Ethiopia's dear shares 'alternative Nobel'
15 October, 2009 | By Evyn Testoni (AP)
to fix obstetric fistulas, a condition eradicated in developed nations.
She won the Right Livelihood Award on Tuesday for dedicating her life
to "restoring the health, hope and dignity of thousands of Africa's
poorest women".
The awards, to be presented in December, were founded by Swedish-
German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull in 1980 to recognise deeds he
felt were ignored by the Nobel Prizes.
Dr Hamlin said she saw the award as a chance to further promote her
work, rather than a personal milestone.
"I'm always excited to get something, not for my own sake but for the
cause we're upholding ... because the more people that know the
better," she said.
"It's an honour to have this award for me too, but I only really like
them because they bring the world's attention to the needs of these
women."
The Sydney-born doctor moved to Ethiopia with her late husband Dr
Reginald Hamlin in 1959, originally on a three-year contract.
The couple never left and Dr Hamlin plans to be buried in Ethiopia
beside her husband.
She still carries out surgery at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital they
founded and four regional outreach centres, which together treat about
3,000 patients every year.
The hospital provides operations for women who have a fistula, or
hole, in their bladder or rectum as a result of a prolonged or obstructed
labour.
Women with fistulas often have stillborn babies and if left untreated,
the condition can also lead to ulcerations, kidney disease and nerve
damage in the legs.
Although easily treatable, with 93 per cent of patients treated making a
full recovery, untreated women can become ostracised in Ethiopian
culture.
The hospital and clinics employ 400 staff, mainly locals, with some
former patients employed as nursing aides.
Dr Hamlin has been praised for her holistic approach to tackling the
fistula problem, employing a psychiatric nurse and physiotherapists to
help patients overcome mental and physical problems associated with
fistulas.
"They have psychiatric problems from the trauma of the experience
and very often they are very withdrawn when they come," she said.
However, she hopes the hospital's creation of a new midwifery college
will help move her work to prevention as well as cure.
Midwives will be sent to outlying villages after the three-year diploma
course - poor communications and transport in Ethiopia mean many
pregnant women are isolated.
Dr Hamlin hopes the midwife program will become her greatest legacy
but has no plans to put down her surgical tools anytime soon.
"I've still got a job to do," she said.
"I can't see the point in retiring.
"I just hope that this hospital will keep going and the midwives will do
an enormous amount of preventive work in the countryside once we
start deploying them."
Dr Hamlin arrived in Sydney on Wednesday for a five-week trip to visit
family and promote her work.
The hospital is funded by charitable trusts in a number of countries,
including Australia, New Zealand, England, the US, Japan and Sweden,
as well as grants from government agencies such as AusAID.
She was recognised for the award alongside Congolese
environmentalist Rene Ngongo and New Zealand peace activist Alyn
Ware, with each to receive 50,000 euros ($A80,000) in prize money
from the Right Livelihood Foundation.
The awards will be presented in a ceremony at the Swedish parliament
on December 4, six days before the Nobel Prizes are handed out.
More information about Dr Hamlin's work can be found at Hamlin
Fistula Relief and Aid Fund website - www.fistulatrust.org.
Courtesy
15 October, 2009 | By Evyn Testoni (AP)
- Australian doctor
Catherine Hamlin
hopes winning an
"alternative Nobel"
prize boosts world
attention to her work
saving poor African
women from
becoming social
outcasts due to
incontinence after
childbirth.
to fix obstetric fistulas, a condition eradicated in developed nations.
She won the Right Livelihood Award on Tuesday for dedicating her life
to "restoring the health, hope and dignity of thousands of Africa's
poorest women".
The awards, to be presented in December, were founded by Swedish-
German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull in 1980 to recognise deeds he
felt were ignored by the Nobel Prizes.
Dr Hamlin said she saw the award as a chance to further promote her
work, rather than a personal milestone.
"I'm always excited to get something, not for my own sake but for the
cause we're upholding ... because the more people that know the
better," she said.
"It's an honour to have this award for me too, but I only really like
them because they bring the world's attention to the needs of these
women."
The Sydney-born doctor moved to Ethiopia with her late husband Dr
Reginald Hamlin in 1959, originally on a three-year contract.
The couple never left and Dr Hamlin plans to be buried in Ethiopia
beside her husband.
She still carries out surgery at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital they
founded and four regional outreach centres, which together treat about
3,000 patients every year.
The hospital provides operations for women who have a fistula, or
hole, in their bladder or rectum as a result of a prolonged or obstructed
labour.
Women with fistulas often have stillborn babies and if left untreated,
the condition can also lead to ulcerations, kidney disease and nerve
damage in the legs.
Although easily treatable, with 93 per cent of patients treated making a
full recovery, untreated women can become ostracised in Ethiopian
culture.
The hospital and clinics employ 400 staff, mainly locals, with some
former patients employed as nursing aides.
Dr Hamlin has been praised for her holistic approach to tackling the
fistula problem, employing a psychiatric nurse and physiotherapists to
help patients overcome mental and physical problems associated with
fistulas.
"They have psychiatric problems from the trauma of the experience
and very often they are very withdrawn when they come," she said.
However, she hopes the hospital's creation of a new midwifery college
will help move her work to prevention as well as cure.
Midwives will be sent to outlying villages after the three-year diploma
course - poor communications and transport in Ethiopia mean many
pregnant women are isolated.
Dr Hamlin hopes the midwife program will become her greatest legacy
but has no plans to put down her surgical tools anytime soon.
"I've still got a job to do," she said.
"I can't see the point in retiring.
"I just hope that this hospital will keep going and the midwives will do
an enormous amount of preventive work in the countryside once we
start deploying them."
Dr Hamlin arrived in Sydney on Wednesday for a five-week trip to visit
family and promote her work.
The hospital is funded by charitable trusts in a number of countries,
including Australia, New Zealand, England, the US, Japan and Sweden,
as well as grants from government agencies such as AusAID.
She was recognised for the award alongside Congolese
environmentalist Rene Ngongo and New Zealand peace activist Alyn
Ware, with each to receive 50,000 euros ($A80,000) in prize money
from the Right Livelihood Foundation.
The awards will be presented in a ceremony at the Swedish parliament
on December 4, six days before the Nobel Prizes are handed out.
More information about Dr Hamlin's work can be found at Hamlin
Fistula Relief and Aid Fund website - www.fistulatrust.org.
Courtesy
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