Growing up in a peasant family in Kiryandongo District, life was never easy for Lydia. She only attended primary school as financial constraints forced her to leave school early. Seeking a new beginning, she moved to Bukwenda, Katale in Wakiso District, where she married at just 15 years old.
By 17, Lydia was expecting her first child. At eight months pregnant, her husband sent her to give birth at his mother’s village in Kinoni, Masaka District. There, she endured four days of silent labor, too afraid or unsure to ask for help. On the fifth day, her mother-in-law finally brought her to a local health center. The midwife quickly realized the birth was too complicated for their facility and referred Lydia to Masaka General Hospital.
But fear of surgery led her mother-in-law to reject the referral. Instead, they visited a traditional birth attendant (TBA), who gave Lydia local herbs to induce labor. On the sixth day, she gave birth to a baby girl—alive, against all odds—but not without consequences. She was cut during the delivery to make space for the baby and was given herbs to heal afterward. When the wound didn’t improve, her mother-in-law took her to a clinic, where she was stitched. But upon returning home, Lydia noticed something was terribly wrong: she was passing feces through her vagina.
This marked the beginning of her struggle with obstetric fistula.
“I lost confidence in myself,” Lydia recalls. “I couldn’t tell anyone, not even my husband. I thought maybe this was normal after childbirth.” She lived in isolation, avoiding travel and public spaces, fearful of using toilets that wouldn’t offer her the privacy and time she needed. Every visit required jerrycans of water for cleaning. Her husband noticed the long bathroom visits and began to question her, even following her on occasion. Their relationship suffered, but Lydia remained silent, fearing rejection and abandonment.
It wasn’t until February 2025, when her condition had become unbearable, that she confided in her mother. Fortunately, her mother was in attendance at a UVP outreach session in Kilwara village, Kiryandongo District. The team was sharing information about obstetric fistula and informing women of a free surgical camp at Kiryandongo General Hospital.
Encouraged and hopeful, Lydia made the journey from Wakiso to Kiryandongo for treatment.
Today, she is healing—physically and emotionally.
“I can’t thank the doctors and donors enough,” she says. “You saved my marriage and my life. I can now interact freely with everyone. Thank you very much. God bless you abundantly.”
Looking forward, Lydia dreams of finishing the hairdressing classes she once started but couldn’t afford to complete. Though starting a business feels out of reach, gaining a skill to earn a living remains her greatest hope.