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Mentoring
Young Girls
in the Coachella Valley
in Middle School and High School |
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In 2008
SI of La Quinta/Coachella Valley Funded
the Scholarship Fund
for the Ophelia Project in the Coachella
Valley
Read the Story |
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Two memorial
scholarships are awarded each year to
deserving high school girls.
These
scholarships are awarded through applications
and personal interviews.
If you are
a female high school senior in the La Quinta
area and are interested in these scholarships -
Link Here |
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SOS -
Soroptimist Saturday of Service each March
In celebration of
International Women's
Day
SI La Quinta/Coachella Valley joins with the
other clubs in the Soroptimist Valley Council
to perform a service project on this designated
Saturday in March. |
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The Soroptimist International 2007- 2011
Quadrennial Project |
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Project SIerra - a Family and a
Future
in
partnership with
Hope and Homes for
Children in Sierra Leone, Africa. |
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The
project will support women caring for
children in extreme poverty and provide
a caring secure family home for
children who are alone or at
risk of abandonment. |
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Children
aged 6 to 12 years who live on the
streets will be helped to return home. |
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Very young mothers estranged from their
families will be empowered to be active
community members
and where possible reintegrate with
their families |
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Families at risk of breakdown due to
poverty, illness or death of one or
both parents will be supported to
self-sufficiency |
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Sierra Leone’s recent history has
been overshadowed by a bloody ten-year civil war
which resulted in the death of 50,000 people. The
conflict displaced half of its population and
destroyed the country’s infrastructure.
Vital services such as health and social care,
water, sanitation and education remain deeply
affected. In January 2003 Sierra Leone celebrated
its first year of peace in over a decade; the
country is now safe but many areas are still
devastated. |
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Soroptimist International -
December 10th - SI President's Appeal 2007* |
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Restoring Dignity |
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| *President’s
Annual December 10 Appeal |
| Every year, on
Human Rights Day (December 10) the
President of Soroptimist
International selects a project that
provides direct assistance to women
in extreme need |
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improve the lives of women and girls
in some way. |
| To learn more
about previous projects please visit
the Soroptimist International
website. |
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| Hamlin Obstetric
Fistula Relief and Aid Fund |
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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
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Soroptimists throughout the world
contribute to this project. |
Imagine never being
able to return home
after having a baby.....
then imagine finding a home in Village Desta Mender,
being cared for, trained for a new life, and having
your dignity restored. |
"The
Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital is the only Facility in
the world exclusively dedicated to treating
(obstetric) fistula, It serves as a center of
excellence, offering training and pioneering
surgical techniques and methods of physical and
psychological rehabilitation for women."
United Nations Population Fund |
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What
is a fistula? |
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A
fistula is an unnatural tear or hole between two
organs. Obstructed labor can cause a fistula to the
birth passage, bladder and sometimes, the rectum.
As a result a woman leaks urine constantly. Fistula
injuries are worse than death as women experience
rejection, separation, loneliness and shame. |
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Project Aims
and Objectives: |
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To help those women with
fistulas who cannot be completely cured and
need on-going medical care. |
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To encourage independence and
improve the morale and self-esteem of the
permanent residents of the Addis Ababa
Fistula Hospital through self-help rural
village "Desta Mender". |
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Village Desta Mender
The village was opened in a rural
area outside Addis Ababa for patients who could not
be completely cured. Ongoing medical care is
available and the women and girls are taught various
skills such as crafts and knitting, and receive
training to become nursing aids and care givers to
help in the nearby orphanage. |
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Addis Ababa Fistula
Hospital History
In the late 1950s, two
young doctors, Reginald and Catherine Hamlin, were
dedicated obstetricians living and working in
Catherine's native Australia. Early in their
careers, the couple practiced gynecology in Sydney,
but they were eager to seek out and aid the women
who needed them most.
They got their
chance in 1959, when they were called upon to come
to Ethiopia and set up practice in a hospital in the
capital city of Addis Ababa. When they arrived,
Reginald and Catherine discovered a very poor
country with almost no resources for expectant
mothers. The Hamlins planned to open a midwifery
school at the Princess Tshai Memorial Hospital and
to stay for three years. |
| Reginald Hamlin
recently passed away but Catherine Hamlin now 82
carries on with her work. She has been nominated
for a Nobel Peace Prize. You can read her story in
"The Hospital by the
River: A Story of Hope"
by
Dr. Catherine Hamlin with John Little - Monarch
Books, illustrated, 2004. |
| For more information about
Soroptimist International -
Link Here and visit
http://www2.oprah.com/index.jhtml as Doctor
Hamlin has appeared on the show. |
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