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I am raising money for the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia. This is the only hospital of its kind in the world,founded in 1974 by Drs. Reg and Catherine Hamlin. 

 Lack of healthcare provision, and,in particular, a scarcity of midwives in rural communities,often,tragically, leads to stillbirth, and the development of a fistula in the mother. A fistula is a channel between the bladder and the vagina, or the rectum and the vagina,or both. This causes permanent incontinence, which, in turn,will often lead to the rejection of the sufferer by her husband and her community.

The Fistula Hospital carries out 2,500 operations per year on women who have suffered difficult childbirths in rural Ethiopia. It also trains surgeons from other developing countries in its pioneering techniques for fistula surgery. In September 2010 it awarded degrees to its first batch of trained midwives. They will now work in rural Ethiopian communities,helping to reduce the incidence of stillbirths and fistula. The hospital receives no government funding, and relies solely on charitable donations to carry out its work.

In January,2011 I am visiting Ethiopia, and plan to present the Fistula Hospital with a donation of money and,hopefully,some medical equipment.

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So please dig deep and donate now.