For these women, hope is not a readily available commodity. Their leakages are viewed with contempt and suspicion, tapping into the primal fears of the villagers, who often shame these women into isolation, leaving them to wallow in their insecurity and fear. Hope is offered at the Fistula Hospital of Addis Ababa, but to a majority of the African population suffering, the journey is almost as improbable as any cure.

The film presents a staggering statistic: 146 OB/GYNs for nearly 77 million potential patients in the area, with most young women forgoing basic obstetric care, paving the way toward elongated, often disastrous births. For the women of "Walk," the common thread is stillborn birth, where literal weeks of labor pass by before action is taken, resulting in fistulas and other wells of despair. To receive the support they need they make the trip to Addis Ababa, which is a grueling bus ride; taking days to arrive in a sweltering, judgmental vehicle. Not to mention the hours of treacherous foot travel to even arrive at the bus stop. Tired, humiliated, and despondent, the women arrive at the hospital doors ready for whatever the doctors can offer.

Presented surgical procedures they only marginally understand, the patients place special trust in the caring faculty, who take in more women than they can handle, with massive stacks of potential cases awaiting contact as well. With the patients in the facility for weeks, "Walk" carefully approaches the cloudy headspace of the subjects, as they fight to climb out of the trenches of indignity they've been forced into by loved ones and social order (most, if not all, grow suicidal). In Africa these kinds of barriers lead women to the extremes of hard labor, revealing another growing concern: stunting, or the literal restriction of physical growth due to such intensive work demands.

To witness the joy, the straightforward flight of the spirit, in the body language of the women who receive immediate help through surgery is an image not soon forgotten. While "Walk" doesn't address the underlying situation of uncooperative and destructive male figures in Ethiopian society, it nevertheless stays close to the heart of the picture: the critical restoration of hope. This doesn't necessarily mean everyone can be offered a simple fix. For 17-year-old Wubete, her journey of despair is almost too much to bear; the frustrated girl falls deeper and deeper into hopelessness as the doctors are unable to find a suitable solution to her fistula situation. It's heartbreaking storytelling, and I applaud this piercing inclusion of reality.

"Walk to Beautiful" doesn't shred political or social disgraces to satisfaction. This is not an enraged film, it's one of optimism and education, and I personally received a hearty shot of both from watching this assuredly upsetting, but oddly comforting documentary.