A DOCTOR nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize has paid tribute to Footscray’s Ethiopian community for its long-term support of her work.
Dr Catherine Hamlin visited Footscray on Friday to meet the community that has helped her campaign over more than five decades to turn around the lives of almost 35,000 women at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia.
The hospital is the world’s only medical centre exclusively providing free surgery to poor women injured during childbirth.
The tireless 88-year-old Australian obstetrician and gynaecologist first went to Ethiopia in 1959 with her husband Reg to train midwives.
Dr Hamlin continues to operate, train surgeons and oversee a network of regional hospitals and the Hamlin College of Midwives.
Described as a modern-day Mother Teresa, her work has been recognised with a swag of honours. Dr Hamlin is an Australian Living Treasure and Companion of the Order of Australia, and was a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999.
During her visit to Footscray, Dr Hamlin and her son Richard spoke about their work in Ethiopia and paid special tribute to the support of their Ethiopian friends in Australia. Dr Hamlin said setting up the fistula hospital and devoting so much work to women — the poorest of the poor and most outcast women in Ethiopia — had made a real difference to thousands of lives.
