• About Us
• Church Family
• Pathfinders
• Online Magazine
• Church Location
• Site Map

Book Review

Healing Lives by Sue Williams

Healing Lives tells the story of 2 remarkable woman, Dr Catherine Hamlin & Mamitu Gashe

The book commences telling the background to these two women.  Catherine was born in Australia to a wealthy family, Mamitu was born in rural Ethiopia to subsistence family life.  Two women could not come from more extreme contrasts than these two women.

Doctors Reg and Catherine Hamlin went to Ethiopia in 1959 to spend three years working there.  Life in Ethiopia was so far removed from life as they had known.  The massive chasm between the top of Ethiopian society to the crushing poverty of those at the bottom in rural Ethiopia, was heartbreaking.

Ethiopia had minimal doctors, and for those living in the country they had very little chance of receiving medical attention.

Giving birth in Ethiopia was one of the most dangerous events - Ethiopia had one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world.  Plus, for each one of the women that died, another thirty would suffer serious lifetime injuries and then be shunned by family and village members for the rest of their life.

For every ten deaths due to childbirth in Australia, in Ethiopia there would be 700-800 deaths in Ethiopia woman.

Reg & Catherine fell in love with the people of Ethiopia.  The injustice the woman experienced with childbirth broke their hearts.  Reg and Catherine donated their lives to giving the woman of Ethiopia comparable standards to those in developed countries.

Very early in their service to the people of Ethiopia Mamitu (who was only a  teenager) came to their hospital with severe injuries from childbirth.  An instantaneous repour was established between the Reg, Catherine and Mamitu.  The doctors said to her that she would be their daughter.  Whilst the doctors were able to improve her quality of life, they were not able to offer her complete healing.  Mamitu stayed with them for the rest of their lives.  Mamitu had been a hard worker in her village, and once able to contribute something back to the hospital she commenced cleaning and other duties, without being asked.  Her skill set was quickly recognised, and she rose through the positions at the hospital, till an uneducated, illiterate girl from the country became a master surgeon, training doctors from all around the world.

Mamitu's love for Reg and Catherine knew no end.  Just as they had adopted her as their daughter, she readily adopted them as her parents.  In 1993 Reg passed away, Mamitu had nursed him, and was with him when he died.  Catherine continued to serve the woman of Ethiopia for another 27 years, till she was 96 years old.  Catherine earned the title of the Mother Teresa of Ethiopia.  She lived to see many of the dreams she had for woman's health in Ethiopia becoming a reality.  As Catherine became frailer, Mamitu remained by her side, meeting every need Catherine had, until her death in 2020.

Catherine's funeral is a day of national mourning, streets are blocked, traffic stopped, for the funeral procession.  Even though COVID is raging the country, all quarantine rules are broken as the country recognises a woman that demonstrated agape love.  She abandoned her life to live for others and break down the injustices she saw.

This is a wonderful book of service and love.  It is a book that shows true friendship can grow between people whose lives are so very different.

 
Book Cover Picture Credit
https://www.koorong.com/product/healing-lives-sue-williams_9781760982034

Copyright © 2022 Thornleigh Seventh-day Adventist Church