Afghanistan today has the second highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the world. After nearly thirty years of war and occupation, the nation's medical system has been devastated and its doctors and other medical ... more »personnel are poorly trained. Afghans had hoped that the U.S.-led invasion to oust the Taliban in 2001 would bring improvements in women's health and education, but the rights of Afghan women to adequate healthcare are still denied.
In Motherland Afghanistan, Afghan-American filmmaker Sedika Mojadidi vividly reveals the extent of this tragedy by documenting the 2003 return to Afghanistan of her father, an OB/GYN who emigrated to the U.S. in 1972, as he attempts to rehabilitate the largest women's hospital in the country with the promised support of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
After waiting four months for desperately-needed equipment and supplies and struggling to work amidst frustrating and heartbreaking conditions, the staff must take up a collection to buy medical supplies at a local pharmacy. The only indication of U.S. sponsorship is that the hospital's maternity ward has been named for Laura Bush. Dr. Mojadidi acknowledges that he has made a "huge mistake" in accepting the position and returns home; two years later, he journeys to Afghanistan again, this time to work with an Afghan NGO to train the staff at a large rural hospital.
Sedika Mojadidi movingly documents her father's heroic efforts to make a difference in his beleaguered homeland, and the result is an inspiring portrait of dedication and fortitude in some of the most harsh and unforgiving physical, political and cultural terrain on Earth.« less
"I watched this movie tonight and I'm sure I'll never forget it. This is the real world, real people, real problems. Dr. Mojadidi is an interesting character himself, and we see him leave his lovely comfortable home in the U.S. to travel to a poor, dusty land to help a few Afghani patients and to teach the determined Afghani doctors. You'll watch a lot of it and say Wow. Very human, with a mixture of strength and love and misery and hope. Thank you, Ms. Mojadidi, for introducing the world to your father. He is an inspiration."
An afghani doctor and his family
jibli | 05/22/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"this is a very well-made and quite moving documentary about an afghani doctor and his family who return after many years in the u.s.a. to help out in the post-taliban era...........the only thing i can complain about is that instead of afghani musicians doing the soundtrack they have used westerners, but they're not offensive.... there is, however, a brief song by a hazara rubab player....the doctor reminds me of the iraqi journalist in "control room", doing his best in a very difficult situation...."
Cultural Arts Center of Saint Louis recommends
Linsey A. Daman | Saint Louis, MO | 07/08/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"One in Seven Afghan women die in childbirth. An Afghan doctor struggles to make a difference.
Dr. Mojadidi, a specialist in women's health, decides to return to his war-ravaged homeland to help rebuild and modernize the hospitals and clinics which serve the women of Afghanistan. Motherland Afghanistan is an inspiring portrait of dedication and fortitude in some of the most harsh and unforgiving physical, political and cultural terrains on Earth.
CAC's Comments: In Afghanistan, if you wanted to have surgery you must pre-purchase your own suture material and gauze at a pharmacy before going to the hospital. Not much is provided for you and the same goes for medicines. After International donations and non-profit funding, certain Afghan hospitals have had the opportunity to modernize their standards and health codes. "
Very Interesting
Denise Maki | 05/30/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I'm very interested in Afghanistan and I would love to help them medically someday. I was so excited to see this movie, and I was NOT let down. It showed the issues in Afghanistan so well and it showed how much this doctor truly is helping the country. This is a great movie"
Maternal health documentary
S. Howe | Seattle, WA | 04/07/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Sedika Mojadidi presents a great documentary on her father's work as a ob/gyn in Afghanistan in 2003. Graphic, empathetic, beautifully filmed, as true today as then. Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. This documentary helps us understand why."