Deep in the rolling hills of Jimma, in the southwestern Oromia region of Ethiopia, lives a young woman whose story defies everything we know about human biology. Her name is Muluwork Ambaw, and at 26 years old she claims something no doctor can explain—she has not eaten food or drunk water since the age of ten. For the past 16 years, she has lived, worked, given birth, and carried on with her life without the most basic act of human survival: eating and drinking.

A Childhood Morning That Changed Everything

Muluwork’s story begins like any other ordinary morning. She was preparing for school, and her mother asked her if she had eaten. To avoid delay, she said yes, though she hadn’t touched any food. But that day was unlike any other. She realized she no longer had any appetite. What most of us experience as hunger simply disappeared from her life. From that moment onward, she stopped eating and drinking completely.

Her parents were terrified. A child who refuses to eat is a cause for alarm anywhere, and in rural Ethiopia, where malnutrition is a constant shadow, it seemed like a death sentence. Doctors were consulted, hospitals visited, and specialists examined her. Yet, to everyone’s astonishment, she appeared perfectly healthy.

Life Without Food or Water

Today, Muluwork lives with her younger sister and her three-year-old daughter. She tends a small garden, cooks meals for her family, and goes about her chores like any hardworking mother. The strange part? She never tastes the food she prepares. She has learned to measure ingredients and rely on instinct rather than taste.

She does not use the toilet, because, as she explains, there is simply nothing to pass out of her system. To her neighbors, this is not a secret—everyone in her community knows she does not eat. They watch her live day to day, strong and energetic, and accept it as part of who she is.

Doctors in Ethiopia could not find an explanation, so her case attracted wider attention. Reports say the Ethiopian Prime Minister himself sponsored her travel to hospitals in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. In Dubai, doctors ran tests and confirmed that no food or water could be traced in her digestive system. Mental health evaluations were also carried out, but she was declared sound of mind.

The only time her condition required external intervention was during her pregnancy. To support the life growing inside her, doctors administered glucose to ensure the baby had nourishment. After birth, she could not breastfeed for long, because her body produced little milk. Yet she survived the pregnancy and today raises a healthy daughter.

Faith and Acceptance

Unlike many who might despair in such an extraordinary situation, Muluwork radiates peace. She sees her condition not as a curse, but as a divine design. She believes God made her this way, and she accepts it without question. She attends church weekly, prays, and maintains that her unusual life has only deepened her faith.

Curiously, her sister adds another dimension to the mystery: Muluwork’s dreams, she says, always come true. Whether this is coincidence, perception, or something more mystical, it adds to the aura surrounding her story.

Science vs. Mystery

Here is where her case collides with what science knows. Medical experts agree that humans cannot survive beyond two months without food, and rarely more than 21 days without water. The longest verified survival without food and water is 18 days, when an Austrian man, Andreas Mihavecz, was accidentally locked in a police cell. He was discovered near death.

By contrast, Muluwork has lived 16 years in apparent health. Her case challenges the very foundation of biology. Is there some unknown physiological adaptation at play? Could she be absorbing moisture and energy in ways science has not yet discovered? Or is there an element of hidden intake that has escaped notice?

Skeptics point out that no long-term, independent, controlled study has ever been conducted on her. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and until she is monitored 24/7 in a scientific environment, the mystery remains unverified.

Why Isn’t She Famous?

One might expect that if such a case were real, Muluwork would be a global sensation. She would be studied by scientists, featured in medical journals, and celebrated on international platforms. Yet her story circulates mostly through local accounts and scattered reports. The scientific community has been cautious, perhaps because without hard data, her claims cannot be substantiated.

But fame may not matter to Muluwork. She is not seeking publicity. She does not pray for her condition to change. She does not ask for miracles to allow her to eat again. Instead, she lives quietly, believing this is the life chosen for her.

A Story That Captures the Imagination

Whether one sees Muluwork’s claims as truth, exaggeration, or misunderstanding, there is no denying the power of her story. It challenges our assumptions about the human body. It forces us to ask questions about faith, mystery, and the limits of science. And it reminds us that not every phenomenon has an immediate explanation.

Perhaps Muluwork Ambaw will one day become the subject of rigorous scientific investigation. Perhaps researchers will uncover a hidden metabolic secret, or perhaps they will prove her story to be impossible. Until then, she remains a living mystery in the green hills of Ethiopia—a woman who, against all odds, has lived sixteen years without food or water.