“THE DOCTOR TOLD US HE COULD NOT SAVE THEM BOTH,” recalls Fabien. He would have a little brother if his mother had had better access to quality health services and more agency to make decisions related to her family’s health. Sadly, Fabien’s mother had both typhoid and malaria and gave birth prematurely to her stillborn child.

Motivated by the loss of his brother, Fabien joined his local health committee, which is part of the SHOW project. Health committees are community-led peer groups that provide safe spaces for members to learn about and discuss a variety of issues related to maternal, newborn, sexual and reproductive health and rights. They also promote the importance of men supporting the women in their lives being able to assert their rights.

Through the committee, Fabien also received training on how to lead the groups and says he enjoys raising awareness in his community. Now, he is the secretary of his chapter.

“We prepare and carry out the activities of the month, which consist of home visits, awareness meetings, meetings with community organizations and raising awareness in schools,” says Fabien.

One of the roles of health committee members is to raise awareness among men and boys in their community so they can empower women and girls to use health services.

Ms. Raphael, a nurse in charge of the local community health centre, says she has seen a considerable increase in the number of visitors to the centre in recent months.

“We used to receive only four or five visits a month,” she says. She used to feel discouraged by these low numbers. But now the number of people accessing the health centre has gone up significantly and there are around 50 visitors per month.

“The health-committee members do a tremendous job,” says Ms. Elizabeth, an administrator at the health centre. “They have a lot of credibility and go to the most remote areas to educate people.”

Fabien is very proud of the work he’s doing with the health committee. “I feel useful to my community, and with the help of the training, my knowledge is enriched. I explain to men how they can support their wives in pregnancy, I talk to them about the danger signs and I tell them about family planning so that what happened to my mother does not happen to anyone else.”

GETTING PREGNANT AT AN EARLY AGE can be a difficult situation to navigate. This is especially true in Mavis’ hometown, where getting to the nearest fully equipped health centre requires a long journey – sometimes even a canoe trip.

Mavis is a community health worker at a local facility that, she acknowledges, used not to be a welcoming place for young pregnant women to receive prenatal and postnatal care. With little separating them from other patients in the room, they faced judgment from older pregnant women and weren’t comfortable asking intimate questions. Nurses weren’t considerate of their lack of experience and didn’t take the time to explain concepts related to pregnancy and childcare. They weren’t offered follow-up visits or one-on-one counselling. Often, the fear of being humiliated deterred adolescent girls from visiting the health facility, instead making the risky choice to give birth at home without professional support.

As part of the SHOW project, Mavis participated in training through which she learned how to provide emergency care during and after pregnancy and how to be sensitive to the needs of adolescents. “I learned that I shouldn’t be biased or partial when treating pregnant women,” she says. “I should give the same special treatment to adolescent girls that I give to adult women. I have since put this into practice.” She also counsels adolescents about delaying pregnancy and preventing sexually transmitted infections with contraceptives, and she speaks with their parents about creating a supportive environment in which these issues can be discussed openly.

Since the training, Mavis has noticed a shift in her and her fellow health workers’ attitudes. Both pregnant women and pregnant adolescent girls are treated with respect and dignity.

She also commends the improvements made at the health centre to increase privacy, such as installing partitions to separate patients and designating specific days for adolescents only. To ensure that young mothers have the necessary support, their male partners and family members are encouraged to accompany them on visits so they can fully understand their needs throughout pregnancy and parenthood and so family decisions can be made in line with their best interests as well as those of the family.

Mavis acknowledges her former oversights as a nurse, and she now goes above and beyond to be a source of support and guidance for young women in her community. She gives her patients her phone number in case they have questions, and some even visit her at home. Now they can rest easy knowing that help is never too far away.