Will VVF survivors continue to smile?

VVF is an abnormal tear that occurs between the bladder and the vagina, allowing incessant and uncontrolled discharge of urine and faeces that is mostly caused by prolonged labor and female genital mutilation (FGM). Most communities consider the sufferers outcasts. In the rehab centre, patients from all over West Africa are present. However, those not […]

VVF is an abnormal tear that occurs between the bladder and the vagina, allowing incessant and uncontrolled discharge of urine and faeces that is mostly caused by prolonged labor and female genital mutilation (FGM). Most communities consider the sufferers outcasts.
In the rehab centre, patients from all over West Africa are present. However, those not fortunate to be admitted are found on the streets, abandoned by relatives, begging to fend for themselves. Sufferers of VVF do resign themselves to the belief that their life has come to an end, hoping for death.
It was in 2007 Katsina State Government established a centre that takes a holistic approach to addressing VVF through surgical repair and rehabilitation, as well as skills development and basic literacy and arithmetic training to help women improve their physical, social and economic well-being such that they can be reintegrated back into the society. Hajiya Zubaida Aliyu Malumfashi, the principal of the centre since its inception, says the intervention of Millennium Development Goals in the development of the centre has dramatically brought positive changes, thanks to Malam Isiyaku Dikko, the Director of MDGs, whose input has helped put in place new and modern training equipment in the centre.
Because of that, also, vocational skills training on chicken rearing, vegetable farming, fish farming, groundnut oil production and dyeing have been introduced. A situation present before had the centre with only a few instructors, but now a sizeable number of teachers have been added to the centre, with a decent salary. The intervention of the MDG does not stop there; in its employ is a counselor who delivers psychological counseling to them so that they become more positive about life. Also, feeding at the centre is of quality with meals well-prepared to ensure adequate nutrition.
It was interesting, too, to find out that the MDGs also give every student of the centre an allowance of N7,000 each month. It’s not meant for buying food items, or paying rent, but just for every student to enjoy her stay at the centre. The intervention of the MDGs includes the donation of N50,000 to each trainee on graduation day, as start-up capital to any trade of her choice, which she has been trained on.
On their graduation day, the wife of the Governor, Hajiya Fatima Shema, sponsors the trip of each student of the centre to their various homes. They are issued with a certificate of graduation from Katsina State Ministry of Women Affairs and each student is also given equipment of need to her trade of choice.
Another plus for the impact of the centre is the fact that it is not owned by Katsina State, in the sense that a majority of its students are not indigenes of the state. They come from almost every state of the federation and other neighboring countries like Niger, Cameroon and Ghana. This has made the students have a deep affection for the state. From January 2014, however, the Federal Government has taken over the hospital at Babbar Ruga and Dr. Kess VVF Skills Acquisition Center. What makes me apprehensive is the future and plight of the many women who continue to suffer silently from VVF. Will the centre continue to enjoy the attention that it hitherto has under the new dispensation? Only time will tell.
Katsina wrote in from Katsina and can be reached at [email protected]