For 17 years, Makda watched her daughter Genet live with the pain and isolation of obstetric fistula. This is her story of love, resilience — and the joy of seeing her daughter finally heal. When Genet returned home after successful obstetric fistula surgery at Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia, there was only one person whose happiness may […]

Tolera, a Patient Identification Officer with Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia, doesn’t just deliver news of a cure for obstetric fistula. He delivers hope. “When we find women, they have usually suffered with fistula for many years. When we meet them, they will often cry. Not because of pain, but because somebody tells them there is hope.” […]

Earlier this year, Tewodros of Kidus Studios in Ethiopia travelled to south-western Ethiopia to meet Genet, who had recently been found by a Hamlin Patient Identification Officer. Living five hours from the capital, Addis Ababa, in one of Ethiopia’s remote rural villages, Genet had suffered the devastation of obstetric fistula for 17 years. An experienced […]

Seventeen years of pain, frustration and uncertainty. For Genet, this was daily life after suffering an obstetric fistula. She felt she had no other choice but to live with the devastation it caused. Genet says: "The health problem I have faced has ruined my life. I have never been happy. I constantly worry about what […]

On my first visit to Ethiopia, there were many moments that moved me deeply. But meeting MulFitu at Hamlin’s Harar Fistula Hospital is something I will carry with me forever. I met MulFitu shortly after she arrived for surgery. She had been found by Mohammed, one of Hamlin’s Patient Identification Officers, while he was searching […]

Semehal is just one of the women whose health and dignity has been restored as a result of Project Zero (PZ) in Seharti Woreda.  After getting married, Semehal suffered two miscarriages before sustaining an obstetric fistula during the birth of her third child. She recalls: “Living with a fistula was incredibly challenging. I avoided visitors […]

Obstetric fistula stole seven years of Hiwat’s life. Your generosity gave it back.There is no school in Hiwat’s village in the rural woreda (district) of Tach Gayint. Instead of getting an education, Hiwat helped her mother at home while her brothers looked after the cattle. When she got married, Hiwat went to live with her […]

Life at Desta Mender, which means Joy Village in Amharic, feels like heaven. These are the words of Abadis, who is awaiting surgical treatment after living with the devastating impacts of obstetric fistula for more than two decades. One of six children from a farming family near Mayichew, Abadis’ first pregnancy resulted in five days […]

For many women, obstetric fistula leads to a range of complex and long-term health complications. We spoke with Dr Leta Gadafa about the lengthy and delicate process of restoring health and dignity to Sumaya, a mother of ten. Dr Leta Gadafa is an obstetrician-gynaecologist, fistula surgeon and Manager at Hamlin’s Harar Fistula Hospital, where he […]

Ethiopia is in the middle of a hidden crisis with almost one in four women hiding a devastating condition in silence. As Hamlin’s Patient Identification Officers search for women with obstetric fistula, they’re discovering thousands more suffering in silence with another devastating condition, pelvic organ prolapse – a condition that happens when pelvic organs slip […]