Bingham University Teaching Hospital
"I have suffered with this problem of leaking urine for more than twenty years. Both my parents and husband have rejected me. I was once taken to a hospital where they demanded five hundred (five dollars). But my parents could not afford the fee and so they abandoned me at the hospital and went home. 1 was in the hospital for two months with no strength, money and food. Other fellow patients fed me. Later 1 became strong enough so 1 started going to the streets to beg for food and money. After sometime the doctor who owned the hospital got tired of me and also wanted bed space, so he sent me away from the hospital. 1 even pleaded with him to hire me as a sweeper in the hospital to cover for the cost of care but he refused. So 1 went to the motor park and was crying there day in and day out until some one took pity on me and transported me back my village. I heard about Evangel hospital for a long time but was not able to get transport fare until recently when my saving got up to three hundred Naira (three dollars) that I was able to come. I thank God and Evangel Hospital, for I am now healed."
Background: Vesico-vaginal fistula (VVF) injuries are a sad and common condition throughout Africa. If a dead child remains in the birth canal, tissue damage can lead to a connection between the urinary bladder and the vagina. As a result, affected women "leak" urine constantly. In addition to the obvious health effects, women are often socially devastated, divorced and left alone.
Project: Bingham University Teaching Hospital (formerly Evangel Hospital), in Jos, Nigeria, has for years ministered to these seemingly hopeless individuals. Thanks to a specialized surgical program and staff, this mission hospital has been successfully repairing VVF injuries for years. Peer-reviewed medical literature from the hospital attests to the strength of this initiative.
AMHF is providing $100,000 to provide 200 surgeries, 1500 outpatient visits, and social support to affected women.
Oversight: SIM missionary surgeon has been at the hospital since 1994. The program is overseen by experienced VVF surgeon Dr. Sunday Lengemang. BUTH is a well-respected institution with a long history of handling outside donor funds, including from Christian Blind Mission. The hospital is associated with the US agency Serving in Mission.
Future: AMHF's support represents less than a third of what is needed by the BUTH VVF program. The foundation would love to expand support of this vital effort.
Adamu leaked urine for eight years before being cured at BUTH.