Sulaxmi School for Girls

“A Campaign Against Girls in India”

“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”-Mother Teresa
The Salus Foundation’s March 15, 2011 wine tasting to support the “poorest of the poor” in Lucknow, India was a huge financial success.

Ariel Peralta & David Moore

Barbara Lowenstein, Selcuk Ipek & Hans Hageman

In addition, I would like to acknowledge my friends Barbara Lowenstein, one of the foundation’s biggest cheerleaders and the driving force behind the wine tasting; Loella Medina for her one-of- a-kind hand made jewelry, and Sharon Garfunkel of  Sobral for donating one of their pieces from their beautiful handmade jewelry collection for the event’s raffle.

We look forward to inviting you to our 2012 Wine Tasting.

Photograph courtesy of the Fistula Foundation

Have you heard the story of Mahabouba Mohammed? In 2003, Nicholas Kristof, wrote about Mahabouba in his New York Times article:”Alone and Ashamed.”  Today, I saw Mahabouba’s story through the eyes of Dr. Sr. Priscilla Busigye at the Maternal Deaths & Fistula Multi-Religious Forum:Faith Securing Maternal Health hosted by Religions for Peace and the United Nations Foundation. I listened with tears in my eyes to a child’s story of horror and an unbreakable spirit.

Sold into slavery at age 8, raped by her master at age 12, by age 13, Mahabouba was pregnant and about to give birth. In pain and alone, she was sent into the nearby fields to give birth. With the trauma of prior sexual assault and no medical care during pregnancy, childbirth, for Mahabouba ,resulted in a stillbirth, fistula, and additional injuries that made it impossible for her to walk. Horrified by her injuries and her smell, the man who fathered her child, ostracized and abandoned her to a hut on the outskirts of her village. The door of the hut was also torn off, in the hope that, when night came, she would be eaten by hyenas. With the help of a big stick and the unquenchable will to live, this brave child fought off the hyenas. When day came, she had survived the hyenas’ attacks, but she knew if she remained in that hut, she would surely die. Mahabouba decided to embark upon the journey of her life. She would crawl to the neighboring village where she had heard about an American missionary who might be able to help her. Crawling through the day and climbing trees at night to avoid becoming prey, 30 miles later, Mahabouba arrived at the neighboring village barely hanging on to life. The missionary immediately diagnosed her condition and drove her several more miles to the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital.

Mahabouba survived death and remarkably, she is now a nurse’s aide at the hospital that saved her life.

Painfully jolting, yet empowering and hopeful, Mahabouba’s story is one of millions. Mahabouba and others like her suffer, because by virtue of  birth, they are born  female…poor and uneducated in a third world country. Fistula, described by WHO as “the single most dramatic aftermath of neglected childbirth” does not have to, nor should it, determine the future of women who are marginalized in their communities. How can you learn more? What can you do to help?

How I Learned About Fistula
Just a little over a year ago, I hadn’t heard of fistula. It began when my church, Advent Lutheran (Advent) began a campaign to bring awareness to this issue. Stories of poverty and suffering are always heartbreaking and leave you wondering, “What can I do?” Yet, as Margaret Mead said “it has always been a small group of people that has brought about change.” A small group of people decided just a little over a year ago that they wanted and needed to do something because they believed these women deserved to live without pain, deserved to smile and deserved to live with dignity. Advent’s Maternal Health Initiative was born. A team of church members urgently began disseminating information, advocating and fundraising to bring awareness to women suffering with Fistula and to raise $20,000. On Saturday, December 11, 2010 Advent’s Maternal Health Initiative reached its goal of $20,000.

What We Should Know About Fistula
There are two types of fistula:
Obstetric fistula is a hole in the birth canal caused by prolonged labor and the lack of adequate medical care.
Traumatic fistula is caused by rape and other forms of sexual violence.

Causes and Development of Fistula
Fistula can be caused by a variety of factors. Some of them include: prolonged labor without medical intervention, sexual violence, adolescent pregnancies, small birth canal and malnutrition (“malnutrition prevents a girl’s skeleton, and therefore, pelvis, from full maturation. This stunted condition can contribute to obstructed labor, and therefore fistula.”)

