Catherine's Gift
Stories From the Hospital by the River
by John Little
Paperback
Price: £9.99
Publisher:Monarch imprint of Lion Hudson
Published:January 2010
ISBN:978-1-854-24955-5
GoodBookStall Review:
This is the follow up to The Hospital by the River published in 2005. John Little has been back to visit Dr Catherine and to follow the progress of six patients; to give a fuller picture of the life these women lead and what they can expect if they are cured or partially cured. This is a dedicated fistula hospital. A fistula is a tear in the walls of internal organs resulting in double incontinence; the result of childbirth with no medical help. To put it bluntly the women stink! They are ostracised by their communities, hidden away in isolated huts, divorced by their husbands, often separated from their children, and in already poverty stricken communities left in their filth. Sounds dreadful? I don’t think we in the West can really imagine it.
It is to these women that Dr Catherine and her husband came. Now widowed she is still operating in her eighties, still trying to make things better for her patients. As a result of her work, many more doctors in the West have been trained in this work and are serving in Ethiopia and other countries in the developing world. This is not an isolated problem. A lot of money has already been raised, but a vast amount is needed before midwifery training can reduce the need for the fistula operations. This condition is almost unknown in the West. It is preventable.
Men and women need to read this book. You would have to be very hard hearted not to be affected by it.
Reviewer: Mary Bartholomew (01/02/10)
This is the follow up to The Hospital by the River published in 2005. John Little has been back to visit Dr Catherine and to follow the progress of six patients; to give a fuller picture of the life these women lead and what they can expect if they are cured or partially cured. This is a dedicated fistula hospital. A fistula is a tear in the walls of internal organs resulting in double incontinence; the result of childbirth with no medical help. To put it bluntly the women stink! They are ostracised by their communities, hidden away in isolated huts, divorced by their husbands, often separated from their children, and in already poverty stricken communities left in their filth. Sounds dreadful? I don’t think we in the West can really imagine it.
It is to these women that Dr Catherine and her husband came. Now widowed she is still operating in her eighties, still trying to make things better for her patients. As a result of her work, many more doctors in the West have been trained in this work and are serving in Ethiopia and other countries in the developing world. This is not an isolated problem. A lot of money has already been raised, but a vast amount is needed before midwifery training can reduce the need for the fistula operations. This condition is almost unknown in the West. It is preventable.
Men and women need to read this book. You would have to be very hard hearted not to be affected by it.
Reviewer: Mary Bartholomew (01/02/10)
