Sarah Hamlin, a Watford resident, has set up a fundraising event in collaboration with Hamlin Fistula UK (HFUK), a charity exclusively supporting a hospital in Ethiopia founded by her grandparents in 1974.
Drs Reginald & Catherine Hamlin emigrated from Australia to Ethiopia in 1959. Their vision was to provide a safe place where Ethiopian women suffering from obstetric fistula – a debilitating condition caused by prolonged labour – could be treated, cared for and given a new lease of life.
Forty years later, with an expanded hospital in Addis Ababa, five regional Outreach hospitals and a new midwifery college, Hamlin Fistula has become a world leader in maternal healthcare. A dedicated staff team continue the couple's work across Ethiopia to this day, treating thousands of women every year. Their long-term goal is to prevent and eventually eradicate fistula from Ethiopia.
Now aged 90, Dr Catherine Hamlin continues to operate every Thursday morning, and this year was nominated by the Ethiopian government for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Her granddaughter Sarah is seeking twelve participants from across the UK who are able to commit their time and energy to fundraise £2,500 for HFUK during 2015. At the end of the year they will take part in an organised trip to Ethiopia during which they will witness the work of the hospital first-hand and take part in the 10km Great Ethiopian Run, Africa's biggest road race.
Sarah is very proud of her grandparents' legacy and feels privileged to be able to contribute to its on-going work. Sarah says: “For my siblings and I, childhood visits to our grandparents in Ethiopia were the most exciting holidays we could imagine. I'm thrilled to be able to offer an opportunity for both long-term and new supporters of HFUK to discover this wonderful country. It's my hope that this event will increase UK awareness and support for Hamlin Fistula and for the thousands of Ethiopian women they treat every year. These women suffer terribly from an easily preventable condition – one that we never hear of here in the UK because it is so rare. They need people to share their stories and to help end fistula for good.”
To join Sarah for the trip of a lifetime, find out more and download an application form at hamlinfistulauk.org END Notes to Editors: Images of Drs Reginald & Catherine Hamlin and the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital are available.
For more information about the event please go to: http://hamlinfistulauk.org/Pages/GRE/HFUK%20full%20ad%20page.pdf Based on information supplied by Sarah Hamlin.
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