Support Women's Health in the Congo

The Women's Action Initiative is an organization whose mission is to "empower women to prioritize pelvic and perinatal health as an integral element of their overall well being and quality of life". Founded in 2008 by Angela Hughes Halliwell, a mother of two, the WAI is currently waging a campaign to combat the effects of obstetric fistula in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Currently, millions of women in the Congo are living with unrepaired obstetric fistula caused by inadequate medical care during labor and delivery. The consequent tearing between the vagina and bladder, the vagina and rectum, or both causes leakage between the tissue that results in urinary and fecal incontinence.

Women with fistula are often mocked, ridiculed and isolated for their incontinence, and are sometimes abandoned by their families and husbands.

The WAI is currently raising money to send a team of three women's health physical therapists and a urogyn surgeon to Goma to treat, rehabilitate and educate these women. Their goal is to raise $50,000 for this endeavor.

Herman & Wallace support this mission and has made a donation towards this project. If you would also like to donate, you can do so here.