Product description
Healing Lives tells the story of two incredible women, an unlikely friendship, and a united mission to save the lives of Ethiopian women suffering from a devastating childbirth injury - obstetric fistula.
Along the way, it reveals the previously untold tale of Mamitu Gashe, the protégée of Australian surgeon Dr Catherine Hamlin AC, and the inspiring decades-long friendship between the two women.
In 1962, three years after Drs Catherine and Reg Hamlin arrived in Ethiopia and set up a hospital to treat fistula – terrible childbirth injuries – an illiterate peasant girl sought their aid.
Mamitu Gashe was close to death and horrifically injured when trying to give birth after an arranged marriage – at the age of just fourteen to a man she’d never met – in a remote mountain village.
The Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital saved her, and Mamitu would go on to dedicate her life to Catherine’s mission.
Under the iconic doctor’s guidance, Mamitu went from mopping floors and comforting her fellow patients, to becoming one of the most acclaimed fistula surgeons in the world, despite never having had a day’s formal schooling.
This is a story about the power of compassion, giving, and an unlikely friendship, that will capture your heart.
“What an eye-opening and inspiring book! I couldn’t put it down, even though I had already listened to the audiobook.” - Jenny W
“Could not put this book down.” - Kevin T