The First Clinic Visit Together

For many years, Leticia Nangale from Mwamadilana village in Shinyanga District, Tanzania attended clinic visits alone during her pregnancies and for her children’s healthcare needs. Like many women in her community, she carried the responsibility for family health while her husband, Michael, focused primarily on financial provision.

I used to go to the clinic alone during every pregnancy. I felt that I was carrying the responsibility for my health and our children’s well-being all by myself. That was simply how things were done in our community. Leticia Nangale

Life at home was not easy. Leticia admits that there were frequent conflicts, not because Michael was a bad person, but because they rarely communicated. Each of them carried their own burdens without fully understanding the challenges faced by the other.

A Father Reconsiders

Everything changed when Michael participated in sessions led by a Community Health Worker through the Grow ENRICH Project's MenCare approach. This initiative invites fathers into the parts of family life they had long left to their wives: maternal health, childcare, and the daily work of raising children. 

The sessions challenged traditional perceptions of fatherhood and helped Michael recognize the importance of his presence in his family's well-being

I heard things I had never really thought about before. I realized how my wife felt when she had to go to the clinic alone. I made the decision myself that my family should not continue carrying that burden without my involvement. Michael

The First Visit That Changed Everything

One day, Michael accompanied Leticia to a clinic visit for the first time. What seemed like a simple journey became a turning point for their family. They talked, planned together, and reconnected as partners. Since then, Michael has remained actively involved in childcare, clinic visits, and family decision-making, while also spending more time supporting and engaging with his children.

Leticia was surprised and did not know what to say. What she remembers most, however, was not just the clinic visit itself, but the journey they shared together.

I thought he probably had something else to do along the way. But he stayed throughout the clinic visit, waited with me, and even spoke with the health provider. I never expected that. On the way home, we talked about our children, our plans to install solar power at home, and so many other things. We talked more than we had in years. I felt like we were partners again. Leticia

A Transformed Home

Stories like Michael's demonstrate the impact of the MenCare Programme in transforming attitudes and strengthening families. By encouraging fathers to be present, caring, and supportive, the Grow ENRICH programme is helping create nurturing home environments where children can flourish.

I realized that my children need more than food. They need to see their father. Now I spend time with them, we talk, and I help them with their studies. Seeing their happiness brings me happiness as well. To be honest, through the training and visit from the CHW has opened my eyes. But the decision was mine. I chose to become a different kind of husband. I chose to become a different kind of father. Michael

Beyond One Family

The Nangales' story is one of a growing number across Kishapu and Shinyanga Districts, where the programme is being implemented. To date, the Grow ENRICH programme, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, has sensitized 54 Men Care Champions through its MenCare model — a proven approach to mobilizing men and fathers as active partners in family health, nutrition, and gender equality.

But the ripple reaches further than the number suggests. Each of the 54 champions is now a messenger in his own right, sharing what he has learned with fellow fathers, neighbours, and men's groups across his community. Michael himself has become one of these voices, encouraging other husbands in Mwamadilana to walk their wives to the clinic, just as he once did for the first time. What began as a single conversation with a Community Health Worker is steadily becoming a movement of fathers reshaping what care looks like — one household, one walk to the clinic, at a time.