Finding women, restoring hope
May 07, 2026
Tolera, a Patient Identification Officer with Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia, doesn’t just deliver news of a cure for obstetric fistula. He delivers hope.
“When we find women, they have usually suffered with fistula for many years. When we meet them, they will often cry. Not because of pain, but because somebody tells them there is hope.”
Find women hidden with fistula
Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia has been providing free obstetric fistula treatment to women for more than six decades, operating from six hospitals across the country. To date, over 70,000 women have had their health and dignity restored.
Yet despite this long presence in Ethiopia, thousands of women still remain unaware that there is a cure for their suffering. Women like Genet, who lived with the devastation caused by obstetric fistula for almost two decades.
Too many women live hidden and alone with their pain, even though a simple surgery, often taking just two hours, could restore them to health. That’s why, in 2020, Hamlin began its Patient Identification Program, with Hamlin-trained teams now travelling the breadth and width of Ethiopia in search of women in need of treatment.
We know that if we are to heal more women, first we must find them.
The obstacles standing between women and treatment
Tolera’s role takes him to some of the most remote villages in Ethiopia in search of women living with childbirth injuries. It can be challenging work, he says.
“During the rainy season, rivers overflow and tracks become dangerous. Some patients live in very remote and rural parts of the country, where there is no transportation. If there is no road, we will walk to find them.
“Even when we find women in need of treatment, they can be reluctant to leave their village. Having lived in isolation for so long, it can take time for them to trust us and accept our help. Often, they avoid all eye contact when we first meet them.”
Tolera explains that it is not unusual for his team to discover women who have lived with obstetric fistula for many years. He explains: “These women suffer in silence because they do not know that treatment is available. Or there is no nearby health clinic, no access to transport, and no way to afford the journey. For some women, it can take two days just to walk to the main road.
The day Tolera found Genet
Fortunately for Genet, she was discovered by Tolera and his team.
Worried about the care of her young daughter while she sought treatment, Genet was relieved when Tolera arranged for both of them to travel to Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa hospital.
Tolera says: “This is the best part of my job. Finding women and getting them to treatment. Nothing makes me happier than seeing their smiles when they know they are cured. For Genet, surgery did more than repair her fistula. It gave her life back. It restored her dignity and renewed her future.”
Why Tolera keeps searching
For Tolera, the part he plays in turning despair into joy is what drives him. That, and the knowledge that there are more women like Genet still waiting to be found.
He explains: “What keeps me awake at night is knowing there are women in Ethiopia not getting treatment. For every woman we find, there are more waiting for us, not knowing where to go, not knowing a place where their treatment will be free.”
Tolera adds: “After treatment, a woman can return to her community. She can join the gatherings. She can go to church. She can even start a small business.
“Surgery doesn’t only repair a fistula. It restores dignity, rebuilds the family, and resurrects hope.”
Help find and heal more women
Across Ethiopia, women like Genet are living hidden with obstetric fistula, unaware that treatment is available.
Your donation can help Patient Identification Officers like Tolera reach more women in remote communities, transport them safely to hospital, and care for them during their healing journey.
Thank you for your support.
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.