Fistula Clinic, Sierra Leone

Established in 2005, the Mercy Ships Aberdeen West African Fistula Centre is one of only a few locations on the African continent offering women's obstetric fistula repair - for free.

Freedom From Fistula Foundation is working with Mercy Ships to expand its services and its outreach projects within Sierra Leone to reach the women in rural villages who are suffering in silence without hope for the future.

The fistula centre includes an operating theatre capable of supporting two simultaneous operations, a ward capable of accommodating 44 acute-care surgical patients, and clinical laboratory and pharmacy facilities. The centre has a capacity for 500 to 600 fistula patients per year.

It also runs an outpatient clinic as a primary care facility for children 12 and under in the surrounding community, providing initial diagnosis, basic medical care, immunisations and health education.

According to the World Health Organisation, Sierra Leone suffers the world's highest child mortality rate and one child in four does not live to see their fifth birthday.