The good Cornellians can do: Debra Eisenberger Matityahu ’87
In 2011, Debra Eisenberger Matityahu '87 spent a month in Eldoret, Kenya, working alongside an obstetric surgeon to repair fistulas. These are holes between two cavities in the pelvis (usually the vagina and bladder or the vagina and rectum). Debbie explains that fistulas often occur after prolonged labor, in remote areas where women do not have access to healthcare. Debbie is an OB/GYN physician.
“In the U.S., after 3-4 hours of pushing, women get a C-section,” she says. “In these remote villages, the women and girls can sometimes push for many days if there is obstructed labor. The baby often doesn't survive the ordeal, and the women end up with a great deal of internal damage (obstetric fistulae).”
Fistulas can cause leakage of urine and feces, and many Kenyan women who suffer from this condition are stigmatized and shunned by their community. Debbie and her family were deeply moved by the plight of these women. Fistulas are reparable through surgery, but repairing their physical injuries was not enough. Debbie wanted to give them hope for a better life.
Initially, she sponsored four of the women to return to school. Two years later, she worked with local partners to found a nonprofit, now called Beyond Fistula, to educate and empower more women survivors.
“After the girls and women are repaired surgically, our social work team offers them emotional support and assesses them for our programs,” Debbie says. “For young girls who are not safe at home due to assault, we offer to house them in our program house and send them to school. For the women, we offer them business skills and vocational skills workshops, followed by a business grant of $120. And we connect them with other fistula survivors through peer support groups, to support one another over the long term.”
Since its founding in 2012, Beyond Fistula has cared for, supported, and helped empower more than 1,000 fistula survivors in western Kenya. “I'm super proud of our work,” Debbie says.
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