The birth of an Endo-warrior
Born From Pain. Sustained by Faith. Built for Women.
From the age of fourteen, Nagawa Grace's life became a cycle of pain.
Every month meant bleeding that lasted for weeks, pain so severe it stole school days, sleep, and childhood joy. Like many young girls, she was told it was "normal." Painkillers became routine. Antibiotics were prescribed. Herbal remedies were tried. Nothing worked. Instead, years of medication led to bleeding stomach ulcers, another silent cost of being unheard.
She moved from one gynaecologist to another. Diagnoses shifted between urinary tract infection and pelvic inflammatory disease. Pelvic scans showed cysts on both ovaries, but they were dismissed as "physiological." Endometriosis was never mentioned. Never taught. Never considered.
Determined to understand her own suffering, she trained as a nurse, believing medicine would finally give her answers. But even within hospitals and textbooks, endometriosis remained invisible. The pain worsened daily, relentless, all-consuming. Breathing became difficult. Bleeding stretched to three weeks at a time. Life shrank around survival.
Rooted in faith, she surrendered what medicine could not explain to God.
In 2017, at the age of 27, her body collapsed. She blacked out and woke up bleeding in a doctor's office. Colleagues were wrongly informed by the doctor that she had attempted an abortion. An urgent scan finally revealed the truth: two massive ovarian masses, one of them ruptured. Surgery followed, but it was poorly managed. Only then was the real diagnosis made. Stage IV Endometriosis.
The treatment plan was devastating — long-term morphine for pain and Zoladex injections to suppress her body. In 2018, the nightmare returned. This time, the only option offered by gynaecologists in her country was clear and final: surgery to remove her womb.
Her womb was saved by her brother, who refused to accept that answer and arranged a referral to Nairobi, Kenya where more informed gynaecologists were available.
There, for the first time, she experienced what women with endometriosis deserve: proper care. A well-managed surgery. Education about the disease. Guidance on self-care, diet, lifestyle changes, and emotional healing. For the first time in years, life expanded instead of shrinking.
That second chance changed everything.
She realised that countless women, especially in Africa, were suffering exactly as she had: silently, misdiagnosed, stigmatised, and financially locked out of care. Many would never get the opportunity she had.
In March 2019, that realisation gave birth to the Endometriosis Foundation Uganda.
What began as one woman's story became a movement. Through awareness campaigns, education, self-care guidance, lifestyle and dietary support, psychotherapy, and help accessing surgery, over 400 women have already been supported. Women who once felt alone found language for their pain and a community that believed them.
The Pan-African Holistic Endometriosis Wellness Organisation
A space where women are heard. A place where pain is believed. A system that treats the whole woman, not just her symptoms.
With shared commitment, the vision became reality. Through his generous support, the first Pan-African Holistic Endometriosis Wellness Centre has been constructed, dedicated entirely to women battling endometriosis across the continent.