Online Fundraiser Assists Hamlin’s Hospital with a Solution to an Ancient Enemy

San Diego, CA --November 5, 2003 --Dr. Catherine Hamlin, 79, an Australian gynecologist who has spent the last 44 years in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has helped more than 25,000 young women return home, healed from the nightmare of obstetric fistulas, a much feared childbirth injury before cesarean section surgery was perfected, which still devastates women in Ethiopia.

(Dr. Catherine Hamlin - at Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital)

On Thursday, December 11, 2003 from 7-9 PM PST Dr. Hamlin shares her story with Viveca & The Buck, co-hosts of the Internet radio show “Get Ready For Love,” in an online, world-event fundraiser called Give Your Heart A Home. “We need money; we need more doctors. We now have 150 beds and often have two women in a bed together,” says Dr. Hamlin.

The condition of obstetric fistulas typically occurs when a young woman cannot deliver a baby because it is too big for her pelvis. After days of labor without access to a doctor, the baby dies, shrinks and is expelled from the body; the pressure of its head having interrupted blood-flow to pelvic organs results in horrific injuries. The young mother is left with a hole between her bladder, vagina and sometimes rectum. The result is that urine and sometimes feces drip constantly down her legs. In some cases, she is also left lame from nerve damage.

These women can no longer perform their expected marital and societal duties. They stink and leave a trail of urine behind them. Rejected by their husbands and driven away by other villagers, they hide by day in little huts and sneak about at night for food and to wash their soiled clothes. The lucky ones - the “fistula pilgrims”- hear about Dr. Hamlin’s hospital - often they are carried in on the backs of their fathers. “The joy we get as doctors is to see the cured women going home on dancing legs and feet, making a new life for themselves,” says Dr. Hamlin.

Dr. Hamlin’s story began in 1959 when newlywed gynecologists Catherine Nicholson Hamlin and Reginald Hamlin accepted gynecologist positions at the Princess Tsahai Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. They expected to set up a training program for midwives but their hearts went out to the young fistula patients. They found the problem so appallingly common that they perfected a surgical technique to mend the damage and later, sought a grant to build a 40-bed hospital to serve the women of Ethiopia. In 1974 Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital opened its doors.

(At her age you would be planning to go to the prom.)

Since that time, their hospital has served more than 25,000 women and has become a major teaching institution for surgeons throughout the world. Visitors experience “love at first sight,” awed by the work of the hospital and the dedication of the staff, many of whom were sufferers themselves. The hospital is clean and upbeat; there is a sparkle in the eyes of the patients. The grounds, with trees and flowering bushes, is a paradise for women coming out of hell. Recently a rural village was added to the facility to allow women whose fistulas cannot be repaired to live out their lives in self-sufficiency and dignity.

“We can all make a difference,” says producer Viveca Stone. “Because of Internet Radio this suffering can no longer be a secret – anyone can listen in and join in the discussion. You’ll meet the people behind the hope and joy of recovery and have an opportunity to experience the power of giving through modern technology. It takes just a point and a click to share love, hope, humanity, and the prosperity needed to send our Ethiopian sisters home.”

To hear Catherine Hamlin, supporters and pilgrims, and to add your dollar, yen, euro or pound towards Dr. Hamlin’s work, tune in to the Give Your Heart A Home Broadcast on Thursday, December 11, 2003 from 7-9 PM PST at www.GetReadyForLove.com. Donations will be accepted online via a secured server and paid directly to the American Friends Foundation For Childbirth Injuries which solely supports Dr. Hamlin’s work.

The Get Ready For Love Show is a weekly Internet radio show and public forum broadcast by The Women’s’ Network on wsRadio.com.

Your Support Is Needed! Help us get the word out … Could you email an announcement to your friends, family and colleagues? Or post a mention on your website? Would you care to lead an Internet forum or chat group? If so, please call Viveca Stone at 858.454.2583 or email: GiveYourHeartAHome.

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