Elaine* is a 51-year-old mother of three from Nairobi County. Her story is one of quiet endurance, unimaginable pain, and finally — freedom.

In 1992, during the birth of her first child, Elaine experienced a traumatic delivery. She gave birth in the hospital reception area, without ever being taken to a proper bed. Though she had an episiotomy, she was left unattended through the night, sitting on a cold concrete slab until morning. When the doctor arrived, he handed her the baby and told her to go home. When Elaine asked about being stitched, she was told simply, “Sit in warm salty water — you’ll be fine.”

Trusting the doctor’s words, Elaine went home. But she soon realized something was terribly wrong. She could not control her urine or stool and noticed that she was passing stool and gas through her vagina. Elaine had suffered a recto-vaginal fistula. Not understanding what was happening to her, she kept her suffering to herself and tried to manage it in silence.

Two years later, she gave birth to her second child — again suffering tears that went untreated. She was given the same advice: warm salty water. The condition persisted, and Elaine’s life became one of careful control and constant fear. She ate very little to reduce bowel movements, avoided traveling, and slept with a bucket under her bed because the shared washrooms made nighttime trips humiliating. When she could afford sanitary pads, she used them to stay dry; when she couldn’t, she resorted to tissue or pieces of cloth. Constant irritation and burns became part of her daily life.

Despite all this, Elaine never gave up. She continued to work casual jobs, maintaining high standards of cleanliness to prevent anyone from noticing her condition. “I had to be very alert all the time,” she recalls.

Her third delivery, years later, was equally traumatic. While staying with her mother-in-law in the village, she went into labour and began walking toward the main road to find transport to the hospital. She never made it. Surrounded by a few women who came to help, Elaine delivered her baby by the roadside. Her mother-in-law insisted she would be fine and took her back home instead of to the hospital. Elaine’s condition worsened, but she carried on, silently, for nearly three decades.

Then, one day in 2022, while watching Citizen TV, Elaine heard a story about fistula. Her heart raced as she realized the condition being described was her own. She quickly jotted down the number on the screen and, pretending to call on behalf of a “friend,” asked for information. It took several calls before she found the courage to admit that she was the one who needed help.

Elaine learned about upcoming medical camps in Webuye and Makueni, but she couldn’t afford the bus fare to attend. When she later heard of another camp at Thika Level 5 Hospital, she promised herself she wouldn’t miss it — and she didn’t.

On June 10th, Elaine finally underwent successful surgery. After 30 long years of living in pain, shame, and silence, she was free. “I am over the moon,” she said joyfully. “For the first time, I can live without fear. I am so grateful to the M-PESA Foundation, the Flying Doctors Society of Africa, and Royal Media Services for giving me back my life.”

Elaine now speaks with quiet strength and hope. She believes that fistula screening should be integrated into postnatal care and child immunization visits so that no woman suffers unnoticed. “There are so many women suffering in silence like I did,” she says. “They need to know that help exists.”

After three decades of endurance, Elaine’s story is no longer one of pain — but of healing, hope, and dignity restored.

*Name changed to protect privacy.