By Casey Neill
Keysborough students raised $7000 to help women in need in Ethiopia.
Girls from Haileybury’s Simpson House participated in the Walk to Beautiful and sought sponsorship for walking laps of the school oval for an entire lunchtime.
They ran a sausage sizzle, held pizza lunches, sold dedications, held a raffle and organised spare change jars.
The students presented a cheque for $7000 to Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia Foundation board member Dr Alison Morgan, and heard from her about the impact their donation would have.
Dr Morgan is co-founder Dr Catherine Hamlin’s niece.
The organisation is dedicated to treating obstetric fistula, a childbirth injury that is preventable and virtually a thing of the past in Western countries.
In rural Ethiopia, women have little or no access to maternal healthcare and will be in labour for days if their birth is obstructed.
They almost always lose their baby, and obstetric fistula is the resulting internal damage.
This causes incontinence and communities isolate the women.
The foundation provides surgery, rehabilitation and counselling.
“The Simpson girls have displayed genuine care and compassion in their fund-raising efforts to ensure that women in Ethiopia have access to medical treatment during childbirth that we are very fortunate to have in Australia,” Simpson House head Kate said.
The house has supported the charity for the past five years, raising more than $31,000.
