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DECEMBER 2006 NEWSLETTER
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Ruth Kennedy - Visit Australia
Some of you will have had the privilege of meeting Sister Ruth Kennedy. For those who have not met her, she is the wheels behind the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospitals Public face.

Ruth is a trained nursing sister and a midwife. Her title is Liaison/Publicity Officer and she has an extraordinary knowledge of the problems facing young pregnant women in Ethiopia and in the way in which the fistula Hospital is able to help them. Ruth, (as she likes to be called) visited Australia in October this year, visiting Sydney, speaking at various meetings in many places.

She also had radio interviews and spoke at the Hamlin Fistula Welfare and Research Ltd Annual General Meeting and spoke at a meeting of doctors, midwives and health workers at one of Sydney’s larger Hospitals. She also had an opportunity to do a Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb.

Her message from Ethiopia was simple, they must train more midwives to help prevent obstetric fistula occurring. The benefits are obvious, firstly it helps reduce the incidence of the obstetric fistula injuries; which in turn reduces the number of women needing fistula surgery; and it will save the life of many mothers and unborn babies.

Fistula Centre in the Congo
Over the last few years the Fistula Hospital’s Dr Ambaye and a medical team have been going to the Congo to do fistula surgery. This prompted five separate groups of doctors from the Congo to come to the Fistula Hospital in Addis Ababa for training in fistula surgery. Now a Norwegian Christian Group has decided to fund the cost of setting up a Fistula Centre in the Panzi. It will become a training centre in the Congo for fistula surgery. Training will be in French, which will be a bonus in that part of Africa.