Speak Up, Save Lives
“We’re live in 3… 2… 1…”
Meron leaned into the microphone, her heart pounding with excitement. “Good morning, everyone!”, she started the programme with a strong and loud voice. “Did you know that just one decision, choosing to give birth at a health centre, can save the life of a mother and her baby? Our mothers give us life. Don’t they deserve the safest care? Today, I want to share something that could change lives in our community and maybe even save one.” Ever since Meron took part in the mothers, newborns and children’s health training for students and teachers, she has been eager to share what she has learned with her school community.
As a member of her school’s Mini Media Club, Meron always comes up with interesting topics, but this one felt different for her. She said, “I have been preparing these programmes for days, and I was super excited because I knew it would provide lifesaving knowledge to everyone.”
Growing up in a community where safe childbirth is not prioritised, Meron, 18, did not pay much attention to the subject before. But everything changed when she and her peers took part in a training on maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) and reproductive health organised by World Vision Ethiopia through the Social Behavioural Change Project funded by UNICEF. Meron said, “We have learned about traditional practices that harm children and mothers at school, but I never knew the harm that giving birth at home brings to mothers and children. Especially in the rural part of our community, going to health centres for a check-up during pregnancy is not even considered important.”
After the training, Meron was determined to teach her community about the importance of seeking medical support before, during and after pregnancy. Through the school Mini Media Club, she began delivering awareness-raising messages to students regularly on MNCH. This was crucial because a 2019 study found that only 15.6% of mothers received skilled birth attendance, whether at home or in a healthcare facility. The gap was even wider in rural areas like Meron’s community, where just 4.5% of women had access to skilled birth care, compared to 64.1% of women in urban areas.
One day, Meron and Mulatu, her fellow Mini Media Club member who also attended the training, came up with a creative idea to make their message reachable to larger groups. Meron said, “After preparing programmes on mothers, newborns and children’s health, we decided to challenge students to pass on what they have learned to at least two more people in the community. It was a successful approach. Many students came up to us and said they were talking to mothers and others in the community, helping them to change their behaviour around pregnancy and childbirth”.
Meron also took the challenge for herself and started talking to community members. One of whom is her neighbour, 35-year-old Gabzena. Meron said, “When I first saw Gabzena, I noticed that she is pregnant. I approached her and told her the benefits of giving birth at a health centre. She listened to me well and thanked me for the advice. Later that week, she told me she started her follow-up at the health centre. I was so happy to know that people were actually listening to my advice.”
Gabzena, on her part, said, “I am ready to give birth in a safe environment. I know it is important to deliver at the health centre, but talking to Meron made things even clearer for me. I want to live for my children, therefore I have chosen the safest side”.
In addition to the training, Meron’s school received different media equipment, including professional mixers, microphones, horn amplifiers, and speakers from the project. This equipment helped them to transmit their messages in better quality and strengthened school-based communication on maternal, child and reproductive health. Beyond MNCH, the Mini Media Club also aims to raise awareness on other critical issues affecting their community, including hygiene and sanitation, nutrition, equality, and access to education.
A total of 131 students and teachers across the South Ethiopia, Afar and Amhara regions were trained. Of these, 42 were from South Ethiopia, where Meron lives and studies. Additionally, eight schools in the three regions were supported with media equipment.
Back at the Mini Media Club, Meron leans back with a smile spreading across her face and switches off the microphone. But the real broadcast is just beginning. Every word she shares, every message her peers pass along, becomes a spark that starts conversations, changes choices, and saves lives. From her school to homes across the community, one brave voice is proving that a student on a small stage can make a lifesaving difference.
By Bethel Shiferaw, Communication Coordinator , World Vision Ethiopia