Treat Hamlin’s hard working clinical team performed 2,584 surgeries for women with birth injuries from fistula and pelvic organ prolapse Rehabilitate 420 women received psychological and social support Equip We don’t just treat women with fistula, we empower them to return to lives of dignity. In Hamlin’s comprehensive reintegration program 1,253 women received numeracy and […]

Before joining the Equipping programme at Hamlin Fistula, Asmira struggled to provide for her family. Now she and her family are thriving, thanks to the skills she learned.

Elfinesh has been running her shop for the last three years, where she sells a wide variety of products needed for life in a rural town in northwestern Ethiopia. You could find just about anything you need in her small shop – from spices to soap, cooking oil to safety pins. Hanging from the roof are small packs of washing powder and sachets of yeast – an ingredient often added to make injera (an Ethiopian bread similar to a savoury crêpe).

The team at Hamlin’s Rehabilitation and Reintegration Centre, Desta Mender, continues to restore the health and dignity of women who have sustained severe or complex obstetric fistula injuries. Desta Mender embodies the Hamlin Model of Care, which is grounded in a fundamental respect for women with fistula injuries and a deep commitment to the provision of complete and compassionate care.

Dr Catherine Hamlin believed that treating an obstetric fistula patient isn’t just treating a hole in the bladder, but rather the whole woman with love and care. In 2002, Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia opened Desta Mender, Hamlin’s Rehabilitation and Reintegration Centre, where long-term fistula patients undergo education classes and learn income-generating skills to support reintegration back into their communities and independent living.