Running for African Mothers in the Ottawa Race Weekend
On Saturday, May 29th, thousands of people laced up their running shoes to participate in one of Canada’s largest races: the Ottawa Race Weekend. But one marathoner, Vanessa Hynes ran to raise awareness about the lack of basic maternal and child health care for mothers in Africa.
Vanessa is the wife of Ross Hynes, the Canadian High Commissioner to six East African countries. Mrs. Hynes has learned much about the plight of African mothers through her support of AMREF – the African Medical Research Foundation.
Vanessa race end
Mrs. Hynes was introduced to AMREF’s work during her current post in Nairobi. She is particularly concerned for the thousands of African mothers who sustain fistulas –a devastating injury that occurs when a baby gets lodged in its mother’s birth canal during labour and there is no health care worker to help. The mother’s reproductive organs are crushed – leaving a gap called a fistula. After losing her baby, the mother also loses control of her bladder and bowels.
“I can’t tell you how difficult life is for a woman suffering from fistula,” says Mrs. Hynes. “It’s devastating - not only is she grieving the loss of her baby, but she is ostracized from her entire community as well.
For more than 25 years AMREF surgeons have been performing the basic operation to correct these devastating injuries. The surgery only costs $265.00 – but most women suffering from fistula simply can’t afford it.
As a mother herself, Mrs. Hynes wants to help draw attention to the unnecessary birth injuries mothers in Africa face. “When I heard about AMREF’s Run for African Mothers in Salzburg, Austria it encouraged me to do the same in Ottawa. I've run the 10K to raise awareness, especially for mothers who live in rural villages with no health care at all.”
Running on her own for the Ottawa Race Weekend, Mrs. Hynes managed to raise some awareness in the media but her efforts did not stop there. As Executive Chair of the Diplomatic Spouses Association in Nairobi, Mrs. Hynes recently led a major fundraiser for fistula repair surgeries for women in rural Kenya. The golf tournament and walkathon raised enough money for 84 surgeries, which will be performed at AMREF’s fistula clinic later this month.
