Empowering women in Ethiopia
On International Literacy Day, we are reminded that literacy is not only about reading and writing — it is also about dignity, empowerment, and opportunity. For women recovering from obstetric fistula, education can be a vital step towards healing and rebuilding their lives.
Hawwa, once a Hamlin patient and now an educator at the Hamlin’s Harar Fistula Hospital, knows this only too well. Literacy and learning opened a new chapter in her life, transforming despair into hope.
This is her story.
Living with obstetric fistula
My name is Hawwa and I come from Ethiopia’s Oromia Region. After I was married, I soon fell pregnant. But my first pregnancy ended in tragedy: obstetric fistula.
After three days of labour at home, my in-laws took me to a health centre. The staff mistakenly told us it wasn’t time to deliver, and I was sent home. There, I eventually gave birth — but I lost my baby.
After the birth, I was left unable to control my bladder and bowels, and partially paralysed. I couldn’t move my legs, which was both physically and emotionally devastating.
Living with fistula was isolating and humiliating. The fear of leaking in public filled me with shame, and I avoided people, believing I was unworthy of love or companionship.
Soon after, my husband abandoned me and remarried, compounding my feelings of rejection and despair. I had lost my health, my baby, and the person I thought would stand beside me. I felt purposeless, as if my life had lost all meaning.
I felt trapped in my own body, unable to care for myself or participate in daily life.
- Hawwa, former fistula patient
The long search for a cure
I learned about Hamlin from a former patient. To reach the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, I sold my goats — the last remnants of my marriage.
My first trip was in 2008, but surgery was unsuccessful due to complications. I returned in 2009 for further procedures, ultimately requiring diversion surgery. I then moved to Desta Mender, Hamlin’s recovery and rehabilitation centre for women needing longer-term care.
There, I received counselling, literacy and numeracy classes, and vocational training. I learnt animal husbandry, studied Amharic and improved my reading, and also developed new life skills. These skills set me on a new path: I was chosen to become an educator for other patients at Hamlin’s Harar Fistula Hospital.
Helping women recover independence
Once a patient myself, I now dedicate my life to supporting others. I understand their trauma and walk beside them as they rebuild their confidence. I encourage women to rediscover their purpose and believe in a better future. Thanks to Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia, many of us can begin again.
My education has also continued — I am now a first year Accounting student, studying for my diploma.
Today, I live a happy life and remain committed to helping women with fistula and other birth-related injuries. Fistula patients often face isolation and shame, but at Hamlin’s Harar Fistula Hospital, we are more than colleagues — we are family.
By giving the gift of literacy and healing, you empower survivors to rebuild their lives with confidence.
Help more women like Hawwa rewrite their futures.
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