Location: Burkina Faso
Itengré and Rasmata OUEDRAOGO were born in Burkina Faso. They are parents of three girls and two boys. Itengré is a general surgeon and certified expert obstetric fistula surgeon. Rasmata has a certificate in hairdressing and esthetic plus a nursing diploma. They seek to glorify God by using their medical gifts to provide life-changing surgery and spiritual care to women affected by obstetric fistula. This debilitating but neglected condition leaves hundreds of thousands of women incontinent, ashamed, and often isolated from their communities.
They served for six years at the Danja Fistula Center in Niger as the medical director before moving back to Burkina Faso in 2018. They founded Association Renaissance (ARENA) to serve women affected by obstetric fistula and childbirth injuries. In addition, since 2020, Itengré is the acting Director of SIM Burkina Faso.
The purpose of ARENA is to raise awareness on childbirth injuries through community outreach services and empower women affected by obstetric fistula through life-changing surgery and vocational training to facilitate reintegration into their community. ARENA is a medical ministry that believes a life devastated by a childbirth injury like obstetric fistula is a suitable field to be impacted by the love and compassion of Jesus. It is why they have committed to serving with love and compassion to deliver holistic care (physical and spiritual healing) with excellence, integrity, and solidarity. The vision is to see vulnerable women given physical and spiritual healing and empowered to participate in the development of their communities. That is why they say: “Heal a woman, restore a home.”
Thanks to spiritual and financial support, ARENA has served more than 300 women affected by obstetric fistula since 2018. It will be opening an integrated women’s health center in 2022 that will contribute to double the number of women who can access services each year.
