How it all began

One day, a heavily pregnant girl in north-eastern Chad came to the André district hospital. After days of labour, during which the unborn child had long since died, the teenage girl was in urgent need of medical help. The Swiss couple Martin and Claudia Leimgruber, who worked as district doctor and midwife in the hospital for several years, only just managed to save the young mother's life. It was the year 1999.

The young girl, let's call her Zenaba, had suffered severe internal injuries, a so-called fistula, as a result of the birth which lasted for days. This was the first time the couple encountered this unknown condition. Many more cases were to follow.

The consequence of the birth complication is incontinence of urine and/or stool. The constant companion, a foul odour, often has additional dramatic consequences for the social life of those affected. They are often shunned by their husbands and despised and ostracised in society.

Martin and Claudia Leimgruber decided to get involved so that affected women like Zenaba could be healed from their severe injury. They organised two surgery camps in 2002, at which a total of 90 women were operated on. For this purpose, an experienced surgical team from the renowned Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia came to Chad. Unfortunately, Zenaba could not be healed because her injuries were too complex.

When the Leimgruber family travelled back to Switzerland after several years in Chad, they accompanied Zenaba all the way to Addis Ababa. She stayed there for six months and was successfully operated on at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital. Today Zenaba lives in Chad and has found a job as a nurse in a fistula programme.

Back in Switzerland, Martin and Claudia Leimgruber founded the association Women's Hope International to provide long-term help to women with fistula. This was on 4 December 2003.