Tigist Muleta has the kind of story I want all my journalism trainees exposed to. She could have been another statistic – a wife at 14 who finds that repeated pregnancies threaten the comfortable life she envisioned. Instead, a new awareness of health and reproductive choices helped turn her life around.

Although Tigist was quickly the mother of three, her relatives in Ethiopia’s remote district of Girar-Jarsso still advised her and her husband to have more children – considered wealth there. Then a community health worker taught the young couple about family planning methods.

When I was invited in June to take part in an international discussion about health issues for senior-level women journalists from developing African countries, I jumped at the chance. I was eager to hear from participants about the challenges they have faced as health editors, reporters and producers for influential media organizations.