Malibu came together to support women in desperate need at an event to raise funds and awareness about the work of Medicine for Humanity (MFH).
This Malibu-based charity, formed 21 years ago by Malibu residents Dr. Leo and Anne Lagasse, is dedicated to improving the health of women and mothers throughout the developing world.
MFH has been sending medical missions to Uganda for nine years to treat women suffering from fistula, a devastating obstetric injury caused during an obstructed labor.
The question most often asked of MFH President and Medical Director Dr. Christopher Tarnay is, “Why go to Africa when there are so many people who need help at home in America?”
He said, “Because that’s where the need is greatest.”
Tarnay is one of the few doctors in the world who can carry out complex fistula repair. In America and other first world countries, when a woman has an obstructed labor, she’s given a cesarean section.
Imagine giving birth in a remote African village without a midwife in attendance and in agony from an obstructed labor. In 80 percent of such cases, the baby dies and the woman, often still a girl herself, suffers a tear called a fistula between her bladder and rectum that results in constant leakage of urine and sometimes stool that makes her smell so bad she is abandoned by her husband and isolated by her village.
One of the 41 patients who had a successful operation during last year’s medical mission to Uganda was 80-year-old Josephine who had endured her fistula for 40 years and literally danced with joy out of MFH’s camp.
It’s believed two million women in the developing world are living with this condition, with 2,000 new cases every year in Uganda alone. Part of MFH’s work is also to train local physicians to surgically treat fistula and provide tools for prevention.
Fistula is extremely rare in the west. One of the most moving and inspiring speeches at the fundraiser was by Michelle Van Hoek, a nurse, wife and mother from LA who suffered a fistula during an operation. It took her months to find a doctor who could repair it. She said she will be forever grateful to that doctor, Christopher Tarnay, who was recommended by a friend.
It took enormous courage for Van Hoek to share her story, which is probably why so many people took out their checkbooks to raise enough money — $20,000 — to send the 10th medical mission of 10 doctors and nurses to Uganda in September.
“This is a very exciting time for Medicine for Humanity. We have created a new board of directors, full of some of Malibu’s most talented and forward-thinking people. It is truly adding an entirely new dimension to our organization and one that we hope will continue to broaden the scope of our work in helping to improve the health and lives of women most in need,” Tarnay said. “The event on Sunday proved to be a true community gathering. A whole new group of people learned about how small actions right here in Malibu can prove to make a big difference in women’s lives a world away.”
Many local people and businesses donated their time and resources to make the fundraiser happen: Patricia and David Maischoss shared their home in Malibu Colony and Ching Lerner and Jewel Palovak provided delicious food.
“Malibu is truly an amazing village. The most exciting thing for Medicine for Humanity this year is that we were able to arrange our fundraiser for minimal expense and the money raised will help women in desperate need,” said MFH Executive Director Shelley O’Connor.
While this is a serious subject, there were moments of levity at the event, including a reminder that there’s only one thing more painful than childbirth, and that’s singing “Wheels On the Bus” 400,000 times per day.
For more information, visit medicineforhumanity.org.
