For over 60 years, Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia has been committed to caring for and empowering women, not only through life-changing fistula repair surgery but also through the restorative Hamlin Model of Care.
At Desta Mender, Hamlin’s Rehabilitation & Reintegration center, patients are provided with nutritious food, clean clothing, hygiene items and a Hamlin blanket, physiotherapy, customized counseling programs, literacy and numeracy classes and vocational training. The holistic ethos which underpins all patient care at Hamlin extends to empowering women after they return to their communities.
2023 results
In FY23, 226 women enrolled in training and education courses at Desta Mender. 1,727 patients completed numeracy and literacy education and 786 women completed counseling courses. 225 former fistula patients have graduated from the Women’s Empowerment Program. Their new skills have enabled them to return home with hope, choices and independence.
“The patients have a social life together. We see them talking and they feel at home, not being ostracized from their society. They’re loved and they feel welcome. So this is where the healing process starts, of the mind, and this is very important.”
– Dr Catherine Hamlin
Meseret receives holistic care
“This blanket serves as a remembrance of my beautiful stay and helps me to recall the day of my cure. They [Hamlin staff] make our bed clean every day, we take shower daily, we get clean pyjamas and blankets, they even make our hair. They are our mothers who let us stay fully served.”
- Meseret, former fistula patient
