News Archive - June 2006

From Dr Catherine Hamlin AC

Dear Friends,

Once again, here is some more news of happenings over the last few months.

Promoting our New Zealand Hamlin Trust
This letter is mostly to tell you about my trip to New Zealand for a few weeks in April and May, where we have set up a new Charitable Trust called "Hamlin Charitable Fistula Hospitals Trust". I am especially excited about this, as my husband was a New Zealander, descended from a long line of forebears in that country. His great grandfather was one of the first missionaries to land in the Bay of Islands in 1824. To have had my son and his wife with me for part of that trip was also very special, and to include some time in Australia was another bonus!

The name that the New Zealand Trust uses, has the word for hospital in the plural! This is appropriate as we now have two regional fistula hospitals in the Provinces, and one very soon to be functioning in Yirgalem, then two more are planned for next year!

Our five New Zealand Trustees are all dedicated and working hard to promote this new Trust. Much preliminary legal work and planning was done before my visit.

During my visit I experienced enormous help and support and much enthusiasm! Although I had many speaking events and interviews, it was a pleasurable trip, which I greatly enjoyed. We started in Dunedin and ended in Auckland. There are many New Zealanders that are now aware of the suffering of the fistula patients, which is on all our hearts, and which we long to see eradicated one day from Ethiopia. So I spoke many times about this hope and the future of our work - also about the need to be sure we can go on treating and caring for fistula sufferers for many decades ahead.

This will be the main purpose of the New Zealand Trust. They plan to raise money for investment, so that interest earned will help to provide income toward the running costs of our hospitals in the future and for the steps we plan to take to help prevent this suffering.

Efforts to prevent obstetric fistulae
Further steps toward prevention are beginning to develop. In fact today, I will be going with some of our staff to a big "International Day for Midwives". If only we could be sure of having a qualified midwife in every village of Ethiopia I know many women's lives would be saved, and many injuries prevented. Sweden did this in the mid 19th century and the death rate for women in labour was halved!

The midwives that we would train, for this purpose, would be girls from the very areas where they are most needed. This will also mean that the draw of city life would not be such a temptation. Much of the training would therefore be done in the Provinces, and our regional Centres could be the backup support for the midwives.

I arrived back here to the usual heart-warming welcome, which is always so touching. Even the patients I did not know seemed pleased to see me!

There are many new patients, arriving daily and our wards and hostels are overflowing, so we are very busy.

We also have two people from the Congo for training - a doctor and a nurse. Dr Ambaye was in the Congo and worked with these two and arranged for them both to have further training with us. They are very nice and very keen to learn as much as possible during their short stay. They hope to go back to set up a fistula unit in their hospital.

Hamlin Fistula® International Foundation
In Sydney, on my way back I was able to attend a Directors meeting of our Australian Fund, and was delighted to hear of the wonderful response from many donors, who sent gifts specified for the Hamlin Fistula® International Foundation. I want to thank those of you who have kindly and so generously, donated to the Foundation.

As you know, I have been trying, for over ten years, to establish some kind of Investment that will provide income to keep the Hospital 'running' in future years. The Hospital is a Charity. All patients are destitute and are treated free of charge. The Ethiopian Government is unable to give us much support but they do make a nominal payment toward the cost of our surgeons. We rely almost entirely on Grants from charities and from generous donors, to cover our running costs.

We were able to establish and register the Hamlin Fistula® International Foundation, last year. Although the Foundation is a separate entity, the Trustees of our Ethiopian Hospital, have the control over it. Our Australian Fund, AusAID and our American Fund, have deposited money into the Foundation so that income from this source has already begun coming into the Hospital's bank account to help with the overall running costs. As you will realise our total running costs are rapidly increasing with the new regional centres and with the Desta Mender Village.

I feel that it is so important to have an extra secure income base that will provide additional money toward running costs, as we plan for the future care of these long neglected injured women and girls, in the years ahead.

While in Australia, I was also able to fly to Canberra to meet Mr. Bruce Davis the Director-General of AusAID and some of his senior staff and to thank them for the great support and help they have given to the Hospital over many years. It was good to have Mr Stuart Abrahams with me. We also met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Alexander Downer, who has been supportive of our work and who graciously, granted us an interview. This was indeed a great privilege and a great encouragement to us.

A visit to my Old School
Another enjoyable and nostalgic visit while in Australia was to my old school - Frensham, at Mittagong, south of Sydney. I was kindly invited to speak there to the whole school, to friends, and parents as well, about our work in Ethiopia.

This was an especially poignant experience, as I saw before me, a sea of beautiful young eager faces, and compared it to similar crowds of the beautiful faces of Ethiopian girls, but who are marred by tragic and heart-breaking circumstances.

