Bossena, Birtukan and Agegneush were suffering from obstetric fistula. Contrary to the 2/3 million estimated women still waiting for a fistula treatment, these three Ethiopian women have been operated on. This video takes place in Ethiopia, following these women from the village to the hospital where they will finally be treated. Only 10,000 — 15,000 women in the world are treated for fistula each year, it’s a drop in the ocean of the 100 000 new cases occurring each year.
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Depressing. That’s one word for this video and it’s not just from the ordeal of these poor women as it is for the poverty that makes that ordeal possible. And to think that there are people around the world who have so much money and wealth they don’t know what to do with. How is it possible that people still live in squalor such as this? What can be done to bring more spotlight to shine on stories such as this? What can be done to make humans less selfish so they’ll be more willing to be their brother’s keepers? Too many questions, does anybody have any answers?
I don’t think there is one straightforward answer, a magic wand that can change everything. Concerning these women specifically, we were able to treat their fistula, to close it so they can at the very least live with some diginity. However, in the end these are the survivors of a much bigger ordeal – many women actually die when they are giving birth, because they don’t access proper medical care when they have a complication during labour. How to make health services accesible to women, men and children who are living in poor rural areas with few resources? It’s one battle at a time to overcome the obstacles. In Ethiopia we’re working with amazing people, like Dr. Mulu who you can see in the clip, she has been working on this for most of her life and has a wealth of expertise, as well as the will to keep on fighting for women’s rights.