[by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51VOA.COM [00:00.16]Filmmaker John Rowe discovered a secret after many visits [00:04.52]to the Omo River Valley in Ethiopia: [00:08.72]people there thought some children were "cursed." [00:12.60]Villagers blamed the children for sickness, [00:16.80]a lack of rainfall and other problems. [00:20.45]So they killed them. [00:22.96]The Omo Valley is a place of beauty. [00:26.84]It is home to villagers with customs that date back many generations. [00:33.97]Rowe says the villagers believe that if a child's teeth [00:39.77]first appear on the upper gum instead of the lower part of the mouth, [00:46.09]the child is cursed and must be killed. [00:51.36]He says children are also killed [00:54.24]when they are born to a woman who is not married, [00:58.32]or if they are disabled or are twins. [01:02.40]Rowe heard about this belief from Lale Labuko, [01:07.57]the man who helped him during his visits to the Omo Valley. [01:13.32]Rowe made a documentary film about the practice. [01:17.92]He called the film "Omo Child." [01:22.72]Labuko says that when he was 15 years old, [01:27.16]he saw a two-year-old child being drowned in a river. [01:32.40]His mother told him that he had two sisters [01:35.83]who were killed before he was born. [01:40.20]In the film, a woman says 15 of her children were considered cursed. [01:46.96]She says when they were born, [01:49.84]older members of her village took them and fed them to crocodiles. [01:54.92]In the film, Labuko says "I want to stop these things." [02:02.00]Labuko was the first member of his village to be educated. [02:07.44]He asked Rowe to help him end the killings. [02:12.60]First, he persuaded some young villagers, [02:17.48]then families and leaders of the village. [02:21.64]Rowe's son Tyler filmed the documentary over a five year period. [02:27.36]He says it was not easy. [02:29.36]He says some people admitted they had killed their children. [02:33.92]But others said children were not killed. [02:37.76]Tyler says some villagers told him, [02:40.64]"It doesn't happen here. We stopped it a long time ago. [02:46.04]It only happens (in another village, not here.)" [02:51.32]Labuko's work caused people to begin speaking out about the practice. [02:58.72]His tribe agreed to ban the killings in 2012. [03:04.12]Rowe's documentary shows Labuko's efforts. [03:09.20]A charity group created by Labuko and his wife [03:13.80]has saved more than 40 children. [03:17.56]They now live in a home in Jinka, Ethiopia. [03:22.92]The Ethiopian government has banned the practice, [03:27.64]but Rowe says "there are two other tribes that continue to" kill children. [03:34.92]But because of the film, more people know about the killings [03:39.72]and the efforts of one man to stop them. [03:43.68]I'm Christopher Jones-Cruise.