Neighbors can be wonderful things to have around. They watch over your house while you’re on vacation, trade gardening tips over the backyard fence, keep an eye on the neighborhood kids as they play and are always ready with the proverbial cup of sugar. But what if your neighbor was someone who could save your child’s life?

Take Afia. Afia has been a local health worker in remote West Rajguru, Bangladesh, for six years.  She spends her days traveling throughout her small community, talking to mothers about the importance of nutrition, working to prevent and treat illnesses such as diarrhea and pneumonia, and promoting healthy habits. Afia has diagnosed and treated her little patients and helped their parents learn how to best help them grow healthy and strong.

Here in the United States, we can simply take our children to the doctor or to a clinic when they get sick—usually by car or public transportation. But in remote areas like West Rajiguru, few families have access to a car and the closest health facility is miles away.  Only 24% of births are attended by skilled health personnel and 46% of kids under five are moderately or severely underweight for their age. That means that having a neighbor like Afia can be the difference between life and death for mothers and their little ones.

In 2010, I visited Afia and her fellow health workers with Save the Children board members (and moms!) Cokie Roberts and Helene Sullivan. It was a surreal experience to travel halfway across the globe, arrive by seaplane to the Barisol area of Southern Bangladesh and journey to a remote village. But as we traveled with these women to visit families in their communities—and literally saw them save children’s lives in the course of the day—I felt completely at home. The powerful kindness of caring neighbors can be found everywhere.  

Save the Children’s campaign, See Where the Good Goes, promotes the work of frontline health workers like Afia and the positive impact on their communities. Check out this video for more about how neighbors are helping neighbors live happier and healthier lives across the globe.

To learn more about Afia and how you can help health workers like here, check out www.GoodGoes.org.