The Hospital by the River by Catherine Hamlin

Left untreated, fistulas - rare in Western countries - result in severe incontinence, which forces women into a life of degradation and incapacity.Ĭatherine and her team have established six fistula hospitals, a village to accommodate patients and a midwifery school, and pioneered techniques that are used the world over. Now 92, Catherine is at the head of a world-recognised medical program that specialises in the treatment of labour-induced fistulas. This new edition continues the story of the remarkable Australian gynaecologist Dr Catherine Hamlin and her medical work that has transformed the lives of 45,000 Ethiopian women.Ĭatherine travelled to Ethiopia with her husband, Reg Hamlin, in 1959 on a short contract. The Hospital by the River has been in print since it was first published in 2001. This was the moment that Catherine said “I want to go home” so piers and Andrew escorted her there.'When I first met Catherine, straightaway I saw shining through the qualities and attributes which have made her one of the most loved and admired women in the world: warmth, energy, humour, optimism, vivacity, empathy, authenticity.' DAME QUENTIN BRYCE They were also attacked by large biting ants. Catherine looked horrified and Piers removed Mamiti from the grave.

Reg is buried in the war grave cemetery in Addis Ababa. My sons Piers remembers Reg’s funeral, when Mamiti, one of the staff at the hospital leapt into Reg’s grave weeping and wailing. Catherine would come up with some exciting idea and reg would say “I think not, dear” and that would be the end of her slightly outrageous idea. She was famous for her afternoon tea parties and I still make the Anzac biscuits she gave me the recipe for. She and her husband Reg are a well matched pair, both totally committed to their work. Once when blasting was going off in the quarry, a huge rock came hurtling through the air and landed on the roof of her house and broke through the roof and landed on her bed. Her house was on the edge of an escarpment above a quarry. She also went down the Muger valley 2000 ft below the plateau where Mulu farm was situated.

The Hospital by the River by Catherine Hamlin