When Thoeun was a little girl, a terrifying measles outbreak swept through her village and there was no escape. Mothers clutched their dying children, powerless to act. “I remember [thinking] that I would die too,” Thoeun recalls.

Mercifully, Thoeun survived the measles, yet she grew up with the understanding that the measles and other afflictions—including pneumonia and chronic diarrhea—were the work of evil spirits or bad karma. She prayed to her idols, anxiously petitioned her dead ancestors and begged the witchdoctor to protect her.

Armed with this new knowledge, Thoeun began to share the teachings with other women in her community. Soon she was training women from other villages to teach their neighbors the warning signs of potentially deadly illnesses so they’d seek help before it was too late. Today she’s a trainer for World Relief’s Care Group project, spreading life-saving health messages in hundreds of villages the most effective way—woman to woman, mother to mother.

Thoeun exemplifies the power of women to change their world. She’s proof that when you empower one woman, you can transform a whole community ...

Read more about the importance of empowering women on the all-new RejectApathy.com. You can find the entire article here.