This is my amazing friend Annalisa. She has registered to fund raise $10,000 Australian dollars for Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia (Australia) … by November this year.
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In my three years of blogging I have never posted about raising money for a good cause (I don't recall). But this is something I feel strongly about so please hear me out. Or should that be read me out.
This post is about raising funds to help women in Ethiopia who suffer obstetric fistula.
If you don't know, an obstetric fistula is most commonly a hole in bladder or bowel or both leading to permanent incontinence that results from obstructed childbirth. The United Nations has launched a campaign to end fistula and describes it as "a preventable and treatable tragedy."
Naturally, women in Australia either don't acquire OF because the problem is prevented (I am guessing by C-section) or, once acquired it can be treated through the excellent, free medical care we receive in Australia.
In fact, Australian writer, Susan Johnson's, A Better Woman is her confronting and haunting story about childbirth and developing a fistula in the 1990s.
I always thought tearing during childbirth and being sewn up was bad, until I read about obstetric fistulas!
Hamlin Fistula Australia is an Australian charity established at the request of Dr Catherine Hamlin to raise funds for assisting women suffering from obstetric fistula.
A bit of background.
Dr Hamlin and her husband Reg went to Ethiopia in 1959 to train midwives. They ended up dedicating their lives to helping women suffering from obstetric fistula. Dr Hamlin is now 91, she only ceased conducting surgery last year! Read about Dr Hamlin and her life's work in The Hospital by the River.
Annalisa already gives monthly to Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia, but she has upped the ante for a worthy cause. She is going to visit the organisation she supports.
In November she will be travelling to Ethiopia with other fundraisers for a 16 day visit to Hamlin Fistula hospitals and clinics and training schools in Addis Ababa and regional Ethiopia, along with visits to natural and cultural sites. This trip is wholly funded by her.
And, being super fit, she will also participate in the Great Ethiopian Run, 10km at altitude in Addis Ababa (2,400 m or so) against some 35 - 40,000 altitude-conditioned Ethiopians!
The link below provides more information including what motivated her to take on this challenge. If you are moved by this cause, please donate as Tony and I have.
Please share this post or link with friends and family.
Donations $2 and over are tax deductible in Australia. Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia (Australia) Limited is a DFAT-approved organisation with Deductible Gift Recipient Item 1 status (DGR1).
Please note that Annalisa's trip is separately funded through her personal income!
Around 25 years ago in the UK I watched a documentary about Dr. Hamlin and her training of local women in the prevention and repair of fistulas.
ReplyDeleteThe program investigated the crushing isolation of women with fistulas in Ethiopia.
Due to their incontinence the women were forbidden from living in their villages. They were forced to live alone and apart from their children and families.
Often the husband would take another wife and the affected woman would be left with no means of financial or emotional support. Others were reluctant to visit because of the stigma associated with urine and even securing food each day was a difficult task. It looked to be a hellish existence of shame, loneliness, and grief.
That I still remember their stories after so much time is an indication of the sorrow I felt for the women who were sentenced to poverty, ill-health, and a lonely death after what, for most women, is a joyous and life-affirming occasion. It is remarkable that Dr. Hamlin's work continues and the drive to improve life for women affected by fistulas is still strong.
I am ashamed to say I had not heard about Dr Hamlin.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was researching OFs to write the post, I felt exactly the same although somewhat critical of the men/culture who enable the alienation of the women with OF. I read that the obstructed childbirth is often because the mother is so young and not physically developed enough to deliver a child which raises a whole new issue!