Women and girls in Ethiopia suffering from obstetric fistulas have no hope unless they get treated. An obstetric fistula is the most devastating of childbirth injuries and results from obstructed labor. Women and girls with fistulas are left childless, incontinent and alone because emergency obstetric care is unavailable or inaccessible. These women suffer from both physical and psychological traumas.
Dr. Catherine Hamlin has been saving women with this devastating condition for over 40 years. Thirty years ago, Catherine Hamlin and her late husband Reginald Hamlin opened up the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital to treat these women. The hospital is dedicated to the women’s holistic treatment from repairing their injuries to restoring their dignity. Dr. Hamlin, age 80, knows that her time and ability to perform this surgery is limited and her wish is to have this important work to continue after she is gone.
Helping a woman restore her dignity and live a normal life is a lot easier than you may think. You or I may not be able to commit to 40 years of servitude for this cause like Dr. Hamlin, but we can still help--financially. Every $450 we raise will save a woman’s life.
The goal of BEAN’s Think Global Act Local Initiative benefiting the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia is to raise funds to help as many women suffering from obstetric fistulas as possible and to raise awareness of this issue. BEAN is partnering with AFFCI, the 501(c)3 organization responsible for channeling the funds collected to the hospital, to ultimately raise as much money as possible for the Fistula Hospital. If you would like to donate to this cause, please visit the "How Can I Help" section for more information.
We will be celebrating our collective efforts with a thank-you gala on May 13, 2004 8:00pm at the Islander Restaurant. All sponsors, co-hosts, donors, and public are welcomed to attend.
