The Fistula Foundation could not do the work of supporting fistula treatment and prevention without the participation and support of our corporate, nonprofit, fundraising, and media partners. These organizations have joined in the effort to treat and prevent fistula in Ethiopia by donating necessary medical supplies, sharing knowledge, raising money and heightening awareness. We are honored to collaborate with the following organizations. The Fistula Foundation provides no economic support to any of our partner organizations.

Nonprofit Partners

IMOW, the International Museum of Women, presents MAMA, an exhibition that explores how a new generation of women experiences motherhood, and galvanizes audiences into action to advance women’s maternal health. An online exhibition, it expresses moving art, stories and ideas about mothers' rights and roles around the world.
To find out more, visit the IMOW website now >>

Women and Health Alliance International (WAHA) is an international non-profit, non governmental organization based in France that has been launched by Her Highness Sheikha Shamsa bint Hamdan Al-Nahyan, with the over-arching goal of addressing maternal and neonatal health in disadvantaged communities throughout the world. Her Highness has a longstanding committment to women's causes and believes that "no woman should die while bringing new life into the world or suffer needlessly for the rest of her life due to a lack of appropriate medical care". She calls on the international community to unite to reduce the unacceptably high levels of maternal mortality in developing countries and appeals for greater efforts to improve women's health. WAHA strives to be an important international player in terms of implementing and funding a wide range of activities that promote women's health in settings where the needs are greatest, and in advocating for greater action to be taken to reduce maternal deaths.

Looking for an update "from the field?" Visit WAHA's website to check out videos, photo galleries, and to read fascinating patient stories and blog entries from all around the world posted by WAHA's staff and representatives.
To find out more, visit WAHA's website now >>

Since 1948, Direct Relief International has worked to improve the quality of life for people in need. DRI focuses on health by providing essential material resources to locally run health programs in poor areas around the world and during times of disaster.

Direct Relief International is a non-profit, non-political, and non-sectarian organization that provides assistance without regard to race, ethnicity, political or religious affiliation, gender, or ability to pay. DRI is committed to making every dollar count - less than 3% of the organization's support goes to administrative and fundraising expenses.

DRI's partnership with The Fistula Foundation and Hamlin Fistula Hospitals corresponds with the organization's goal to improve maternal health. Since May 2003, Direct Relief International has worked with The Fistula Foundation to supply the hospital with essential medicines and medical supplies and equipment including general and Ob/Gyn surgery kits, wheelchairs, analgesics and antibiotics. With the help of corporate donors such as Johnson & Johnson and Kimberly-Clark, DRI has also provided such items as incontinence pads and hospital paper products.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is spearheading a global Campaign to End Fistula, the first-ever to address this issue. The long-term goal is to make fistula as rare in developing areas as it is in industrialized countries today.

UNFPA is currently providing support to some 30 countries, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as in South Asia and the Arab States. The campaign seeks to raise awareness about fistula and the importance of emergency obstetric care; determine the needs in each country; and expand services for prevention and treatment. Partnership with such organizations as The Fistula Foundation is the cornerstone of the Campaign. With Fistula Foundation support, Hamlin Fistula Hospitals are able to train doctors so that more countries have experts in fistula treatment.

The Campaign also seeks to equip hospitals with urgently needed surgical supplies and help women reintegrate into their communities once healed. UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, provides assistance to developing countries, at their request, to meet reproductive health needs. Making motherhood safer for all women is at the very heart of UNFPA's mandate.

Fundraising Partners

We are a participating member of Aid for Africa, a unique partnership of nonprofit organizations serving families and communities throughout Africa. For more information, click on the Aid for Africa logo above or visit our member charity page at their website.

Dining for Women is a non-profit giving circle dedicated to empowering women living in extreme poverty.

Corporate Partners

Johnson & Johnson, the world's most comprehensive and broadly based manufacturer of health care products and provider of related services, has teamed with The Fistula Foundation in the area of fistula prevention.

