I wanted so badly to visit the Fistula Hospital when I was in Addis and I didn't. I am reading Catherine Hamlin's book, Hospital by the River. It is riveting (warning: it is very graphic when describing medical procedures). I am in the middle of about 5 different books and this is the one I most want to finish. It is the incredible story of Christian doctors Catherine and Reg Hamlin and their life work in Ethiopia with fistula patients. Over 30,000 women have been healed at the Fistula Hospital and go on to live a normal life. At the airport in Addis when I was departing, I met two women from Afghanistan. One was a OB/GYN and the other a nurse. They had been in Addis for 40 days learning to do the fistula repair surgery at the Fistula Hospital.
The documentary, A Walk to Beautiful, will be released on DVD on May 11. To find out more about the Fistula Foundation go to www.fistulafoundation.org. To find our more about the movie, go to www.walktobeautiful.com
The website is full of information about the fistula hospital in Addis and ways you can give to help.
