Seven long years passed. Mairamou tried keep a positive attitude by focusing on things that brought her joy, like her church community. Before her emotional and physical trauma, she had been a very social and active church member, singing in the worship team and participating in community events. But her condition affected her interactions with others.

“People don’t want me there,” she said sadly. “They would tell me to go home because of the smell.” Feeling increasingly lonely, Mairamou eventually decided her only option was to isolate herself. So, when she wasn’t selling koki (black-eyed peas) at the local market, she sat at home by herself. “I didn’t know where my life was headed,” she said. “I prayed every day to be healed from this disease.”

Mairamou’s prayers were answered in an unexpected way when she heard about Mercy Ships on the local radio. At first she was scared to even hope because she was afraid of being disappointed. But then her courageous spirit took over. “By the grace of God, this will work,” the now 27-year-old woman told herself as she made the long journey to the ship.

And her journey to healing was beautiful. She found new strength and dignity on the Africa Mercy after receiving a free, life-transforming surgery. Her recovery time was spent alongside many other women who had suffered with the same condition and experienced the same rejection. Together, they stood strong, singing as they walked through the hospital hallways for their daily muscle-strengthening exercises – waiting for the day they’d be declared “dry.”
“Being a woman and coming from a western culture, we don’t go through this,” said Tam Lowe (AUS), the Obstetric Fistula Clinic team leader. “It’s nice to be able to give these ladies back their lives, because they lost a little part of themselves when they went through what they went through. Now, they can go back home and say ‘Look at me. I’m back.’”