Fistula Foundation

Loice Masikonte is a young Maasai woman from Narok County, Kenya where early marriage, teenage pregnancy, and home deliveries are the norm. However, after living through the horrors of obstetric fistula, Loice is determined to create a better future for herself and the women in her community.

Loice was orphaned at a young age, and moved in with an uncle who forbade her from going to school. She was married off to an older man at the age of 17, and began bearing children right away. Her third pregnancy ended in a traumatic, obstructed labor that lasted for two days. Miraculously, her baby survived—but Loice was left with a complex fistula, and began leaking stool uncontrollably.