A Walk To Beautiful – Obstetric Fistula Documentary
I watched “A Walk to Beautiful” on PBS last night, and it was an extraordinarily powerful documentary on the impact of obstetric fistula in Ethiopia. Set primarily at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, the piece profiles three women who seek medical assistance and hope after years of uncontrollably leaking urine and/or feces, living in huts, and being shunned by their communities and families. You really just have to watch this for yourself.
The NOVA website indicates that what aired last night is “a 50-minute version of an original feature-length film of the same name, two of whose ‘characters’—Zewde and Yenenesh—do not appear in the NOVA version.” More information about the film, including screenings, is available at walktobeautiful.com.
To learn more about obstetric fistula and support fistula hospitals, visit The Fistula Foundation.
Oh yes..I watched this too.. “A Walk to Remember”..omg..it was such a wonderful show. I learned a lot from it. I had no idea that women have problems with this. So sad. But glad that they are finding ways/learning ways to help these women. I love public television..I’ve learned so much from it, especially with Closed Captioned , cuz I never miss out, and I learn so much, that its wonderful for me.
Thanks!
It was deeply moving for sure. As an ESL teacher I have had many Ethiopian students, so I feel connected to the country and the people. I have known about this problem for some time, but this presentation was still very powerful, and heartbreaking. And inspiring too- I had never known there was any way to treat fistula before.
It seems to me this has got to be the most unbearable affliction a girl or a woman can have. Pregnancy should be wonderful- when it becomes torture it is just too much. That and the nature of the whole thing, what it does to the girls, isolating them from everyone as if the thing itself was already not unbearable.
So of course I wasted no time going to send money to this wonderful hospital.