Mulu is from a rural mountainous community where access to health centres and facilities is very limited. Before she was visited by a VHT, her home was not in a good state. She did not have a rubbish pit, a tippy tap (makeshift tap) or a pit latrine. Most of her children would openly defecate in banana fields and they didn’t boil their drinking water. They often contracted sicknesses such as Typhoid and diarrhoea because of this, and often spent a lot of their money on medication as a result. Once Mulu met one of the VHTs, and attended some of their trainings, she learnt about the importance of purifying water through boiling it thoroughly. She also installed a rubbish pit, tippy tap and pit latrine at her home, and since then, her family have seen a big reduction in sicknesses.
Mulu had also planned to have 10 children. When speaking to the VHTs she learnt about the dangers of having many children close together, and how this can contribute heavily to maternal morbidity and mortality. She has now changed her mind and has decided that she will plan for 4 children, prioritising her health and also ensuring that she will be able to better provide for her children. Now her eldest child is attending a good school because she can afford the fees.