News Archive - January 2004

NEWSLETTER
from
Dr Catherine Hamlin AC
Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, Ethiopia
January 2004

Dear Friends,

This first newsletter of the New Year comes to wish you all a wonderful 2004. May it be a year of joy and peace for each one of you in Australia, and for us too, as we together attempt to do more for the "cause" of mothers in Ethiopia especially those so injured in childbirth.

Ethiopian Christmas celebrations
In a few days of writing this letter we will celebrate Ethiopian Christmas, which is on January 7th. Fortunately in this country it is still a Christian celebration with church services and family gatherings. Even the giving and receiving of presents is a recent innovation, mostly among the more affluent city dwellers.

We enjoy giving small gifts to all our staff, and special food for our patients, with perhaps an orange, banana and a few sweets to each one!

We have a large collection of head scarves so each one will get a scarf as a gift too! I am grateful to many in Australia who send us these. They are so appreciated by all our patients. Their eyes light up as we give one to each of these poor women, lying in bed hoping they will soon be cured!

There is a lot for me to write about in this letter so perhaps I shall work backwards while recent events are still fresh in my memory!

Mekelle Regional Fistula Ward
On Christmas morning, Ruth Kennedy and I flew off early to Mekelle, which is in the far north of Ethiopia near Eritrea. It is the capital city of the Northern Province of Tigray. Here we plan to build one of our five fistula "Outreach Centres".

This one at Mekelle, is of special interest for you in Australia. Our Australian Relief and Aid Fund has indicated they will finance the building, with some help from the Australian Government, AusAID. They also expect to cover some of the running costs. For this generous support, we are very grateful.

On our visit, we met many high Ethiopian officials, the Governor of Tigray included! They all were enthusiastic, co-operative and very kind. I was asked to be the guest of honour and to speak about the fistula problem! So I had an audience of all the right government people in Mekelle, and the Head of the Women's Institute.

Later at a special lunch we again met the Head of the Health Bureau (Dr Tedros) and others and we were able to talk over our planned new ward.

The lunch was in the Castle Hotel, which used to be the residential Castle of Princess Aida, Emperor Haile Selassie's grand-daughter and her husband Ras (or Duke) Mengesha Seyoum. Ras Mengesha was the Governor of Tigray at the time of the Revolution, (about 28 years ago) and very beloved by the Tigrian people. They smuggled him out to Khartoum! Princess Aida, unfortunately at the time, was in Addis Ababa seeing her mother. She was imprisoned with her mother and her sisters for 15 years!

Now the sisters are living in Washington where Ruth Kennedy and I met them last October.

On the first evening in Mekelle, we had an unusual but most enjoyable, and rather hilarious Christmas dinner at a missionary friend's house.

Ruth had brought most of the ingredients for our dinner from Addis Ababa, including a cooked frozen chicken, and a plum pudding from London! Two other guests were there, plus a baby of 18 months, and a huge dog! Finally a tasty meal was produced with the aid of two saucepans, a tiny oven and two electric hot plates! We ended the meal by singing carols. Every one of us chose our own favourite!

The next two days were spent mostly at the busy local hospital meeting the medical director, and others. We had to select a suitable site for our twenty-bed fistula ward and a new operating theatre for mothers only. The theatre will be for Caesarean Sections, Ruptured Uteri, and obstetric vaginal fistulae repairs.

Our Architect Yoseph Bereded was with us during most of this time. He was able to give advice, and meet the hospital engineer and some of the doctors. It was very good to have him with us as we made decisions.

We chose a site behind the hospital adjacent to the back wall of the compound, and not more than a ten-minute walk from the bus station.

It will be desirable to have a separate gate for patients to come straight in off the road to our ward. The road is being upgraded now, and soon will be sealed.

The ward, when it is built, will have easy access to the existing hospital's theatre block, and our own new special maternity theatre.

Bahr Dar Regional Fistula Ward
Another of our fistula centres is already half built! This is at Bahr Dar, the town on the Southern end of Lake Tana. Our Builder, Mr Varnero, is building this, free of cost for us, in memory of his father, who was a knight of Malta!

Recently, one of our doctors Dr Haile, was at the Gondar Hospital for a week with two of our nurses. They were operating there. On the way home they called in to the Bahr Dar Hospital to see the progress. They came back with glowing reports and lots of photos, showing the new building, already with the roof on! A new theatre will also be built there by Mr. Varnero.

Possibly this month also we shall see the start of the building of the new fistula ward at the Yirgalem hospital, funded by The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD). They too are building a new theatre there for us, and have agreed to cover the running costs for two years.

Harer Regional Fistula Ward building
More good news is that our "American Friends Foundation for Childbirth Injuries" (now known as The Fistula Foundation - Ed) has decided to finance the Harer ward. Dr Biruk and two nurses leave for Harer to-morrow to operate there for a week on fistula patients. They will decide which regional hospital is suitable and a site for the ward.

