12:48pm UK, Friday May 16, 2008

Special Report, By Ross Appleyard

Bemused and bewildered, the little girl glances nervously at the camera.

She looks terrified and can't understand why she is suddenly the focus of attention.

Simegne, 12, is heavily pregnant

As the African drums beat faster and the dancers work themselves into a frenzy it is obvious Wube-Enat has no idea of the implications and repercussions associated with this, her special day.

It is her wedding.

She is ten years old.

Although child marriages are illegal in Ethiopia traditions die hard in the remote northern region of Amhara.

Filming for Sky News, we were given unprecedented access to a story that is commonplace across some parts of Africa but is usually kept firmly behind closed doors.

The Ethiopian government is determined to stamp out the practise and alongside organisations like the United Nations Population Fund and a British charity, SafeHands for Mothers they helped us to show not only the illegal weddings but also the dire consequences that often follow.

We met Simegne who is 12-years-old and eight-months pregnant.

She told me she would rather be at school than preparing for motherhood.

Over half of the girls in Amhara are married before they are 15.

The vast majority of them will have sex before they have even reached puberty and many will get pregnant as soon as it is physically possible.

The problem is their bodies are not fully formed making it highly unlikely they will have a trouble-free labour.

Hardly any of these girls will have access to a trained health worker and will have the baby at home.

Another girl, Achawache, told me she was 15 when she spent twelve days in labour.

Eventually the baby was born dead and she was left with a fistula.

The term simply means 'hole' and is caused by prolonged pressure of the baby's head against the pelvis during obstructed labour, leaving the girl incontinent.

Like in almost every case like this, she is deserted by her husband and ostracised by her community because of her foul smell.

Ethiopia is a rural and remote country.

Only six percent of its seventy seven million people live in the cities.

It took Achawache six years to discover there was a hospital that could cure her problem.

But even when they find out help is available for most girls it is inaccessible.

Because of their condition drivers refuse to allow them on the buses and they can spend weeks walking to the nearest hospital.

SafeHands aims to make films to show the dangers of child marriage and raise awareness among the rural population.

But for some little girls, like Wube-Enat, the warnings may have come too late.

:: For more information on SafeHands click here