Linking Lives

Obstetric Fistula: "I came to The Trampled Rose because I was dripping [urine, due to obstructed labor and delivery of her baby].  My family hated the smell.  They left me in the house outside.  Sometimes they gave me food for the dogs.  The brother of my father made me pregnant.  My brother was good to carry me to Addis Ababa.  I have the surgery and now I do not drip, but they decide I am still dirty.  At The Trampled Rose, I learned to sew and to fix the ladies beautiful hair styles.  Now I can work in the city.  I know numbers and money.  The ladies help me very much.  I cry with them.  We laugh. I not afraid now."  (broken English is her wording)        -Mulumabet, age 15

 

         Linking Lives funds the work of The Trampled Rose, an Ethiopian NGO, which provides community medical training to build support for women with fistula, funds expenses to keep girls in school and end fistula, and provides medical care and surgical support for women with fistula.  You can play a part in this.

 

HIV/AIDS:  "I have two girls age 10 and 4. My husband died 5 years before now.  He told me that he was HIV positive three days before he died.  I told my status [HIV+ from him] to my family after my husband died.  They were very mean about it.  It was hard to lose my husband and my family.  I suffered a lot. I started ART [medication regimen to treat HIV/AIDS].  I attend support group meetings.  We talk about experiences and learn.  I have gained ample knowledge about stigma and its coping mechanism.  I am now working at ALERT Hospital as an Adherence Supporter.  I help the patients who come for treatment there to know they can be beter if they adhere to  their ART. I go to the community and find patients who refuse their ART and tell them and their family that I am also HIV+ and I am much better because of the medicine.  When they see me they have hope.  They know I understand their fears.  Many come back to the hospital.  I am now a salaried worker. I can take good care of my girls.  I am helping many people to find a better life.  I am now very happy."  -Marta, age 29 

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     Linking Lives funds the salaries of ten HIV+ Ethiopians who serve as Adherence Supporters at the ALERT Hospital in Addis Ababa.  The lives of thousands of patients and their families have been changed as a result of this project.  Their personal experience as AIDS patients who are living a full life of service brings hope in a unique way which makes a difference in the fears of the patients and the families and is changing the stigma associated with the diagnosis.  You can help to end the stigma.

 

Alcoholism & Substance Abuse Treatment and Recovery:  "I have taken no drink of alcohol for 5 years.  Before, I wasted a lot of time every day.  I lost my jobs and my respect for myself and my family's respect.  Most of the people in our country who don't admit the problem of alcohol deny the problem even if they are in the hospital.  We need help every day.  To reach the people we need translated materials as everyone knows it helps us more than everything.  We need public awareness.  It is a very essential to reach every individual as well as government officials by preparing workshops on the problem of addiction and the treatment.  If in the future these things are fulfilled it will save a lot of people's lives in our country.  Thank you for helping us to understand the problem and the solutions."                                                                                                 -Tomasange, age 32

 

     Linking Lives funds a series of training events at several hospitals and medical colleges in Addis Ababa in order to bring the treatment of alcoholism and addiction into the curriculum. Providing these programs at the request of the leading psychiatrist in the country is effecting the lives of alcholics and addicts as well as the future of the medical care to be delivered in Ethiopia. You can bring advancements in medical care.

 

Hospice Care:   "I am 31 years old. I have a husband, two children and cancer.  I had so much pain and bleeding.  I was full of so much sadness and fear.  We had no money for treatment. After the Hospice Ethiopia nurses came to see me they gave me medicine for my pain, talked with me about my fears and my worries for my children and gave me comfort fund (money for food and rent).  I now have much better life and my husband and I can care for our girls.  They changed everything about our life.  Everyday I thank them for their help."                                                 - Miriam, age 31

 

     Linking Lives funds the salaries of several nurses who provide hospice care in home-based settings in Addis Ababa, offering medical treatment, psychological and spiritual support as well as counseling to the patients and their families.  Linking Lives also funds training in the medical colleges to assist in the development of hospice and palliative care throughout Ethiopia. You can help to bring palliative care and hospice care services to Ethiopia.

 

Your contributions to Linking Lives will bring hope, information, advanced medical care and training to many in Ethiopia who are struggling in similar ways. 

 

Join us and play a part in supporting them as they face various illnesses, poverty, despair and the stigma of their

medical conditions.

 

You can make a difference.