A meeting with the Emperor It’s not every day that you have an audience with the Emperor, yet Dr Catherine Hamlin was able to arrange one for two visitors from Australia in the 1960s, Sul and Suzanne. Dressed in their finest clothes, the three women drove to the palace and awaited their meeting with the […]...
Birru and Catherine We took a stroll down memory lane with Dr Catherine Hamlin’s good friend and colleague Birru to reflect on the past 60 years of Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia. — 60,000 women with an obstetric fistula have been treated — 145 midwives have graduated from the Hamlin College of Midwives — 40,000 babies have […]...
A lifetime of caring Dr Catherine Hamlin has dedicated six decades of her life to serving some of the most vulnerable women in the world: Ethiopian women who have suffered a preventable childbirth injury, obstetric fistula. On 13 November 2017, Catherine’s life work was recognised when she was awarded the 2018 NSW Senior Australian of […]...
A shocking introduction to fistula Doctors Catherine and Reg Hamlin had been working at the Princess Tsehai Hospital for only a week when they came across their first patient with an obstetric fistula. It was a shock for the couple who had not previously seen a fistula case. In Western countries, obstetric fistulas are virtually […]...
“They were an unlikely pair. The charismatic, billionaire media personality…and the conservative, missionary doctor, who had spent most of her life quietly going about her life-saving medical work in Ethiopia.” – John Little, from the book Catherine’s Gift. In 2004, Dr Catherine Hamlin was invited to travel from Ethiopia to Chicago for an interview on The […]...
Only possibly thanks to you The green and gold Sydney ferries are an iconic part of the maritime scene in Sydney harbour and surrounding waterways. In 2016, Sydneysiders were given the opportunity to suggest and vote for the names of six new ferries. Out of the 15,000 suggestions, one of Sydney’s newest ferries was named […]...
‘Catherine Hamlin is such a distinguished woman; whose manners reflect the formalities of a bygone age. Therefore, I felt I must paint her in a classic realist style after being so captivated by the beautiful paintings of the great masters I saw in the Louvre, also of a bygone era.’ In 2013, Sally Ryan’s portrait […]...
“For the greatest benefit to humankind.” – Alfred Nobel Nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr Catherine Hamlin has been recognised for her outstanding contribution to improving maternal healthcare for women in Ethiopia. History of the Nobel Prize Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor, scientist and entrepreneur, established the Nobel Prize through his last […]...
Doctors Catherine and Reg Hamlin became close friends to the family of Haile Selassie, Ethiopia’s last emperor. In 1974, the provisional military government of Socialist Ethiopia (the Dergue) overthrew the royal family. Ethiopia became a Marxist one-party state, with many political opponents executed or arrested without a trial. The emperor’s daughter, Princess Tenangnework, and her […]...
Radio interview with BBC World Service On May 16, 2019 the BBC Radio interviewed Mamitu. Listen below to Mamitu telling her remarkable story in her own words. An inspirational woman Once a patient with obstetric fistula, Mamitu Gashe became an internationally renowned fistula surgeon and a much loved member of the team at Hamlin’s Addis […]...
A mother to all Known as ‘Emaye’ (Amharic for ‘Mother’) to all who visit the hospital, Catherine has changed lives through the love, care and world-class treatment she has established at Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia. “Everyone knows about Dr Hamlin; everybody loves Dr Hamlin; everybody is inspired by Dr Hamlin.” – Ephraim Aklilu, former staff at Desta […]...
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