Let’s End Fistula Initiative’s Founder and Executive Director, Sarah Omega, began carrying out grassroots community outreach in 2007. A fistula survivor herself who had lived with this devastating condition for twelve years before receiving treatment, Sarah had a personal mission to find other women who were suffering in silence and connect them with treatment services.
In 2011, after four years of conducting outreach on her own, Sarah entered into what would become a long-term partnership with One By One (a US-based non-profit organization) and formally launched the Let’s End Fistula Initiative (LEFI). This was a groundbreaking initiative designed to address all four pillars of a comprehensive approach to ending obstetric fistula: Education and Outreach, Surgical Treatment, Social Reintegration, and Prevention. A 3-woman leadership team, led by Sarah, recruited, trained and mentored 30 Regional Representatives – 25 of them fistula survivors – from 12 counties in Western Kenya. With remarkable dedication, they have served as front-line educators and advocates for fistula care and safe motherhood in their communities.
Focused on community education/outreach and access to surgical treatment. LEFI partnered with Dr. Hilary Mabeya to establish Gynocare Fistula Centre in Eldoret, the only facility in Kenya that is dedicated to caring for women and girls with fistula. Our team of Regional Representatives carried out 4,000 education sessions in communities throughout Western Kenya reaching 275,000 people with information about fistula and the availability of free treatment. During Phase 1, over 1,000 women and girls received life-transforming fistula treatment.
LEFI introduced programming focused on social reintegration and economic empowerment for fistula survivors, as well as creating opportunities for survivors to begin playing a unique and vital role in preventing fistula through safe childbirth advocacy. To date, 200 fistula survivors have joined 11 Solidarity Groups. The groups have well-planned and functional internal structures. All of the women have been equipped with knowledge and skills through various capacity building initiatives and are now engaged in individual and group income generating activities. They have received initial training regarding safe motherhood advocacy, and community education/advocacy activities have begun.