“Fistula develops when blood supply to the tissues of the vagina and the bladder (and/or rectum) is cut off during prolonged obstructed labor. The tissues die and a hole forms through which urine and/or feces pass uncontrollably.”

Problems Associated with Fistula:

• Chronic Incontinence
• Stillbirth
• Kidney Disorders
• Skin Infections
• Shame
• Loss of Dignity
• Ostracism
• Abandonment
• Death (If left untreated)

To read more and to learn about organizations working to eradicate fistula and return dignity “one woman at a time”:
One Woman’s Story
Fistula Foundation
Maryknoll Sisters
Advent Lutheran Church

Sources:
Alone And Ashamed
Fistula Foundation
United Nations Population Fund
World Health Organization

“Tis the season to be giving.” As you decide who will be the recipients of your generosity this year, consider the Salus Foundation among your charitable endeavors. Here is how your donation will make a difference in the life of Savini, Pooja, Laxmi and the girls at the Sulaxmi School:

• $10.00 will feed a child for two months.
• $25.00 will provide a child with books and school uniforms for one year.
• $300 will provide books, school supplies, school uniforms, daily meals, and a percentage of a teacher’s salary.
• $2,000 will pay a teacher’s salary for one year.
• $_______No amount is too little. Donate!

To Donate to the Salus Foundation: Donate Now

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During my visit to India this year, I witnessed the plight of widows on the streets of Banaris. My son asked me “Mom, do you think the widows think you’re a widow too?” Unlike me, for these widows, their shaved heads, as well as their tired faces and outstretched hands, are representative of their sentence to a life not of their choosing. Uneducated and widowed, these women are forced to live and beg on the streets to survive. When their husbands died, they were cast out by their families and their villages. They must leave their children, homes and the only communities some of them have ever known and become “charity on the streets.” For too many, life on the streets is harsh, yet widows say life is better on the streets than the life they would lead if they had remained in their villages.

To read more on this issue: “Indian Widows Swell Temple-Filled Town”

Headmistress Shashi writes: “The school has been very busy in preparation for Diwali.
The students celebrated with great enthusiasm. They painted Diyas (small oil lamps) which were just delightful. They also decorated rangolis using rice flour to create a paste and several dyes to create a variety of colors to brighten their masterpiece. Rangoli represents peace, joy and prosperity and it is usually created at the entrance to one’s home.”

Diwali…A Brief History
The celebration of Diwali is as old as the history of India. Diwali usually falls in the months of October or November (its date is determined by the Hindu calendar). Diwali symbolizes the celebration of good over evil, the renewal of life, and the beginning of the Hindu New Year. Celebrated for five days, it is the third day of Diwali which possesses the greatest fanfare and is known as the ‘Festival of Lights.’ On this auspicious day, Hindus light up diyas (small oil lamps) and candles all around their house, gardens, rooftops and outer walls. They perform Laxmi Puja in the evening and seek divine blessings of the Goddess of Wealth. The celebration of Diwali cannot be complete without the exchange of sweets and a fireworks show.

Diwali’s Historical and Mythical Roots
There are many legends associated with Diwali’s origin and history. The legends of Diwali are derived from stories in the Hindus’ religious scriptures. The most famous of the legends is of Lord Rama. The story tells us that Lord Rama, his wife Sita, and his younger brother Lakshman were asked to leave the kingdom of Ayodhya by his father King Dashratha. After 14 years of exile, Lord Rama defeated the demon Ravana of Lanka, (who had abducted Sita) and returned home to a kingdom that welcomed him with the lighting of clay lamps throughout the kingdom.

Throughout India, the Diwali festival also signifies the celebration of different goddesses. In north India, Diwali celebrates Rama’s return to Ayodhya after the defeat of Ravana and his coronation as King. In Gujarat (western tip of India), Diwali celebrators honor Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth; and in Bengal, the festival celebrates Kali, the goddess of destruction who destroys ignorance, sin and decay to create anew.

To learn more about Diwali visit:
Know India-Deepawali
Diwali in India