TY - JOUR T1 - From housewife to health worker: touching other lives and changing my own JF - Global Health: Science and Practice JO - GLOB HEALTH SCI PRACT SP - 134 LP - 135 DO - 10.9745/GHSP-D-12-00038 VL - 1 IS - 1 AU - Interview conducted by Tahir Tarar AU - Translated by Duaa Khalid Y1 - 2013/03/01 UR - http://www.ghspjournal.org/content/1/1/134.abstract N2 - Shaheen Hussain, the 6th of 7 children raised in an unprivileged home in a village of Punjab, Pakistan, married when she was 18 and played the traditional role of housewife and caregiver to her children, but she felt unfulfilled on a personal level. Two years ago, she became a field-based health educator with the “Suraj” (sun) social franchise of private reproductive health care providers, established by Marie Stopes Society in 3 provinces of Pakistan. Her story below, transcribed and translated from an interview, is a testimony of how this program not only touches the lives of the women who receive the reproductive health services but also of the health educators themselves. “I have lived in Adda Chakrala, Punjab, my whole life. I went to school till class 10, but could not continue as my parents could not afford the school fee. Instead I was married when I turned 18. As expected of me, I gave birth to my first child soon after my marriage. In a span of 10 years, I had 3 children. I was fortunate that my husband understood the importance of a small family, given our limited resources. Both of us had grown up in families that had more … ER -