SPRING, 2009
In this issue:
• Letter from our Executive Director
• Improving Maternal Health and Preventing Fistula in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
• Panzi Hospital Founder: Dr. Denis Mukwege
• New Grants to the Hamlin Fistula Hospitals
• Netflix offers "A Walk to Beautiful"
• The Life You Can Save — New book argues giving is a moral responsibility
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Fighting Fistula in Congo
The Fistula Foundation made its first grant outside of Ethiopia to help treat women in The Democratic Republic of Congo suffering from fistula. The $50,000 grant was made this month to the Panzi Hospital in the Congolese city of Bukavu. The Hospital faced a funding shortfall when a major European donor cut support funds unexpectedly because of the global financial crisis. The Foundation grant was put to immediate use to rehire and pay twenty-two furloughed surgeons, nurses and medical aides that treat women with fistula in this war-ridden region. Many of the surgeons working at the Panzi Hospital doing fistula surgery were trained at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital.
The Panzi Hospital was established in 1999 to confront the injuries suffered by the population of Bukavu in Congo during the "war of liberation" that began in 1996. Maternal death rates increased dramatically after the war started. Specifically, many women needing help had been gang raped, and some subjected to assault from the inside out with bayonets, chunks of wood and even rifles.
The Hospital is run by its founder, Congolese gynecologist, Dr. Denis Mukwege, profiled on page 3. The Hospital contains 334 patient beds and provides a range of obstetric, gynecological, pediatric and internal medical services treating patients for free. It provides specialized surgery for women who are victims of sexual violence that often result in fistulas. The Hospital also contains a pharmacy, a laboratory, a radiology unit, ultrasound and endoscopy. The Hospital is becoming the primary referral center of South Kivu and North Kalemie, and receives patients from other parts of Congo as well. The Foundation was honored to be able to support their work.
For viewers of the television show "60 Minutes" you may already be familiar with the Panzi Hospital and its founder, Dr. Mukwege. They were featured in 2008 in a segment produced by Anderson Cooper. Click here for a link to this and other press stories about the Hospital on our website.
Two young patients in the recovery room at the Panzi Hospital in Congo
Dr. Hamlin Celebrates 50 years in Ethiopia
Dr. Hamlin and her late husband, Reginald, arrived in Ethiopia in 1959. They expected to only stay a few years. Destiny had another plan, and fifty years later Dr. Hamlin is still in Ethiopia working daily to heal broken bodies and spirits. Celebrations are being held in Ethiopia in late May and early June to honor Dr. Hamlin and her service to the women of Ethiopia. A special reception is planned at Desta Mender — "Joy Village" and a church service too. The Foundation is planning to host a special screening of the award-winning film "A Walk to Beautiful" in Addis Ababa that week to honor Dr. Hamlin.
Letter from the Executive Director
Kate Grant,
Executive Director, Fistula Foundation
Dear Friends,
The last few months have been ones of great uncertainty globally as economies around the world, including our own, wrestle with the deep recession. We are happy to report that most of our donors in the final months of 2008 chose to continue giving, and thankfully, the same is holding true for the first part of 2009. We are gratified to see the loyalty of people like you who are continuing to support treatment for women in desperate need of care.
I am often asked if fistula is prevalent only in Ethiopia. The sad fact is no, over two million women in developing countries in Africa and Asia have untreated fistula and only a small fraction of that number live in Ethiopia. Our work has been focused in Ethiopia because of the pioneering work done there by Dr. Catherine Hamlin and her late husband Reginald.
In recognition of the profound need for fistula treatment in countries and communities outside of Ethiopia, the Foundation Board broadened our organization's mission so that we can help women both in Ethiopia and in other needy corners of the world. We will continue to be a major supporter of Dr. Hamlin and the Fistula Hospitals in Ethiopia.
