The Hospital By the River: A Story of Hope

by Dr. Catherine Hamlin

Paperback, 2004

Status

Available

Call number

362.1109633

Publication

Monarch Books (2004), Edition: New edition, 320 pages

Description

Gynaecologists Catherine and Reg Hamlin left Australia in 1959 on a short contract to establish a midwifery school in Ethiopia. Over 40 years later, Catherine is still there, running one of the most outstanding medical programmes in the world. The Hamlins dedicated their lives to women suffering the catastrophic effects of obstructed labour. The awful injuries that such labour produces are called fistulae, and until the Hamlins began their work in Ethiopia, fistula sufferers were neglected and forgotten - a vast group of women facing a lifetime of incapacity and degradation. Catherine and Reg, with their team of dedicated fistula surgeons, have successfully operated on over 25,000 women, and the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, the hospital they opened in 1974, has become a major teaching institution for gynaecologists from all over Ethiopia and the developing world. Since Reg's death, Catherine and her team have continued the work.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member carolinejohnson
It gives a very real insight into a world most of us will never see, certainly makes you appreciate what we take for granted. I am in the medical field and that aspect was one of the most enjoyable bits, not sure if non-medical readers would agree.
LibraryThing member PhilipJHunt
This is all true life adventure stuff. The story of a remarkable 20th century woman living out her Christian passion to save the world - or, at least, to play her part in God's plan to save the world. Hamlin is a product of her time as much as her faith, yet she has risen beyond old colonial
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missionary zeal to establish, with her late husband, an indigenous Ethiopian medical service that will long survive her. The book is easy reading and (Spoiler alert for the squeamish) replete with stories of unpleasant medical conditions and procedures. Alongside this is the revolutionary context of late 20th century Ethiopia transitioning from monarchy, through Communist dictatorship, to something more stable.
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LibraryThing member VikingBunny
I found this book, at times, to be difficult to read because the narrator (Dr. Catherine Hamlin) is clearly a deeply religious individual. However, I persevered and found the recount, on the whole, truly inspiring. The format is very much of an oral account - often I found myself feeling as though
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I was sitting next to Dr. Hamlin, enjoying a cuppa, and a story (much like I used to with my own grandmother).

I was able to meet the author and the CEO of the Australian fundraising branch, Lucy Perry, and ask them about Dr, Hamlin. Both say she is every bit as inspirational in person as she is in her book. I highly recommend this read for anyone interested in international development systems that WORK, human rights, women's rights, women's health, or just looking for a read which will give you a reason to feel proud of humankind again.
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Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2001

Physical description

7.75 inches

ISBN

1854246739 / 9781854246738
Page: 0.124 seconds