Bryan & Grace at the fistula clinic

After some setbacks, Bryan and I finally met up with our group in Ethiopia.

We met with the head of the Hamlin Fistula Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

If you haven’t heard about the fistula clinic, let me give you a quick overview:

This from Hamlinfistula.org:

“What is a Fistula? The most devastating of all childbirth injuries, an obstetric fistula develops when the blood supply to the tissues of the vagina and bladder (and/or rectum) is cut off during prolonged, obstructed labour. The tissues die and a hole forms through which urine and/or feces pass uncontrollably. Women who develop fistulae are often abandoned by their husbands, rejected by their communities and forced to live an isolated existence. More than two million women live with fistula. Eradicated in the “developed” world at the end of the 19th century when cesarean section became widely available, obstetric fistula continues to plague women throughout the developing world. It is estimated that there are 100,000 new fistula cases each year, but the capacity to treat fistula is only around 6,500 per year. The United Nations Population fund (UNFPA) estimates the world’s population of fistula sufferers at more than two million. The WHO has called fistula “the single most dramatic aftermath of neglected childbirth”. In addition to incontinence, a fistula victim may also have nerve damage affecting their ankles and feet. If a woman lies on her mat for a prolonged period of time, waiting for the urine to dry, she may also develop contractions of the joints of her legs, as her muscles and tendons shorten from lack of use, and be unable to walk. Fistula victims also suffer profound psychological trauma resulting from their utter loss of status and dignity.”

We entered the compound and we were given a quick overview of the different ways Hamlin does outreach in rural areas (where women are most at risk). Their goal is not just to correct the women already afflicted, but to  prevent future fistulas and diligently work with women all over the country to lower maternal mortality.

A poster from the wall of the fistula clinic

Some of the women are incapable of going home (a small percentage) due to their injuries being so severe. If they were unable to completely correct the fistula, they will hire on and train these women as nursing staff.  The women who becomes pregnant after their fistula correction surgery will also be watched carefully by the team and sometimes live in the compound the last few weeks leading up to delivery.

After a successful surgery and recovery, women are given new clothes to symbolize a new beginning. Women often go back to their home villages. A fistula often causes a community to ostracize the woman, so when this woman returns home, she is sometimes embraced now they she has returned back “whole”, but occasionally is met with disbelief. There have been stories of women returning home and the local community accusing the woman of being a ghost because of her new clothes and a healed body.

I am asking a lot of you right now, but please take an hour out of your day and watch this movie, A Walk To Beautiful.

You won’t be disappointed!

To learn more or donate, please visit Hamlinfistula.org.

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Brushes are an important part of make-up application that I have been neglecting. I’ve decided to start investing in more high-end brushes, but since I don’t have a ton of money to spend buying all new make-up brushes, I’ve decided to start taking better care of the ones I have.

Did you know you should be cleaning your make-up brushes once a month, but preferably once a week?

Clean makeup brushes prevent infection from the bacteria that can build up on them.

Here is an easy way to clean your brushes:

What you will need:

• 1 Tablespoon Witch hazel (I use one with rose water and aloe vera)
• 3 Tablespoons Liquid glycerin soap (like Dr. Bronner’s)
• 3 drops Tea Tree Oil
• 3 drops Lavender Oil
• 1 cup water

1. In a bowl, add 2 tablespoons of the glycerin soap, the witch hazel, tree tree oil, and lavender oil.
2. Add in 1 cup of water.
3. Swirl brushes in solution for a few seconds. Allow the brushes to then soak in the solution for about 15 minutes.
4. Remove the brushes from the (now dirty) solution and wash brushes with the remaining 1 tablespoon of glycerin.
5. Rinse with warm water.
6. Pat dry on a clean hand towel.
7. Allow to air dry for a few hours.

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Today we’re packing up and heading to Carmel and the Bay Area to visit family!

Beach, sun (maybe…you never know up there), and community! But first…

Packing.

I hate packing. Hate it…probably because I’m terrible at it.

Since we’re driving, I cheat a little. We bring black garbage bags full of the boys dirty laundry and then do it at my parents’ house. (Apparently, I never grew out of that college habit.)

My make-up now lives in a plastic ziplock that originally made its way in there from a previous flight. I never bothered to take it out, but as the bag gets progressively dirtier, I’m starting to feel a little more hobo and a little less cool nomadic traveler.

Does anyone have any packing tips? I’m good with packing snacks. I’m bringing our homemade beef jerky and homemade fruit roll-ups for the journey (like the cowboys did it… if they had soy sauce and a blender).

Also, here is what I want to know. Do you clean your house before you leave for your trip? My intention is always to have the relaxing setting of a spotless home to return to. I actually clean the house the entire day before a big trip…and, in my mind, I think it is clean, but upon returning home it looks like chaos happened. Actually, it probably did. The inevitable rush out the door causes me to toss around various items in the home while I scramble around searching for what I’ve forgotten and everyone else walks out the door…ruining the fruits of my labor.

The post How Do You Keep Your Sanity When Packing? appeared first on I Am Not the Babysitter.

by Kendall Hoover

Jamie and I were talking recently about the first time we met. After working for Fayye Foundation all day long, we came back to our hotel room. My time, it was three hours later than hers, so while I was nearly passed out the minute I hit the bed, she was wired. We decided to turn on the TV and it happened to be on Lifetime. As I was falling asleep, this is what I heard from Jamie:

“Is this really a show about bra fittings?”…

“Oh, look they are making a nursing bra! ::very excited:: “Look! Look! This is great!”…

“Oh…Are they just cutting holes in a regular bra?”…

“Oh, they’re going to a La Leche League meeting to show off their new bra!”…

“Okay, I don’t like this show anymore. Let’s turn it off. I don’t like it at all! Change the channel.”

What I didn’t realize in my sleepy stupor was that they had apparently started making fun of the nursing moms who were breastfeeding their older toddlers.

And that was the night that Double Divas gained and lost their biggest fan.

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