My name is Nam. I’m 51 years old, and I’m the grandmother of 29-month-old Hao. Due to our difficult living conditions and low income from agriculture, Hao's parents had to work far from home, rarely returning. I take care of Hao for them.

When Hao was 20 months old, he was acutely malnourished, often sick and crying a lot. It took us a lot of time to take care of him. The village health workers and the head of the nutrition club knew of Hao’s health situation; they visited and provided counselling on how to provide proper nutrition, treat common diseases and the importance of frequent weight and height monitoring. From them I learned how to take better care of Hao and prepare balanced meals for him. My family was also instructed on how to build a hygienic latrine, and we began to see the harm of poor sanitation. I moved our chicken coop outside, cleaned it up and upgraded our latrine. Because of all this Hao is currently a happy, healthy toddler. 

In the dry season, especially in April, most families in the village suffer from water shortages because the water channels near our homes are depleted. In the past we had to seek water sources far away in the mountains and set water pipes. It took more labour, was costly to maintain and repair during the dry season and we often faced a lack of clean water. 

The village management board collaborated with World Vision to build a clean water system from the water source to the village. Our community contributed labour, transporting materials to the mountain to build tanks, moving water pipes and setting them up underground. Now water flows constantly to the village, and since there are water tanks near my house, it has become easier to get safe water. My family has enough water to use for our daily activities such as drinking, cooking, washing and raising animals. 

We would like to thank World Vision for their support; my family life is less difficult than before, and the health of Hao and our family members has improved. 

Note: With support from World Vision, the ‘Increase Accessibility to Clean Water and Sanitation’ project was implemented in Nam’s village in 2020, bringing year-round clean water to 94 households. 48 households built hygienic latrines in the same year.