Gift Guide: Mother’s Day Picks from Online Charity Shops
If you haven't got your Mother's Day presents sorted for this year, you might like to consider spending your money with one of the great charities that have an online shop. It's a great time of the year to support other women in need around the world. I've picked three Australian-based online shops to source the best presents for this gift guide: Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia; Oxfam and Australian Red Cross. If you didn't know that you could buys gifts from these charities' online shops, you might like to check them out.
Hamlin Fistula Ethiopa is a particularly relevant charity for Mother's Day, and their online shop is full of gorgeous African homewares, books, coffee and toys. The charity was founded by Dr Catherine Hamlin to raise funds exclusively for the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, as well as associated centres.
Access to proper obstetric services for women in Ethiopia is extremely difficult, and trained midwives and surgeons are few and far between. Fistulas (or holes) develop between the rectum and vagina or betweeen the bladder and vagina after a difficult childbirth where adequate medical care isn't available.
Women living in poor areas are forced to walk up to two days' to get to a hospital. Other women won't seek help and will stuff their clothes with rags to prevent leakage, and they're often humiliated and seen as outcasts within their own villages.
Founder of Hamiln Fistula Ethiopia Dr Catherine Hamlin AC. This portrait, painted by artist Sally Ryan, was a finalist in the 2013 Archibald prize.
