FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA – On Saturday, Sept. 13, about 75 people gathered at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax (UUCF) on Hunter Mill Road in Oakton to view “A Walk to Beautiful,” a feature-length documentary film about women in Ethiopia who suffer from obstetric fistula, a devastating childbirth injury. The film follows them from their communities, where they are treated as outcasts, to the Fistula Hospital in Addis Ababa, where their bodies are healed and their lives are transformed.

Two speakers who had witnessed the work performed by the hospital also addressed the gathering. A buffet featuring Ethiopian cuisine was donated by a number of area restaurants.

Filmgoers contributed $8,700 at the screening. With additional donations forthcoming from the UUCF community, the organizers expect to contribute over $10,000 to the Fistula Foundation, enough to treat more than 20 women. The Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital has treated more than 30,000 women over 33 years. Their cure rate is over 90 percent.

In Ethiopia alone, there are an estimated 100,000 women suffering with untreated fistula. The root causes of fistula are poverty and the low status of women and girls, whose stunted condition can contribute to obstructed labor, which leads to fistula.

Those wishing to learn more about fistula or to make a contribution to the Fistula Hospital, may visit www.fistulafoundation.org.

Source: Vienna Connection