In 2004, Johnson & Johnson donated $250,000 to The Fistula Foundation earmarked specifically for prevention and education efforts. The funds will help train doctors, midwives, and other professionals to raise awareness of the causes of obstetric fistula and how fistula can be prevented. The grant will also fund services and programs provided by Hamlin Fistula Hospitals that seek to decrease the occurrence of obstetric fistula and increase the likelihood of recovery from the injury.

In addition to the grant to The Fistula Foundation, Johnson & Johnson has donated funds to Direct Relief International (see below) to fund shipments of donated products to Fistula Hospital. Johnson & Johnson has also donated a variety of products to the hospital, including much-needed incontinence products, and has provided funds for a reception in 2003 that honored Dr. Catherine Hamlin, co-founder of Hamlin Fistula Hospitals.

Kimberly-Clark is a leading global health and hygiene company with operations in 38 countries and product sales in more than 150. Employing more than 60,000 people worldwide, Kimberly-Clark posted sales of $14.3 billion in 2003.

Kimberly-Clark is home to some of the world's most trusted and recognized brands, including Kleenex, Scott, Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex and Depend. Every day, 1.3 billion people, nearly a quarter of the world's population, trust Kimberly-Clark brands to enhance their health, hygiene and well-being.

Kimberly-Clark is a large and diverse community of individuals who trust and respect one another as they work to enhance the quality of life for people around the world. Kimberly-Clark is motivated to continually deliver superior products and exceed the expectations of its shareholders and its customers.

Rochester Medical Corporation, a leading provider of innovative continence care products, has donated a year's supply of their FemSoft inserts to the Hamlin Fistula Hospitals. FemSoft inserts help control unintentional urine loss, eliminating concerns of wetness and odor. They are used by some fistula patients who continue to have stress urinary incontinence, i.e. minor loss of control from coughing, sneezing, laughing, lifting or other physical activities that increase pressure on the bladder.

SRS Medical, donated supplies including their MiniPro paper and single and double catheters, for the hospital's urodynamic system. The system is used to assess the functions of patients bladders and sphincter muscles. Other supplies from the company were purchased by the Fistula Foundation at a 10% discount extended by SRS Medical.

Media Partners

Engel Entertainment has completed production on A Walk to Beautiful, a masterful and moving feature-length documentary film about young women who, having been devastated by obstetric fistula, find health and dignity at Hamlin Fistula Hospitals. It has won the coveted and prestigious Distinguished Documentary Award from the International Documentary Association (IDA) and screened on PBS's Nova in May 2008 and again in March 2009.

A Walk to Beautiful is well-positioned to raise greater awareness of a cause that has recently received attention in The New York Times and on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Engel Entertainment, Inc. has produced nearly 100 quality documentary film and television programs in the past seven years on a wide variety of topics. Their production teams have traveled to every continent to produce critically acclaimed specials, series, and films.

Women Make Movies is North America’s leading distributor of films by and about women. Established in 1972 as a nonprofit arts organization, Women Make Movies facilitates the production, promotion, distribution, and exhibition of high-quality independent films.

WGBH is public service media for New England--on TV, radio, the Web, and out in the community. They are the single largest producer of PBS prime-time and online programming, and a major source of programs heard on public radio from coast to coast. They are a pioneer in educational multimedia and in media access technologies for people with hearing or vision loss.

Podcasts and vodcasts...DVDs...innovative online teaching tools for lifelong learning...as the media landscape continues to evolve, WGBH is staying ahead of the curve.

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. It is now widely recognized as the world's largest search engine -- an easy-to-use free service that usually returns relevant results in a fraction of a second. As a business, Google generates revenue by providing advertisers with the opportunity to deliver measurable, cost-effective online advertising that is relevant to the information displayed on any given page.

In 2007, the Fistula Foundation was awarded a Google grant. Google Grants is a unique in-kind donation program awarding free AdWords advertising to select charitable organizations. Google supports organizations sharing their philosophy of community service to help the world in areas such as science and technology, education, global public health, the environment, youth advocacy, and the arts.