However, we have been able to bring about a healing change so that many of these Ethiopian faces are no longer tragic!

I believe that with God's help we can continue to do this. When I look back over the years and recall all the support and blessings we have received, I know that it is through the love and compassion of God that the tragic lives of these girls have been restored to normality. So we have confidence for the future and for the sustainability of this work.

The Mekelle Fistula Centre
I am happy to be able to tell you that this new centre is now being well used. Dr Ambaye has been to the Centre on several occasions doing fistula surgery on patients that had been admitted to the Centre, before she arrives.

The Mekelle Ward on the Centre's Opening day
The two resident Gynaecologists at the main adjoining regional hospital, who have had some training in fistula surgery at our Hospital, are also treating some fistula patients for us. They are sending the more difficult cases to Addis for surgery. We have not yet found a permanent doctor who will reside in Mekelle and take charge of this important Fistula Centre.

A survey of the area is being done for us to see if there is water underground. We desperately need a permanent source of water in this very dry area. If water is found, we hope to put our own bore down.

Thank you again, for all your support and concern to assist our work here in Ethiopia.

May we be faithful for the tasks that lie ahead.

With my gratitude to all who are our supporters in so many ways.

As always, my love.

(Dr.) Catherine Hamlin

From Dr Andrew Browning
The new Fistula Centre at Bahr Dar is going very well. We have had to bring up extra nursing aides from Addis Ababa and install extra beds to cope.

Patients waiting outside the new Bahr Dar Fistula Centre
There have been about 50 patients operated upon each month since Stephanie and I arrived in February and I began work as the resident doctor. There have been many admissions for more minor procedures.

More patients are now coming, having heard about the Fistula Centre from patients that have already been here. About 10 new patients arriving each day.

There are also new partnerships being established with other charities in the Bahr Dar area. Some are informing the local health workers in the villages about the fistula Centre, and then providing transport for the patients to come here. Most patients arrive with an obstetric fistula for treatment.

One previous patient returned just recently to thank the hospital for curing her. It was a year since her operation. She arrived in the clothes that she was given when she left the hospital. It was her only dress!

Other very young patients are coming with awful injuries obtained from being married too early. It is not uncommon in the area around Bahr Dar, for girls to be married as young as 7 or 8 years of age. When they go to be with their husbands, they sustain injuries similar to fistulae, and subsequently this leads them to being divorced.

The area around Bahr Dar is very poor and living conditions are fairly primitive. People sleep on the floor and have no electricity.

I thought you may appreciate this little story.....

We recently had a patient come to us who had a fistula for 40 years. She was very apprehensive. When it came to the day for her surgery, while she was being prepared for the operation, she nervously exclaimed 'I don't mind if I die right now...for I have slept in a bed and I have seen an electric light'.

Brief Overview of progress with Hamlin Fistula® Outreach Centres

• Bahr Dar: This Centre is operating at full capacity since Dr Andrew Browning began working there full time. It is clear that when 'news' gets out that there is a facility that offers a caring service to these women, many come in from the countryside.
• Mekelle: The Mekelle Centre is now fully equipped and staffed. Last month 20 patients arrived and 15 had surgery. Our nursing Sisters and many of the nursing Aides are originally from Mekelle and speak the local language of Tigrinia. They are keeping the Centre running, working closely with the local gynaecologists at the regional hospital in Mekelle. Once a permanent fistula surgeon is appointed to the Centre, we expect the same growth in patient numbers as we have seen in Bahr Dar.
• Yirgalem: The building is almost completed. We have already trained nursing staff and have purchased the equipment and furnishings for the Centre. We expect to begin admitting patients at the end of June. The official opening will not be until November. Funding for this building has come from the Norwegian Government through the Norwegian Lutheran Mission.
• Metu: Metu is 550kms from Addis Ababa, but the roads are bad and it takes twelve hours to drive there. For a number of years Dr Ambaye has been visiting the local government hospital to operate on fistula patients. We expect to build this centre in 2007.
• Harer: Our surveys have shown that the Harer is an important region for us to develop a fistula Centre. We have already selected a location and have developed plans. There is a doctor who is ready to work at the Centre when it is built. It is also planned to build this centre in 2007.
• The need for more doctors: We are in the process of selecting and training more doctors for the outreach centres and hope to have two more skilled Ethiopian Fistula surgeons by the end of 2006.

Stephanie and I are enjoying immensely, the challenge of this new area of work and William has settled in well. Recently we had a marvellous answer to prayer. Just next door, another ex-pat family moved in with a 5 month-old child!. So the only other ex-pat baby for about 400km moved into the house next to us, which is a great blessing for all.

Dr Andrew Browning