A mother’s story of love, hope and healing
June 09, 2026
For 17 years, Makda watched her daughter Genet live with the pain and isolation of obstetric fistula. This is her story of love, resilience — and the joy of seeing her daughter finally heal.
When Genet returned home after successful obstetric fistula surgery at Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia, there was only one person whose happiness may have been greater than her own: her mother, Makda.
Witnessing the daily pain and isolation Genet experienced for almost two decades was deeply distressing for her mother. Makda explains: “Since she developed fistula, my daughter has lived with frustration and shame. I have never separated my bed from hers — we always sleep together because she is my daughter.”
Genet’s condition also had a devastating impact on the family’s living standards. As the sole breadwinner, Genet was forced to stop working as an agricultural laborer, leaving them reliant on neighbours for food. Often, there was simply not enough.
Genet is Makda’s only surviving daughter of seven children. “She is a survivor whom God has given to me as a gift. Even when others stigmatised her, I always tried to stay by her side.”
When Genet was widowed, the family was left without a home, so Makda asked members of her church to help. Genet says: “We used to live in a plastic tent. My mother attended a meeting and the community contributed wood and iron sheets, and they built our current home for us.”
After Tolera, one of Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia’s Patient Identification Officers, visited the family, Makda was thrilled to learn that free treatment was available.
Hearing that she has the chance to receive treatment makes me even happier than she is. I hope that once she is cured and returns home, she will be as happy and hardworking as she was before.
- Makda, Genet's mother
That wish came true. Following her surgery, Genet returned home full of joy and good health. She then travelled back to Addis Ababa to take part in the Women’s Empowerment Program at Desta Mender, where she is now taking part in literacy and numeracy classes, as well as learning new vocational skills and small business training.
Soon, she will be home again — not only healed, but with new plans for her future. At Desta Mender, Genet says: “We are learning so many practical things to help us start again. I will be able to provide food, support my family, and hold my head high as a respected member of my village.”
For Makda, this ending to her daughter’s story is one she could never have imagined. “I offer my blessings — holding my hands to my chest — to everyone involved in helping her heal.”
Catherine Hamlin Fistula Foundation acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Elders past, present and emerging throughout Australia and the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Traditional Owners of the land and waterways on which our Australian office is situated. We acknowledge the many ethnic groups in Ethiopia and their ancestral and cultural connection to the land where our work is undertaken.