A Walk to Beautiful - Shame in the Shadows

Mary Olive Smith's Documentary of Five Ethiopian Women with Fistulas

Oct 28, 2009

In Ethiopia, many women suffer shame and physical dysfunction following childbirth due to incontinence and the inability to remain part of their community.

A Walk to Beautiful is a moving story of the shame and suffering of five Ethiopian women as filmed and directed by Mary Olive Smith. Over two years, Smith followed the story of five women with obstetric fistulas, a tearing of the birth canal often caused by young women being forced into childbearing too soon or following difficult deliveries. The result is incontinence and physical dysfunction, but the cost is shame and ostracism. The women walk for hours, hoping to be seen at the Fistula Hospital where they pray for healing and a miracle, so they may return to living with people again, rather than being treated as modern day lepers and social outcasts. The long walk to the Fistula Hospital is indeed a Walk to Beautiful.

The fortunes of the five young women are varied. Some are outcasts from their village, as their condition does not allow them to control their elimination processes. They are called names and are forced to live apart from the rest of their community, deeply shamed and deeply grieved. Because of their incontinence, they are unable to control their smell, and they suffer rejection, with husbands abandoning them. Some have already suffered the loss of their child during a long and difficult birth. One of the hospital personnel states that she has worked with women who remained in childbirth for up to ten days, leaving their bodies devastated and their babies dead. They also have to suffer with the physical problems resulting from their disorder. Their only hope is to be accepted for treatment by the Fistula Hospital. But to receive treatment, they must walk a very long distance, arising very early in the morning and making the long journey on foot, hoping to be there in time to be seen. For some this means at least six hours on foot just to reach the road; some must travel nearly 24 hours to arrive at the hospital.

The Fistula Hospital: Agent of Hope for the Ethiopian Women with Fistulas

The hospital is unable to help all of their patients, but they do change many lives. The options for the young women are not plentiful, nor are they encouraging. One very young woman, only 17 years old, states that she had two options: to try to make it to the Fistula Hospital or to commit suicide. For others, the trip to the hospital means a renewal and reacceptance when they return home, embraced by their families. For still others, it will mean a turning point, and the beginning of healing emotional scars. This is an honest portrayal of a difficult subject, one that impacts many lives although it is not often discussed. A Walk to Beautiful may change that, and allow more people to understand the cost of this problem and the success that is possible for some of the young people. Touching, although difficult to watch at times.

The copyright of the article A Walk to Beautiful - Shame in the Shadows in Documentary Films is owned by Barbara DeGrande. Permission to republish A Walk to Beautiful - Shame in the Shadows in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.