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Stephanie Chafee
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Tonight I am deeply honored and humbled to present the Best Practice in Global Health Award. Tonight’s recipient is a most exceptional woman whose insight into the difficulties African women face has lead to a transformational experience for them.
But before we honor her, I would like to give you a picture of Dr. Hamlin’s "There: Ethiopia -1959 to today".
In 1861 it used to happen to women "Here". But almost 150 years later, it is still happening to women "There".
"Here", today a young woman might be thinking about high school, her first car date, what she might become when she grows up. But "There", she has become who she is going to be. Her self worth is based on pleasing her husband, producing children, performing the hard labor associated with agrarian life. Her body is still too young to be a mother. Yet, this young mother most likely will deliver a still born child after several days of unassisted hard labor.
And as a result of her hard labor, she has developed Obstetric Fistula: a condition which results in incontinence. Over time her situation does not change. Her husband divorces her. She is abandoned by her family and shunned by the community. She is an outcast, politically powerless, unskilled, and illiterate. A picture of misery unknown "Here".
If she is lucky she will hear that there is a special place that can help her. That place is Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital where she will regain her self worth.
Dr. Catherine Hamlin saw these women and understood their silent pain. She and her husband, also a physician, re-engineered a technique developed back in 1861 and were able to repair many of these fistulas. When repair was not enough to allow these women to return home Dr. Hamlin embraced them again and provided them with a new home and a job for life.
Dr. Hamlin has spent her life working to raise awareness of this condition on all fronts; from educating small villages "There" to highly skilled physicians "There" and "Here". Her model of care is so significant that UNFPA has launched a campaign to make this condition as rare "There" as it is "Here". Dr. Hamlin’s Hospital is touted as the model program to achieve success. And her work is so impressive and all encompassing that she has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
You will note thought that Dr. Hamlin is not here. She felt she needed to be "There" and economy class from Ethiopia is a long trip for an 80 year old. Therefore please join me in welcoming Ms. Shaleece Haas. Ms. Haas will be accepting this award on Dr. Hamlin’s behalf. She is the co-founder of the American Friends Foundation for Childbirth injuries which provides financial support to the Hospital.
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