Long Term Care
Despite the hospital’s high cure rate, each year there are a few women whose injuries are too severe to be repaired. Those who are left with very little bladder or whose rectal fistula is severe, are fitted with surgical stomas and rely on urostomy or colostomy bags for the collection of bodily wastes. Others have disabilities related to nerve or other damage.
Such patients need on-going medical attention and are, therefore, unable to return to their villages. In keeping with the Fistula Hospital’s dedication to holistic care, these women are invited to stay on at the hospital and are given food, shelter and love. They are also trained to provide care to others and become nurse-aides. They can meet the needs of each new patient because they are empathetic to their sisters suffering similar injuries. All of our nurse-aides, around 100 of them, and several other members of staff are former patients who require long-term care.
Desta Mender
Desta Mender (“Village of Joy” in Amharic) is an idyllic farm village set on 60 acres (21 hectares) only 17 kms from Addis Ababa. Seated at the foot of a mountain with over 300 fruit trees (apples and peaches) it currently houses 50 women with chronic long-term injuries. It also accommodates pre-operative patients for the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital.
The site was designed by Australian Architect, Mr Ridley Smith in conjunction with Ato Yoseph Bereded of Abba Architects, Addis Ababa. There are ten self-contained cottages that can accommodate up to 10 women each and three communal buildings.
The residents receive schooling and training in life-skills and income-generation activities such as dairying, vegetable gardening, poultry, sewing, food preparation, cooking and baking. Many of the girls receive training to become nurse-aides or ‘carers’.
Desta Mender Manager, Ato Ephrem Aklilu, reports that the income generating activities such as the dairy (milk, butter and local cheese), egg production and market garden (fruit and vegetables) are providing significant returns which not only cover the girls living expenses but also give them a decent income.
A recent development at Desta Mender is the outdoor “Juniper Café” which opened in February 2009. Some of the women have been given catering training and they will cater for the meetings and visitors that we hope to attract to this beautiful site.
The independence that results from these activities gives the women great confidence and a much brighter outlook on their future. With the advent of our mini-hospitals, it has become possible for some women to leave Desta Mender and live within reach of a mini-hospital. Here they can be closer to their families and be in their people group and language group and yet still receive the medical care that they need and a supply of clean bags. The first women have left Desta Mender and more will follow in the future.
We are very grateful to:-
- The Ethiopian Government for donating the land
- The Oromiya Social Service Bureau for granting us additional land
- Rotary International (US$100,000) donation
- Our Partner Trust in Australia for building funds
- Soroptimists International for donating the funds to build the café facility.
- Mrs Rae Newman from Australia for giving the women catering and hospitality training for our new café.
- Our Partner Trust in Holland for their assistance in developing a training and literacy curriculum for the women
Photos
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Bahar Dar
