Why Do We Work in Ethiopia?

Fistula is a serious problem in Ethiopia, one of the poorest countries in the world. Here, having many children is extolled. The maternal death rate is among the highest in the world. Pregnant women customarily deliver at home with only a female elder in attendance. The closest skilled doctor may be hundreds of miles away. In fact, the number of obstetricians and gynecologists is abysmally low — just one for roughly every 350,000 citizens.

What You Help Us Do in Ethiopia

We're helping fund:

• Fistula surgeries
• Fistula surgery training
• New facilities and equipment

Where:
Hamlin Fistula Hospitals in the nation's capital city Addis Ababa

Aira Hospital located in the west of the country

Gondar University College of Medicine and Health Sciences International Fistula Research, Training and Treatment Center located in the north of the country

How much funding have we granted?
The Fistula Foundation is honored to have been the largest supporter of the Hamlin Fistula Hospitals during each of the last 5 years — more than $8 million dollars in direct support since 2005.

Aira Hospital
$17,500 in FY2011
$15,000 in FY2010

Gondar University Hospital
$206,226 in FY2011

Who's our partner?
We provide grant support directly to Hamlin and Aira Hospitals and partner with Women and Health Alliance International to support Gondar University's Fistula Center.

How will this help women in Ethiopia?
A haven of healing, the Hamlin Fistula Hospital is the largest facility in the world devoted exclusively to fistula care. The Hospital was founded in 1974 by Dr. Catherine Hamlin and her now late husband Reginald. Dr. Hamlin is universally recognized as a fistula treatment pioneer who has restored life to tens of thousands of fistula patients. Today, their operations include a main facility in the capital city of Addis Ababa with five mini-fistula hospitals in Bahir Dar, Mekele, Yorgalem, Harar and Metu where they offer fistula treatment and short and long-term patient care, research and training for health care professionals, including a midwifery school. Our support helps fund the hospital's annual operating costs, allowing it to provide free, safe surgery to any woman who comes here in need of fistula treatment.

In Ethiopia, the Fistula Foundation's support recently expanded to fund two of the country’s busiest and oldest medical institutions respectively: Aira Hospital and Gondar University Hospital.

Founded in the 1950s by the German Hermannsburg Mission (GHM), the Aira Hospital operates today as a nonprofit institution owned and administered by the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus. Serving hundreds of patients daily and an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 citizens each year, in spite of the fact that it serves a rural and extremely impoverished population, nearly all of its annual costs are covered by income from patient fees. Dr. Erik Erichsen, the Hospital's senior surgeon, approached us in 2010. They had long strived to offer free surgery for all women with obstetric fistula through their poor fund. But it was grossly insufficient to cover their needs. We are honored to help. Our first grant sponsored 50 women’s fistula surgeries. This number is expected to increase because it is becoming widely known that treatment is available here.

Gondar University is the oldest medical training institution in Ethiopia, located in the historical town of Gondar in the country's northern region. Our partner organization WAHA has established a close partnership with the University's College of Medicine and Health Sciences. During 2011, Gondar University celebrated the opening of a new International Fistula Training and Treatment Center. Our Foundation was honored to provide significant funding for the Center's construction. The University will be able to carry out many more fistula operations and also to train fistula care providers from across Africa and Asia, and carry out important research.