Iván, 41, and Carmen, 36, are the parents of four children and live roughly about 5 miles from the Sabalete community clinic. In March of 2024, Carmen joined AMOS’ Parenting with Love program. She was pregnant and eager to learn about preventing pregnancy complications, safeguarding her children from illness, and nurturing her newborn in a healthy and supportive environment. Beyond her personal motivations, Carmen felt a strong desire to uplift and empower other pregnant women and mothers of young children in her community, fostering a network of care and mutual support.
However, by July, as Carmen entered her third trimester of pregnancy, navigating the hazardously muddy roads in her community became increasingly difficult. In response, she asked her husband to step-in and continue the trainings on her behalf.
Ivan joined the group of volunteer mothers in place of his wife and actively participated in trainings on nutrition, complementary feeding, disease prevention, and childcare—topics he later discussed with Carmen, and together, they shared their newfound knowledge and trainings on these important subjects with the pregnant women and mothers whom Carmen had been supporting in the previous months.
“Carmen and I knew the project couldn’t stop just because she couldn’t travel,” Ivan shared. “Our community needed this knowledge, so we decided to work together to keep training pregnant women and mothers on these important topics.”
Carmen added, “We’ve seen the enthusiasm of the mothers and how much it helps to learn about raising our children with love. That’s why we support each other—because this knowledge is worth sharing.”
Thanks to their dedication and AMOS supporters, Ivan and Carmen have become a source of hope, learning, and support for their community.