CATHERINE HAMLIN

For 21 years, Oprah Winfrey’s talk show was filmed in a fairly nondescript building in Chicago named Harpo Studios. The only hint a world-famous television series was taking place inside was the giant ‘O’ perched atop the entrance. It was here that Winfrey played host to a coterie of famous guests, including a couch-jumping Tom Cruise, an enigmatic Nelson Mandela and, in 2004, the unassuming Australian gynaecologist Dr Catherine Hamlin.

The studio was a far cry from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, where Catherine ran a foundation for women dealing with the complications of obstructed and unassisted births. Still, if Catherine was nervous at appearing on a show viewed by 49 million, she didn’t show it. Walking confidently in a neat suit, she took a seat on Oprah’s couch and shared her story.

The audience was