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ARENA
From surgeon training to a center of his own.
Our role isn’t to arrive with someone else’s answer. It’s to recognize the people already closest to the problem, invest in their expertise, and stay beside them long enough for local leadership to become lasting infrastructure.
Dr. Itengre’s story shows what that kind of partnership can make possible.
Danja Fistula Center · Niger
Training for a life of restoring dignity.
Maternal Dignity Project (then Worldwide Fistula Fund) trained Dr. Itengre as a FIGO-certified fistula surgeon from 2012–2013 while he began serving as Chief Medical Officer at the Danja Fistula Center in Niger.
Bringing specialized care home to Burkina Faso.
Dr. Itengre returned to Burkina Faso, bringing specialized fistula expertise back to his own country and launching ARENA.
He delivered holistic fistula care with multiple local partners while developing a larger vision for a dedicated center where treatment, recovery, prevention, and medical training could happen together.
Returning home · Burkina Faso
ARENA Medical Center · Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso’s first dedicated childbirth-injury center opens.
Dr. Itengre opened a 25-bed dedicated childbirth-injury center, the first of its kind in Burkina Faso.
The center provides treatment and medical training while creating dedicated space for survivors to participate in education and reintegration services.
The model grows beyond one center.
With encouragement from Maternal Dignity Project (then Worldwide Fistula Fund), Dr. Itengre has developed new funding partnerships that strengthen ARENA and expand what the center can provide.
Those partnerships have supported hospital construction, additional operating funds, medical supplies, and equipment.
His expertise is also reaching beyond ARENA through consulting and training that helps prepare other fistula surgeons.
Survivor follow-up · ARENA Medical Center
What began with the training of one surgeon has grown into locally led infrastructure for treatment, survivor recovery, medical education, and prevention.
Support This WorkThe ARENA Model
Everything a woman needs. Under one roof.
Fistula can affect far more than a woman’s physical health. For many survivors, treatment is only the beginning. Recovering fully requires rebuilding confidence, repairing relationships, returning to community life, creating financial stability, and believing in a future that once felt impossible.
ARENA was built around that reality.
ARENA Medical Center
A dedicated place to recover heal fully.
The 25-bed ARENA Medical Center was built specifically for women living with fistula and other childbirth injuries.
Here, clinical treatment can exist alongside the support women may need afterward. Medical professionals can learn in the same environment where specialized care is being delivered. Survivors can move from treatment toward reintegration without beginning again with an entirely new system.
The building itself represents something larger: specialized fistula care becoming part of Burkina Faso’s own long-term health infrastructure.
Watch
Hear it in their own words.
ARENA brings treatment, recovery, prevention, and training together in one dedicated center rather than asking women to navigate disconnected systems.
Stories of health and hope.
Behind every statistic is a woman, a family, and a story of resilience.
After Two Years With Fistula, Lizata Found Healing at ARENA
Lizata’s Story: A 360 Kilometer Journey to Healing For two years, Lizata lived without answers. Lizata developed obstetric fistula after a difficult labor and emergency cesarean…
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Maimouna’s Journey from Obstetric Injury to Healing
In conflict affected Burkina Faso, closed health facilities forced 35 year old Maimouna into a dangerous home birth, resulting in the tragic loss of her twins…
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171 Miles to Healing: Epiphanie’s Journey to a New Beginning
At 19, Epiphanie lost her first baby after two days of labor and developed obstetric fistula. Unable to afford surgery, she spent months living with constant…
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Five Years of Fistula, Then a New Life
Awa lived with obstetric fistula for five years after a traumatic childbirth and the loss of her baby. Two surgeries failed to repair the injury. Then…
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One Referral Changed Everything
After losing her fifth baby during an obstructed labor, Nathalie developed obstetric fistula and learned she needed surgery she could not afford. Her husband left, and…
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From Fistula Survivor to Advocate
Habibou lived with obstetric fistula for five months after a difficult childbirth and the loss of her baby. Successful surgery at ARENA Medical Center changed her…
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