Led by the founder Stephanie Linus, the Extended Hands Foundation team was received by the Governor of the state Dr. Abubakar Bagudu and the First Lady Dr. Zainab Bagudu. They both paid visits to the women at the VVF Center, showing their support for the cause. All the repairs have been completed successfully and the women are recovering well.

Stephanie Linus, who spent some time with the women at the VVF Center during the course of the exercise, expressed her appreciation to the sponsors of the pool effort – NNPC/SNEPCo for investing in this cause. She also added that this was the second time the foundation was carrying out such an exercise in Kebbi state.

The team of medical staff was led by Dr Sa’ad Idris, a seasoned VVF Surgeon and former Commissioner for Health in Zamfara State with over 20 years experience in the field. He was assisted by Dr Abubakar Bawa and other doctors and nurses at the VVF Center. Against the backdrop of her Child Bride and Fistula advocacy movie, DRY, Stephanie Linus has been taking the message of restoration and hope to real women suffering from VVF. This pool effort goes a long way to show that DRY is more than just a movie, but a tool for touching the lives of women actually living with this condition.

The benefitting communities included Agbado Oke-Odo LCDA and Shogunle LCDA while the school outreaches took place at Greensprings Schools, Gbara Community Senior Secondary School, Molan High School, Victoria Island Senior Secondary School, New Edition School, Great Lilly College, and Ireti Senior Grammar School.

Nollywood screen diva and founder of Extended Hands and Hope Foundation, Ambassador Stephanie Linus, noted that awareness raising is key to spreading a clear message of zero tolerance of all forms of violence within our communities.

“With a rise of domestic violence cases around us, there is urgent need for engaging local communities to address the root causes of SGBV to bring effective behavior and social norms change,” she emphasised.

This is why it has become essential to start an awareness program which also educates women around the world about how to end fistula and enlighten them about its disadvantages etc. For this purpose, organizations across the globe, especially in Nigeria, are solely working with the intention of ending fistula by providing maximum facilities to women who cannot afford to get their treatment done by the professionals.

Here are some of the key points to consider while trying ending fistula.

Talk about it:

It’s better to talk about such conditions for spreading awareness that is otherwise considered to be shameful for the society and the patient’s family.

Make efforts for the treatment:

If you or someone you know is suffering from fistula then make sure to find reliable ways such as an organization that helps in getting the treatment for free.

Donate:

Donating is a great cause in which everyone can contribute to help the organization’s founder, doctors, and fistula centers in preceding the treatment without delay.

Provide high-quality childbirth treatment in local hospitals::

Last but not least, this is a very important point to remember because this is the only way to stop fistula from happening in the first place.