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| July Entry for The Breast Dialogues |
From Suffering to Miracle Medicine By: Kathleen Johnson
Please take a few minutes and visualize this scenario. You are a young woman in Ethiopia
giving birth in some hut, laboring for hours maybe days without any drugs for pain and no
medical services. Hopefully, the delivery will go smoothly but often it does not and there are
complications.
One complication is obstetric fistulas. Not only is this a serious health problem but due to no
medical services you must now live the rest of your life in pain and shame.
Every year, 100,000 women in developing countries are devastated by obstetric fistulas.
These are rips in the vaginal canal that effect the urethra and cause incontinence. The woman
has no control of her urination and as a result is considered “dirty” and becomes an outcast in her family.
These women have to leave their homes and live in isolation. In some dark and dirty hut away from family,
they will spend most of their lives in shame, banished from the normal life of the community. They are put into
a prison of sorts through no fault of their own.
The operation for repair of this injury is not that complicated but until recently there was nowhere the injured
women could find help. Until……
Two English doctors, Dr. Catherine Hamlin and her late husband came to Ethiopia and established a small
medical center for these women called the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital. There are now two medical centers
and three more are planned.
In their hospital at Addis, women are attended to not only surgically but emotionally receiving support from
each other and the staff. They are lovingly nursed back to health and sent home restored and able to rejoin
their community. Many walk miles to be able to get the operation.
Dr. Catherine Hamlin appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show last year with a plea for help. It was a fantastic
interview and the television audience responded generously. Many were viewers just like me who had never
heard of such an injury as obstetric fistulas. We were shocked at such inhumanity and misery.
I tried to imagine how I would feel, after days of pain and labor, having my new life as a happy mother stolen
from me because of fistulas. I tried to imagine living in a dark hut alone because my family members banned
me from their circle. The injustice of living life without hope until the couple from England arrived and set up
their medical service.
I have become a supporter of the hospital and Dr. Hamlin and I spread the word about their foundation.
Transformations is their newsletter that lets me know what is happening in Ethiopia with these women and the
Fistula Foundation. The photos of their beautiful smiling faces is such a boost for me-as is knowing new
facilities are being built right now!
Dr. Hamlin is in her elder years and her goal of leaving a legacy of medical centers in Ethiopia after she is
gone is being accomplished. Thank you, Dr. Catherine, thank you, Oprah, and thank you to the women who
made the 1600 support bracelets for the patients there to show them someone cares.
If you want to help - contact: The Fistula Foundation, 1171 Homestead Road, Suite 265, Santa Clara, CA
95050. Toll free 866-756-3700 They also have a web site.
Please take a few minutes and visualize this scenario. You are a young woman in Ethiopia
giving birth in some hut, laboring for hours maybe days without any drugs for pain and no
medical services. Hopefully, the delivery will go smoothly but often it does not and there are
complications.
One complication is obstetric fistulas. Not only is this a serious health problem but due to no
medical services you must now live the rest of your life in pain and shame.
Every year, 100,000 women in developing countries are devastated by obstetric fistulas.
These are rips in the vaginal canal that effect the urethra and cause incontinence. The woman
has no control of her urination and as a result is considered “dirty” and becomes an outcast in her family.
These women have to leave their homes and live in isolation. In some dark and dirty hut away from family,
they will spend most of their lives in shame, banished from the normal life of the community. They are put into
a prison of sorts through no fault of their own.
The operation for repair of this injury is not that complicated but until recently there was nowhere the injured
women could find help. Until……
Two English doctors, Dr. Catherine Hamlin and her late husband came to Ethiopia and established a small
medical center for these women called the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital. There are now two medical centers
and three more are planned.
In their hospital at Addis, women are attended to not only surgically but emotionally receiving support from
each other and the staff. They are lovingly nursed back to health and sent home restored and able to rejoin
their community. Many walk miles to be able to get the operation.
Dr. Catherine Hamlin appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show last year with a plea for help. It was a fantastic
interview and the television audience responded generously. Many were viewers just like me who had never
heard of such an injury as obstetric fistulas. We were shocked at such inhumanity and misery.
I tried to imagine how I would feel, after days of pain and labor, having my new life as a happy mother stolen
from me because of fistulas. I tried to imagine living in a dark hut alone because my family members banned
me from their circle. The injustice of living life without hope until the couple from England arrived and set up
their medical service.
I have become a supporter of the hospital and Dr. Hamlin and I spread the word about their foundation.
Transformations is their newsletter that lets me know what is happening in Ethiopia with these women and the
Fistula Foundation. The photos of their beautiful smiling faces is such a boost for me-as is knowing new
facilities are being built right now!
Dr. Hamlin is in her elder years and her goal of leaving a legacy of medical centers in Ethiopia after she is
gone is being accomplished. Thank you, Dr. Catherine, thank you, Oprah, and thank you to the women who
made the 1600 support bracelets for the patients there to show them someone cares.
If you want to help - contact: The Fistula Foundation, 1171 Homestead Road, Suite 265, Santa Clara, CA
95050. Toll free 866-756-3700 They also have a web site.
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