Visiting the Fistula Hospital in Addis

This morning we visited the Fistula Hospital (http://www.hamlinfistula.org/). This is the same one from “A Walk to Beautiful” (http://www.walktobeautiful.com/; http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/beautiful/) and the one Oprah Winfrey has supported (http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Inside-the-Fistula-Hospital_1). I can honestly say it’s one of the most impressive organizations I have ever seen. It is so comprehensive it’s amazing. They support women who have developed fistulas from birth and other traumatic experiences. All of their care costs nothing to these women—they come from all over Ethiopia after being shunned by there communities and their families, often after having lived in small huts, alone, due to the odor because of the incontinence. They develop foot drop and contractures from lying in curled up positions on dirt floors for months or years. They are malnourished due to the fact that they eat and drink very little because of the incontinence.

They come here and they are given nourishment, physical therapy, surgery, post-operative care, and education. They learn to make handicrafts, which are then sold and the profits go back to the women. And one of the most important things is they receive counseling and education about their condition. The emotional toll of losing a baby after 5 days of horrible labor and then the months or years of pain and discrimination takes a great emotional toll on these women—many who are very young, but really they are all ages. The woman I spoke with said the emotional counseling is often more important than the physical therapy.

The PT room had the birthing balls and exercise bike and heat lamps for contractures. It was amazing, and they had ‘before and after’ photos of women which would just blow your mind.

We saw the post-operative ward and the pre-operative ward. The other incredible aspect of the hospital is that they only require two things of these women in return for the weeks or months of care (it’s different for everyone, but the average stay is 34 days). First, is that they go back to their village (they provide the transportation) and tell everyone they know about this place because usually the referrals come from the women who got care. Second, is that when they become pregnant they must return by the time they are 6 months along. They will get nutrition and care and education and will deliver their baby by C-section at a hospital here in Addis so they do not damage their repairs. We also saw the maternity ward, where there were pregnant women and women with young newborns as well.

They also have a midwifery school, and this is on another campus where some of the women whose repairs were not fully successful live and work a trade and run a cafe. We may visit there later this week. Midwives require 4 years of training, and through this institute it is free if they are willing to work in a rural area for 2 years after graduation. They have 4 satellite centers in various regions of Ethiopia.

The hospital has a 95% success rate, and the other 5% are able to stay and live on that satellite campus. Those women may have ongoing ostomy care needs (http://www.ostomy.org/ostomy_info/whatis.shtml) that would be difficult to provide in a rural village.

The school room, counseling offices, and various wards were all so impressive, and all of the women were so well cared for and it really warmed my heart to see how one couple could reach out to a group of some of the most marginalized populations in the world and TRULY make a profound difference in their lives.

We will also be visiting AHOPE later today. I look forward tp sharing about that trip soon.

Love, Emily