There are several hospitals in Harer. One has no space for any extra building, as it is in the centre of this crowded walled city. Dr Biruk will meet other gynaecologists there and together they will decide on the best location.

Fund-raising Trip to America
In early October Ruth Kennedy and I flew off to America for a marathon trip. I had some "fear and trepidation", but Ruth was her usual calm and collected self! She is a great support for me!

For the next 3 weeks we raced across America. The object of our trip, was to raise money for our work and increase the awareness of the extent of the degrading problem of obstetric fistulae.

We had a great program put in place by Ric Haas, who commenced The Fistula Foundation. Without his help we would have been quite lost, and would have achieved little. Everything was so well organised. Our whole trip, from New York to Washington, to Rochester, to Chicago and finally to Los Angeles went smoothly, with wonderful help and kindness from everyone we met. My only worry was that I had to speak so frequently!

In New York we again had great support from Ric Haas who had flown from San Francisco and Stuart Abrahams, who kindly flew over from Australia, especially to help us! Although I had many speaking engagements, we also had many moments of enjoyment, laughter and relaxation! We even went to a musical on Broadway!

It was heart warming to meet with the Ethiopian Community in Washington. I met many old friends some who had suffered greatly in the Communist Revolution, losing family and friends. Their hearts are still in Ethiopia.

Fellowship from American College of Surgeons
We flew next to Rochester, where the famous Mayo Clinic is situated. Here two Australians, Professor and Mrs Maurice Webb, entertained us royally.

They then flew with us to Chicago where I was to receive an honorary Fellowship from the American College of Surgeons. Prof Webb (a Gynaecological Oncologist) was the College Member who presented me and read out the Citation. Our stay in Chicago was one of enjoyable "pomp and ceremony".

Ruth went flew back via Atlanta to see her father. I flew to Los Angeles and after another speaking engagement, went on to Australia.

This trip to the USA has generated excellent support for our work here. It has certainly given me a new awareness of the generosity, kindness and concern of all the American people we were privileged to meet.

I am especially grateful to the American College of Surgeons who paid for my round-the-world ticket, and gave me such a heart-warming reception in Chicago.

A Holiday in Australia
Flying on to Australia was of course for me the high light of my trip. I only spoke at a few functions and did have an opportunity to rest.

Stuart Abrahams went with me to see the Director General of AusAID in Canberra. AusAID has expressed interest in helping us with the cost of building the fistula Ward at Mekelle. We also had a warm and kind reception from the Minister for Foreign Affairs - Mr Alexander Downer.

We had an opportunity to visit World Vision in Melbourne. World Vision has helped us for many years.

It was wonderful to be in Australia again, to see family and friends, and to just enjoy our great and beautiful country!

New Hostel/Ward in the Hospital Compound

The building of our new hostel/ward within the grounds of our Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, is making good progress.

The building looks very impressive. It will cost Aus$370,000. All the funding for this, has come from our Australian Fund, and your generous gifts.

The upper ward of the new hostel/ward will hold 20 beds and below, a smaller section of 10 beds. Also, near the Hostel, there is a store and office for the outreach program.

It is being built at the upper end of this long narrow section of land near the gate, which leads to the rear road access. This will store equipment for outreach, and will include the outreach pharmacy and an office for a nurse coordinator.

The nurse coordinator will be in charge organising the visits of our doctors to all the centres. She will look after records and supplies and cope with the needs from each centre.

Increasing Numbers of Patients
Yesterday, I was in the outpatients in the morning and saw five new arrivals, listening to their stories and talking with the brothers and fathers who came with them.

Coming home in the afternoon from shopping for our Ethiopian Christmas, I met a missionary nurse, Claire, who is working alone at her clinic in Illubabor, and coping with many horrendous problems.

Claire had driven all day and brought two incontinent patients with her. One woman about 35, had delivered 7 children, the last one being a stillbirth and causing the fistula. The other was a pathetic little girl, perhaps 18 who was married to an older Muslem man. After 2 years of incontinence and misery, he was persuaded to bring her to us for treatment. It is amazing that he had not deserted her, but he still insisted on calling her by the name of his first wife, who had died in labour some years before!

We shall try and repair both the patients on the same day, and send them home together.

Rapid Expansion to Help More Patients
Some of our supporters are concerned at the speed with which we are doing new projects. This is due to the enormous need that exists.

As well, there are many willing donors who are anxious to support one or other of the centres.

This I feel sure is God's way of giving us the "green light" to embark at once on building and organising staff etc.

I feel sure that God has given us a vision for these women in their great need and is providing for these "centres" to be built, so that help is more easily available.

Please pray for this new venture, and for us, as we embark upon building these centres. We can visualise the huge amount of extra help that will be available to many more suffering women in this great country.

For your wonderful support, your interest and your love I thank you from my heart. May God bless you throughout this New Year.

Dr Catherine Hamlin AC