Washington, DC — Everything's Fine (Toro Si Te) is a wonderful, humorous and serious documentary that tells the story of Dr. Seydou Konaté, a Malian doctor working in Nongon, a small village in southern Mali. The dedication of Dr. Konaté to his patients and the stories and lives of the villagers who seek his help turn what at first seems like a dry documentary on the perils of the health system in rural Africa into a beautiful portrait of a village, its people, and its doctor.
Dr. Konaté, who finished medical school in the capital city of Bamako, is one of 80 doctors in the Mali Country Doctor's Association who work in rural areas. Aged 37, he comes to Nongon, which is a 10-hour drive on a dirt road to the capital, isolated even more by its location beyond two rivers which have no bridges crossing them. He is the only doctor at the Nongon Souala Community Health Care Center, serving more than 40,000 people.
Dr. Konaté is inspiring in his dedication to what he calls the "noble art of medicine". He treats those who arrive at his door with all sorts of ailments -- patients with injuries, those sick from malaria, patients sick after drinking unsafe water, those needing vaccinations, and those needing education on safe sex. Two of the more memorable, heart-breaking cases involve a woman brought in after sustaining injuries from domestic violence and a pregnant woman who arrives on the brink of death.
The documentary's light side appears in Dr. Konaté's charisma and rapport with his patients, whom he treats like old friends, with he often jokes and whose respect and trust he clearly enjoys. He also has a good relationship with the village's traditional healer, with whom he compares the benefits of traditional and modern medicine.
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The seriousness with which Dr. Konaté takes medicine is seen in the way he campaigns to educate villagers on threats to their health. Two of the biggest threats are HIV and an outbreak of cholera that has already hit neighboring villages. To spread the word Dr. Konaté talks not only to his patients but also at churches and social events. He even corners a market woman who uses unclean water to prepare the food she sells. Though it's easy to forget that the film is a documentary, the statistics it cites on infant mortality rates, maternal death rates, HIV, malaria, and cholera in Mali are sobering.
In the village the doctor is forced to deal with people's mistrust of modern medicine, clashes between health and the daily lives of rural Africans, and a medical facility with few resources. But he is also rewarded by his help for the residents of Nongon and nearby villages. The people in the area are a colorful and interesting group, all the members of which have their own stories to tell.
And the village of Nongon is amazing. The film is replete with gorgeous images, and the way in which the film-makers use the camera to linger on the landscape or on people going about their daily lives remind us of the beauty and easy-going nature of rural Africa.
Everything's Fine (Toro Si Te)
A Film by Daisy Lamothe
78 minutes
Release Date: 2006
Sale: $398/Rental/VHS: $125
First Run/Icarus Films