Our first new grant outside of Ethiopia, summarized on page 1 and 3, is the Panzi Hospital in Congo. We were gratified to be able to provide an emergency grant of $50,000 to this hospital to make up for a shortfall they had when a major European donor unexpectedly was unable to fulfill a commitment to the Panzi Hospital because of the global financial crisis. Many of the surgeons at the Panzi Hospital were trained at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital.
The Panzi Hospital treats women who have been victims of sexual violence that are a heartbreaking hallmark of the decade long conflict in Congo. They operate on fistula sufferers providing psychological and medical care. We are honored to be able to support their inspiring work.
With Mother's Day coming up next month, we encourage you to honor the mothers in your life - your own mother or grandmother, or sister, wife or good friend, by sending her a tribute card or other gift from us. We think it's a great way to pay tribute to a mother in your life.
Sincerely,
Kate Grant
Executive Director
Board of Directors
Abaynesh Asrat |
Gerald Shefren, MD |
Panzi Hospital Founder: Dr. Denis Mukwege
Dr. Denis Mukwege, founder of the Panzi Hospital
and patients
at the Panzi Hospital
Dr. Mukwege specializes in treating women and girls who have been victims of sexual violence in Congo's 13-year war — many of the patients have fistulas. Dr. Mukwege has evolved to become the world's leading expert on how to repair the internal physical damage caused by gang rape and brutal sexual violence that is characterizing the conflict in Congo. Since the founding of the Panzi Hospital in 1999, Dr. Mukwege has treated 21,000 women, some of them more than once. Dr. Mukwege performs up to ten operations a day and often works 18 hours straight. His patients arrive at the hospital in a heartbreaking state — sometimes naked, often bleeding and with fistulas that cause incontinence through their brutalized vaginas.
Dr. Mukwege is the son of a Pentecostal minister and his wife, and has eight brothers and sisters. He said his reason for studying medicine was that he wanted to heal the sick that his minister father had prayed for his whole life. Though he studied gynecology in France, he returned home to Congo to treat women there who had no access to regular medical care. In 2008 he received the Olof Palme Prize for his work to help women victims of rape and war crimes in Congo. He also received the United Nations Human Rights Prize in 2008 for his work protecting the rights and dignity of tens of thousand of Congolese women.
The Mission of the Fistula Foundation is to raise awareness of and funding for fistula treatment, prevention, and educational programs worldwide.
Return to topImproving Maternal Health and Preventing Fistula in Bahir Dar
Site for Expanded Maternal Health Unit in Bahr Dar
The first of five fistula mini-hospitals opened in the Northern Ethiopian city of Bahir Dar in 2005. The Hospital is operating at capacity and the Foundation is supporting an expansion of the facility through a grant to Hamlin Fistula Hospitals.
In addition, as more women in the region have learned of the new pristine Fistula Hospital they have arrived in labor. The Government Hospital adjacent to the Fistula Hospital has a maternity ward, but it often does not have the resources - both doctors and supplies - to effectively meet the needs of all women who arrive. In order to help make deliveries in Bahir Dar safer, the Foundation, in partnership with donors in Sweden, is providing funds to Hamlin Fistula Hospitals to significantly expand and upgrade the maternity ward at the Government Hospital. A new operating room for emergency obstetric procedures, such as c-sections to prevent fistula will be created. Plans have been approved and June 2009 is targeted as the completion date for the exterior structure, before the rainy season begins in June.
Netflix for A Walk to Beautiful
If you missed the award-winning film "A Walk to Beautiful" when it aired on PBS, but subscribe to the service Netflix, you can order it now. In addition, we've learned that "A Walk to Beautiful" is also one of the films that Netflix subscribers can watch instantly, streamed from Netflix over the Internet to you PC or Mac. All that's missing is the popcorn!
New Grants to Support Hamlin Fistula Hospitals
New Fistula Foundation grant covers Harar Hospital's annual
operating
expenses for FY 2008-9
The Foundation was delighted to approve over $1.5 million dollars in new grants to Hamlin Fistula Hospitals in late 2008. The Foundation continues to be one of the largest supporters. The largest grant of $736,000 was used to support the core programs at the main facility in Addis Ababa that treats over 1200 women per year.
