Donor Profile is one of the regular features in Fistula Foundation publications (see also One Woman's Story). Every month on our website, and in each newsletter, we feature a donor who has found a creative way to help the women of Fistula Hospital make the journey from despair to dignity.

Carol & Lonnie Moseley

This photograph is from 1966 and shows Catherine and Reginald Hamlin with my sister Phyllis Peers, formerly a registered nurse. The woman on the far right was a nurse who worked at the Princess Tshai Hospital with the Hamlins. Phyllis visited us in Ethiopia in 1966 and was delighted to see Dr. Catherine on the Oprah Show three months before her death in May 2004 at the age of 93.

My husband and I came to know the doctors Reginald and Catherine Hamlin through my work as a Welfare Coordinator for the American Women's Club of Addis Ababa. My husband was in the military in 1964-67 and again in 1969-71.

We socialized and became very close friends with the Hamlins while sharing deeply in their concerns for support of their Fistula Hospital. The hospital was located just two blocks from our residence.

It was my good fortune to meet the Hamlins because of my work as the Chairperson for the American Woman's Club. It was our goal to sponsor as many projects within our city as our budget would permit, and the Fistula Hospital was on our list. I was able to organize a small group of our friends from the MAAG (Military Assistance Group), Mapping Mission, the Peace Corps and others to gather used clothing. This was done on a personal basis. Small amounts of money were also obtained and given to them for their project. We also arranged with other military families to accept and deliver packages. The Hamlins and their work have stayed dear to my heart since then.

Our admiration for the Hamlins knows no bounds. Their reward certainly was not compensation; but their knowledge that they could restore the penniless, injured and cast-off girls to a new life with their families and possibly a husband. We continue to give to the hospital through the Fistula Foundation in the United States.

We pray for the continuing success of the hospital and all its projects and endeavors. We recently saw Dr. Hamlin again on the Oprah Show. She was beautiful.

~Carol Moseley

To read previous stories from the Donor Profile series, visit the Profile Archives page.