a living. But Nabwire explains that it is not easy because majority of people fail to understand the condition and sack her without a clear reason.

“The only jobs I do for a living is cleaning clothes and baby seating but it becomes a challenge when an employee claims I prepare them unclean meals and I can easily infect their children with diseases,” she says tearfully.

The condition developed after undergoing a cesarean section operation at a Busia based hospital in 1991 added to her misery as she will never her a baby.

She was only 14 years then after being forced to marry a man who died five years later. The childlessness haunts the Class Two drop out as a section of the Luhya community she comes from refer to her as a ‘cursed woman’.

Contaminated

“The joy of a woman is carrying pregnancy, weaning a child and being called a mother. I was a child when I became pregnant but here I am at an age I want to cuddle a child, but there are no signs of childbearing,” she regrets.

The couple that has been together for 15 years does not enjoy intimacy because of the woman’s condition. Worse still, she is forced to spread her bedding with polythene paper bags to prevent it from soiling. Nabwire’s neighours also mock her saying she covers the man in waste instead of giving him a baby.

“Fistula is a condition I would not wish even on my worst enemy, my life is like a toddler’s, I wrap myself with clothing because I cannot afford diapers all the time and spread the bedding properly to avoid wetting it,” she says.

Surprisingly, Nabwire has been rejected by her siblings, a situation she tells The Standard on Saturday affects her life.

Whenever she visits their rural home in Busia County, her brothers and their wives move out of the homestead claiming they are not ready to receive a ‘curse’.
The sister-in-laws refuse to take meals she prepares claiming they are contaminated.

“I do not know happiness. I miss members of my family so much, I want to mingle with every single member, narrate childhood stories but unfortunately when I pay them a visit, my brothers disappear with my in-laws claiming I am a curse,” she adds.

Nabwire’s only friend and solace is her husband Joseph Ogola though he is living with disability. The woman has undergone four surgical operations to correct the condition without success.

Among facilities she has visited include Busia District hospital, Kakamega, Nangina Mission hospital in Busia, Aga Khan Hospital, Madaraka hospital in Mombasa, Kenyatta National Hospital and St Mary’s hospital in Mumias.

Other facilities include Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, South B Hospital in Nairobi, Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital in Nakuru, Karbaret and Kijabe Mission hospital.

The fourth born in a family of seven attributes the complication to early marriage. At 14 years, Nabwire’s elder brothers and her aunty married her off to a man in their neighborhood.

“Education was all I yearned for but how could I access school from a poor family background. After death of my dad in 1987, I was forced to drop out of school in Class Two and forcefully married,” she recalls.

Dead

A few months into the marriage, she was expectant but the dream of holding her first baby was cut short after she underwent a CS operation. The baby was reported dead while she developed fistula a condition that has weakened her reproductive system despite undergoing numerous corrective surgeries.

“I went into a coma for two days after developing labour pains and when I came around, doctors claimed they had done an emergency operation to save the life of the baby, thinking I was dead,” she claims.

After the operation, she was admitted to the facility for two months but the complication worsened before she was referred to St Mary’s hospital in Mumias where doctors resolved to clean her womb but that could not be done immediately as she was weak.

In 1995, she says, the problem persisted and her stomach started bloating after she failed to move the bowels. Nabwire sought treatment at Aga Khan Hospital in Mombasa but she was not attended to due to lack of the CS history report.

“The only journey I have known since my childhood is walking in and out of hospitals. The pain is so acute, drugs at chemistries are not of help either,” she reveals.

In 1997, doctors at St Mary’s hospital in Mumias performed a procedure on her uterus after it developed a wound that was rotting. During early stages of the infection, she developed abdominal pain, pus discharge, fever and constant pain associated with bowel movement which made sitting uncomfortable,

Mr Ogola told The Standard on Saturday how his wife has been rejected by her family despite the will to battle the condition. “She has been abandoned. Not even her blood relatives want her near them. It is sad,” he says.

He discloses that he married Nabwire in 2000 out of love despite knowing her condition.

“I knew her condition and hoped that things will change but so far not yet. I cannot however abandon her because everyone has abandoned her. I will continue loving her the way she is,” he says.

Ogola says fistula is a painful experience which needs the society’s understanding instead of rejection.

He urges the government to come to the aid of those suffering from fistula instead of letting them waste away.

“My wife has visited so many hospitals and instead of her condition being contained, it worsens. It is sad that since 1991, doctors who have handled her haven’t found a lasting solution,” adds Ogola.

“I long for the day her urinary system will be blocked to enable her operate freely and mingle with other people.”

Related Topics

fistula Childbirth