Presentación de la novela 'Llévame a Farafangana' de José Manuel Devesa

María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, president of Fundación Mujeres por África (MxA) accompanies José Manuel Devesa in the presentation of his novel, Llévame a Farafangana, on the 26th February at Casa África.

With the publication of this book, MxA wants to contribute to a greater knowledge and awareness on the health but also social and living problem of obstetric fistula and what it implies on the African continent. This is a condition that affects more than two million African women, the majority are young and adolescent who, with their bodies hardly prepared for maternity, do not receive the proper attention during childbirth and are physically injured and socially stigmatised.

Despite the seriousness of the fistula and its enormous prevalence in Sub-Saharan African countries, very few people know of its existence and much less so of the consequences that occur in women who suffer from it. Women who in very few cases receive treatment.

Because of this, making people aware of fistula is a start to fight against it. It is about protecting maternal-child health, avoiding family and social exclusion of thousands of frustrated young mothers, it is about accompanying African women and therefore contributing to the continent's development and well-being.

This is precisely the aim of "Mujeres por Africa", which thanks José Manuel Devesa for his commitment with this objective, who so creatively and at the same time he truthfully reflects in this novel, published as part of the health care programmes of the Fundación Mujeres por África, which in April is going to set up one of its main projects, called Stop Fistula, aimed at fighting against obstetric fistula.

The surgeon José Manuel Devesa, author of the novel Llévame a Farafangana which is presented here, has undertaken several surgical missions in Africa, through which in his novel he very well reflects this serious problem and knows that its diffusion is a good way of making the general public aware.

The story tells us about a young Madagascan woman who is sold by her father to a husband of convenience and during her first pregnancy suffers the consequences of an occluded childbirth which as result leaves her with this unnameable injury. This story, part fiction, and a great part true, covers all the cruelty of the nomadic life of this adolescent looking desperately for a cure, a journey that truthfully reflects the harsh conditions of some women in Madagascar.

During her speech at this event, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega will announce the start up of the Stop Fístula project in the first African country in which MxA hopes to develop it, Liberia, with whom the Foundation has signed an agreement with the Government, presided over by the Nobel Peace Prize winner and advisor for Mujeres por África, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, together with with a hospital in Monrovia. An information campaign will take place in March in this city to bring in patients, and in April care during childbirth will be started together with the activities of the fistula unit. The project will also incorporate a training programme for health care workers, including midwives who care for the majority of pregnant women in their homes, as well as dissemination and awareness activities.
The project will be presented in Monrovia at the end of April and will be attended by the Foundation's President.

Information about the Presentation: