Hamlin Fistula® Relief and Aid Fund

Bequests

With a Will there’s a way to continue helping poor Ethiopian women...

Have you considered including in your Will a bequest to the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital? Bequests made in favour of the Hospital should be made via the Hamlin Fistula® Relief and Aid Fund.

Suggested wording to use in your Will:

I give the sum of A$.......... to ‘Hamlin Fistula® Australia Limited (ACN 076 840 250)’, the manager of the Hamlin Fistula Relief® & Aid Fund (DGR 900484487) Registered Charity CFN 16100, the postal address of which is P.O. Box 965, Wahroonga, NSW, 2076 and the Registered Office of which is C/– Bentleys NSW Pty Limited, Level 10, 10 Spring St, Sydney NSW 2000, for the work of the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, Jimma Road, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Should the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital for any reason not be in operation at the date of my death, then I give that sum to be used for such other charitable purposes, related to assisting young women in Developing Countries, as the Directors of Hamlin Fistula® Australia Limited shall in their discretion decide.

costs associated with caring for obstetric fistula patients

It costs nearly $4.5 million (Australian Dollars) per year for the Hospital to operate at its present level, including its four regional Hamlin Fistula Centres.

Some of the indicative costs associated with caring for obstetric fistula patients are set out below:

  • For a new dress and the supply of a nightgown and bedding for one patient – $20.00
  • Laundry costs during the average stay of one patient – $22.00
  • Long term physiotherapy – $50.00
  • Food during the average stay of one patient – $60.00
  • A standard operation – $600.00
  • Average annual cost per patient for running the Hospital and the three regional centres – $1,050.00
  • Annual cost to accommodate and train one woman at Desta Mender (‘Joy Village’), the specially built self–help rural village for the care and skilling of patients who require long term medical treatment – $3,750.00
  • Annual cost to accommodate and train a midwifery student at the newly opened Hamlin Fistula Midwifery College – $4,000.00
  • A research project to investigate ways of improving the treatment and management of fistula related problems such as stress incontinence, and publishing such research – $4,500.00
  • Annual running costs of one of the regional Hamlin Fistula Centres at Bahr Dah, Mekelle and Yigalem – $220,000.00

How can you help?

Host a fundraiser and raise awareness

To help you with your event (big or small) we will:

  • send you a free DVD about the work of the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital to play at your event
  • send you brochures to hand out
  • talk to you about fundraising ideas and promotions

Most of our donations come from individuals, churches and community groups around Australia who have gathered families, friends and work colleagues to raise funds for the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital. Some of these events include:

  • Morning teas
  • Walk–a–thons
  • Film nights
  • Garage sales
  • Dinner dances
  • Pamper days

So if you have an idea and need a little assistance please contact our office on (02) 8007 7435 or email us.

For bequests and special donations please contact James Grainger, Executive Office on (02) 8007 7435 or send an email marked to his attention.

Every cent in every dollar is available for the work of the Hospital.

Every Australian should know about obstetric fistula and the wonderful work of Dr Catherine Hamlin, AC in Ethiopia – thank you for helping us spread the word.

Knit a Shawl

When patients are admitted, they are given a hand knitted blanket to wear over their hospital gowns. If you can knit or crochet, the patients would be very grateful if you are able to share your talents and wool! Addis Ababa is at a high altitude so it has cold winters and your warm, woolly blankets will be much loved.

Blankets can be up to 2 x 1 metres for the ambitious but 1.4 metres square is good too. The brighter the better! If you would like to knit lots of squares to sew together, garter stitch is best and 25cm square a good size for each square. This is an easy size for kids to work on.

If you are not a knitter and prefer patchwork quilting, these are great for the beds at Desta Mender. This is the farm just outside Addis Ababa where the women who cannot be cured go to live and have ongoing medical care. Here they are taught micro business skills as well as literacy and numeracy. Quilts should be standard single bed size with nice warm wadding.

Freighting blankets is a costly exercise for the Hamlin Fistula Trust in Australia so please mail your blankets directly to the hospital.

Please click here to download our instructions on how to send your blankets to the Hospital.