alicia's Sharebook 

Hamlin Fistula^® Australia Limited is the authorised Australian representative of the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia. It administers the Hamlin Fistula^® Relief and Aid Fund which is a registered Australian charity with tax deductible status. The Hamlin Fistula^® Relief and Aid Fund is the only charity in Australia solely dedicated to supporting the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital.

The Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital was founded by Dr Catherine Hamlin AC and her late husband, Dr Reg Hamlin OBE, and is dedicated to the treatment and care of women who suffer horrendous childbirth injuries, known as obstetric fistula.

Obstetric fistula is caused by prolonged obstructed labour when a woman will spend days in labour without any medical help or pain relief. If she survives this ordeal she will give birth to a still born child and her internal injuries will cause her to be incontinent of urine and sometimes bowel contents as well.

She will spend the rest of her life a destitute outcast unless she can get to the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital or one of its outreach centres.

The surgical technique developed by the Hamlins successfully cures 93% of obstetric fistula cases. The Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital has established a purpose–built village called Desta Mender ("Village of Joy") to provide long term care for women whose childbirth injuries are so severe that they cannot return to live a normal Ethiopian village life. At Desta Mender the women are trained in new skills so that eventually they can re–enter Ethiopian society as "citizens of the world" once again.

The Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital is committed to the UN Millennium Development Goals and particularly those directed towards improving maternal health, reducing infant mortality and empowering women. It has established the Hamlin College of Midwives to train young Ethiopian women as midwives to work in the Ethiopian countryside amongst women who presently have little or no access to medical help during their pregnancy and labour. The mission of the Hamlin College of Midwives is to have a midwife in every Ethiopian village.

The Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital relies entirely on donations from overseas to fund its vital work of improving maternal health, reducing infant mortality and empowering women. Australian tax deductible donations can be made through this website to the Hamlin Fistula Relief^® and Aid Fund.