In addition, the Foundation followed through on its commitment to fund all the running costs to support the new Fistula Hospital in Harar. This new Hospital in Harar was built entirely with funds donated by the Fistula Foundation, with key support to the Foundation provided by the Ethiopian American Community. Dedicated Ethiopian American volunteers in Washington, New York and the San Francisco Bay Area spearheaded a campaign - named Tesfa Ineste, which in Amharic means "Let's give them hope" — that was as inspiring as it was successful.
"Charity begins at home, but it shouldn't end at home."
— Professor Peter Singer
The Life You Can Save — New Book Argues Giving is a Moral Responsibility
Professor Peter Singer,
author of The Life You Can Save
Peter Singer is a philosopher and bio-ethics professor at Princeton University and was named by Time magazine as one of "The 100 Most Influential People in the World". In his new book The Life You Can Save Singer argues that Americans — wealthy compared to the world's poor — have a moral responsibility to help alleviate the suffering of the global poor. He demonstrates that relatively small contributions can save and transform lives. Professor Singer, who Foundation Executive Director, Kate Grant, met last year, uses the Fistula Foundation and Hamlin Fistula Hospitals as an example of how lives can be transformed:
"If you have a spare $450 and are thinking about whether to spend it on yourself or to use it to help others, it won't be easy to find anything that you need nearly as much as a fourteen-year-old girl with a fistula needs an operation."
The book is available in book stores and on Amazon.com. It's relatively short 176 pages, not including the index, and provides a concise and compelling argument for why the "good life" is a life of giving.
Mother's Day Gift Ideas
This Mother's Day we have a few ideas for those mothers in your life.
We invite you to make a gift in support of women seeking treatment for fistula, in honor of someone you love - be it your mother, your grandmother, your wife, your sister, or good friend.
You can order any of these gifts online at our website at www.fistulafoundation.org or by calling our office toll free at 866 756-3700 in the U.S. between 8 am and 4 pm Pacific Time weekdays. Or you can mail in your order in the enclosed envelope. Please place your order no later than Wednesday April 29, 2009.
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Tribute Mother's Day Card
For your donation of $10 USD or more we will mail a custom made Mother's Day Card to someone special in your life.
Dignity Bracelet
The silver-plated Dignity Bracelet incorporates the Fistula Foundation logo and the word Dignity in English on one side and in Amharic, the most common language in Ethiopia, on the other side of the central bead. For any donation of $125 or more you can receive a Dignity Bracelet or send one to a recipient of your choice.
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Dignity Earrings
The silver-plated Dignity Earrings make a simple but lovely gift that helps support the work of the Foundation. With any donation of $65 or more you can receive a pair of Dignity Earrings or send a pair to a recipient of your choice. The earrings are designed to match with the Dignity bracelet so they can be worn together or separately.
Dignity Bracelet and Earrings Gift Set
We are offering a new gift option for women you want to honor, which is a gift set that includes both the dignity bracelet and a pair of the dignity earrings. With any donation of $150 or more, we will send this gift set to a recipient of your choice. (This is a special offer, providing a savings of $40 if requested separately.)
"Blue Flower" Scarf
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Love-a-Sister Tribute Gift
For those wishing to make a gift that will likely never be forgotten, we encourage you to consider providing a gift equivalent to the cost of complete treatment for a woman suffering from fistula. Since the Foundation began this program over 2000 women's treatment has been covered by our "Love-a-Sister" supporters. For a gift of $450, the approximate cost to provide complete treatment for one women, we will send the person who you want to honor an 8 1/2" x 11" four-color certificate on high quality paper that acknowledges that this life changing gift has been made in their honor.
FLORIDA: REGISTRATION #:Ch17941- A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION FOR THE FISTULA FOUNDATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE. VIRGINIA: PLEASE NOTE: A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION FOR THE FISTULA FOUNDATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE OFFICE OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, BY CALLING: 804-786-1402.