An Ox for a Baby (2007)

• 65%
• 2007
• Documentary
• Ayfer Ergün

This documentary is about an Ethiopian couple who has become the victim of age-old traditions of forcing girls to marry at a very young age. They become pregnant, too young to give birth, their pelvis not fully grown. The result: obstetric fistula, continues loss of urine and often banishment from their communities. Often the baby dies and the mother is left with fistula. It is the story of Yezina and Mesganow. They live in a small village, many miles from the nearest town and civilization. Mesganow want his wife to heal so they can have a child together. He sells his ox in order to finance the surgery in Fistula Hospital in far way Addis Abeba. Yezina is lucky with her husband. Most men abandon their wives, since they are being looked upon by their community when they don't have children.