The wave of fear remains as the coronavirus continues to impact many lives all over the world. Forty-two-year-old Florence Hachiyona of the Moyo community in southern Zambia likens the COVID-19 era as “facing a double-edged sword.”

“After hearing what the coronavirus can do and that it had reached Zambia, fear besieged me. I started [having] sleep-less nights. I thought it was over for me. Being HIV positive already, I fear contracting another virus because I would die faster and leave my children alone to suffer,” says Florence, a mother of four.

We’ve likely all had an experience of life changing in an instant. Maybe it was the birth of a first child, the unexpected loss of a loved one, or bad news about a job. Whatever it was, life was irrevocably altered after.

For millions of refugees, the life-changing experience might involve armed conflict, a natural disaster, or persecution. And it can propel them into uncertain and dangerous places, with few options to build better futures.

The impact of COVID-19 has changed the entire world. In one community in Bangladesh, a Hidden Hero has emerged to help slow the spread. Meet Rumi, a 16-year-old who lives in a slum with her parents and brother Rummon (9) in southern Bangladesh. “I mostly invest my time helping my parents in household chores, playing with my younger brother and messaging my community with my peers. My school and life have greatly changed…now I spend my days at home to stay safe from the coronavirus contamination. I miss my normal days,” says Rumi. She completed high school this year and now disseminates life-saving messages to communities through the Chader Alo (“moonlight”) Child Forum mobilized and inspired by World Vision’s Area Program in Barishal City.

Ask any mother what she wants more than anything in the world, and she’ll likely say, “for my children to be safe, healthy, and happy.” For mothers living in extreme poverty, this gift is hard to come by … especially now with the threat of COVID-19. But people like Gertrude Jima (pictured right) are at the forefront of giving moms what they want most – access to knowledge and resources that empower them to care for their children.

“It’s a miracle that my daughter is alive today,” says Sonya Hamboya, a 25-year-old widow in southern Zambia.

Sonya is a vibrant mother of two adorable kids, a boy and girl, 11 and 5, respectively. She lives with her children and baby niece in a mountainous, remote village in World Vision’s Moyo Area Program.

As a child, Sonya loved school and hoped to become a doctor. Unfortunately, at 14, she became pregnant in eighth grade and was forced out of school.

World Vision’s expertise in the prevention of the spread of infectious disease has never been more important than during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the most important activities to prevent the spread of the virus is to ensure that people have a way to wash their hands and understand why it’s so critical. And of course, you can’t wash your hands effectively without clean water. 

Florence & her second born using the tippy-tap

No one knows better than Florence how the benefits of having community health workers in her village can be life changing. Last year, Nyakabale was far from being a model village. As with most communities where open defecation exists, Nyakabale had extremely low standards of hygiene and sanitation. Through World Vision, volunteer community health workers (CHW) were trained to help teach people about the benefits of living in a clean environment, free of disease and waste. The CHWs help parents learn how to prevent common illnesses like diarrhea through better hygiene practices.

CHWs, ttC, 7-11, PDH. These aren’t just your ordinary acronyms. They stand for the very simple, very powerful approaches World Vision is using to strengthen health care systems and save the lives of moms and their babies. In honor of World Health Day, we invite you to learn what they are and how have they delivered double-digit improvements in just two years.