Zengpeni

A Gift of Knowledge

Thanks to a single major donor, the residents of Zengpeni are now able to participate in the Maternal and Child Health Program through the use of the Talking Book.

Our Progress to Date: Key Milestones

	Identify Community Select communities by geography, need, program criteria and sustainability.
	Fund Community Obtain donations to fund work in the community.
	Prepare for Launch Develop audio messages; village leadership approval; community training.
	Launch in Community Deploy Talking Book devices; begin ongoing audio message updates and monitoring.
	Evaluate User Reception Assess community’s response and uptake of the audio messages.
	Evaluate Behavior Change Assess impact of annual content campaigns and program.

Community Facts

• Total population: 616
• 95% of the population are subsistence farmers
• Number of Traditional Birth Attendants in village: 2

Meet a Member of Zengpeni

Ten years ago, Albertina Dery moved to Zengpeni from the village of Tizza when she married Justin Dery, a smallholder farmer.  She had her first child, Vitalin, when she was 21 years old. Her second child, Emanuel, was born three years later. Albertina is now 30 years old and is six months pregnant with her third child.

Albertina delivered Vitalin at home and Emanuel was born in the hospital. Albertina said that she didn’t realize the importance of hospital delivery with her children. She attributed the lack of education on safe delivery as the reason for her delivering at home with her first pregnancy.

She started using the Talking Book in 2012. Albertina said that it taught her the importance of antenatal care so she decided to go to her first antenatal care visit (ANC) when she was five months pregnant. Albertina wants a safe delivery, a healthy baby and to be a healthy mother so she plans to go for her ANC visits every month.

Albertina and her family live with 11 members of her husband’s family in a mud-walled housing compound. One of her three sister-in-laws is pregnant with her first child. Albertina has been sharing with her sister-in-law the lessons that she’s learned from the Talking Book  (effects of “mansugo” on safe delivery, importance of going for antenatal care, that pregnant women should not do hard labor, not drink alcohol).

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