Location: Mtongwe Setting: Rural Established: 1994 Staff: 6

Subject Areas

Microenterprise: Fundraising, New Enterprises, Community Financial Institutions, Managing Financial Resources, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Strategic Management, Strategic Business Development

Health: HIV/AIDS, Public Health, Disease Prevention, High-Risk Behavior

Women’s Empowerment: Awareness and Prevention, Education

Youth and Education: Social Leadership, Complimentary Learning, Teaching, Personal and Professional Development

Organization Objectives

The Mtongwe Community Initiative provides education, health care, and other services for marginalized members of society, including women, children, and people living with HIV/AIDS. It seeks to:

• Provide communities with clean drinking water through lobbying and advocacy with local government
• Increase household income by mobilizing the community to participate in savings and microenterprise programs
• Prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and provide care and support to those affected and infected by the virus
• Network and collaborate with other agencies for resource sharing and to embrace synergistic exchange

Program Information

1.     HIV/AIDS Management

MCI addresses HIV/AIDS within Mtongwe through three programs: home-based care, prevention and control, and an orphan and vulnerable children (OVC) program.

• Home-Based Care: MCI has trained 62 community health workers to provide care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs). The health workers provide basic care to those who are restricted to their homes due to illnesses associated with HIV/AIDS and other medical conditions, and provide selected patients with referrals for free care at affiliated government hospitals and clinics.
• Prevention and Control: MCI has trained 30 peer educators to promote HIV/AIDS awareness. The peer educators employ the methodology of behavior change and stepping stone theories to gradually change the behaviors of local people. They promote the use of condoms and abstinence, and hold educational performances and question and answer sessions about HIV/AIDS.
• Orphan and Vulnerable Children (OVC): MCI supports food centers for orphans and other vulnerable children in Mtongwe with the help of three groups:
• Wajane na Mayatima, a group of women widowed by HIV/AIDS that feeds 40 orphans and started an Income Generating Activity (IGA) with the support of MCI to send the children to school
• Mweza Creek, a women’s baking group initially funded by an FSD grant in the Summer of 2006, that uses the proceeds from the baking to feed orphans
• MCI supports 220 orphans at Mwangala Primary School by supplying reading materials, school uniforms, and a food program

Opportunities

• Assist with the ongoing activities of existing programs
• Guide the development of more Income Generating Activities (IGA) to support the various orphan food programs
• Develop relevant trainings and materials on health issues and life skills for community health workers and peer educators
• Help health workers provide services in the home-based care program
• Propose new ideas for the participatory theater program

Requirements

• Relevant experience or education in areas of primary health care, youth, community outreach and education, counseling, public health, infectious diseases, educational theater or related topics
• Minimum eight week commitment
• Punctuality and excellent organizational skills
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team

Program Supervisor

George Kalato is the Program Coordinator for MCI.

2.     Water and Sanitation

MCI works to promote proper sanitation and environmental health through access to clean water and disseminating information regarding proper sanitation and hygiene. MCI has lobbied for cleaner water within Mtongwe, yet the new pipes the government installed are still not meeting the needs of the community. MCI currently rehabilitates community bore holes and chlorinates them monthly to provide safe drinking water for the community. Information about personal hygiene and environmental health is available in MCI’s resource center and is distributed by peer educators and community health workers.

Opportunities

• Develop a comprehensive needs assessment for water sources
• Conduct research and development of alternative methods of securing water, such as use of rainwater catchments and storage tanks
• Update and improve information on sanitation, environmental health and hygiene for resource center
• Develop relevant trainings for community health workers and peer educators

Requirements

• Background in public health, environmental science, environmental engineering, community health or related field
• Minimum eight week commitment, with preference for long-term
• Punctuality and excellent organizational skills
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team

Program Supervisor

George Agarn is a founding member and director of MCI. He holds a diploma in community development and psychology and has been trained as a community health worker, home based caregiver, and Voluntary Counseling and Testing counselor. He has extensive experience working with the community at the grassroots level and is widely respected in Mtongwe.

3.     Enterprise Development

MCI supports the development of small-scale income generating activities and savings programs to help families supplement their household income and prevent poverty. Twenty-five community groups have been trained in activities such as bookkeeping, soap making, dressmaking and embroidery.

Opportunities

• Assist in the development of IGA activities
• Provide relevant training to community groups on microenterprise management, marketing, savings, bookkeeping and general money management
• Carry out a needs assessment in the community to evaluate current MCI services and develop recommendations for future programs
• Conduct research on local markets and marketable products for development of new projects

Requirements

• Education or relevant experience in small scale business management, bookkeeping, entrepreneurship or related field
• Minimum eight week commitment, with preference for long-term
• Punctuality and excellent organizational skills
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team

Program Supervisor

Aziza Abdallah is the coordinator of the Enterprise Program.

Note: Responsibilities offered to each participant will be proportionate to their level of experience. Participants who are new to development work may predominantly support and assist current project agendas, while those with much applicable experience may be able to assume greater responsibility. Research projects are strongly encouraged by this organization to support each program’s objectives because minimal resources are currently allocated for research.

Working Conditions

MCI‘s office houses a small pharmacy, community meeting room, resource center, a few offices and rooms for counseling. There are a few computers, a printer and a copier. The office is open from around 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, but due to the nature of community work, interns/volunteers are often involved in projects that take place on Saturdays as well. The work pace is often defined by the community groups that collaborate with MCI who tend to operate on ‘African time.’ Depending on the nature of the internship, up to 60% of the time can be spent in the field, with the remaining time spent in the MCI office. The office is located on the main road in Mtongwe and is within short walking distance of host families. Mtongwe is about a twenty minute matatu ride to the Likoni Ferry, where the wait for the ferry can be up to a half an hour for the very short boat ride to Mombasa Town.

Organizational Background

Mtongwe Community Initiative is a local NGO operating in Likoni Division of Mombasa District. MCI emanated from the famous Bamako Initiative started at the Africa-wide conference on health held in Bamako, Mali in the 1990s. The Bamako Initiative aimed to provide Africans with affordable access to basic drugs for primary health care. After recognizing that community problems went beyond health, a community diagnosis exercise was conducted. Ill health, coupled with inadequate water supply, low level of education and low household income emerged as the main causes of poverty in Mtongwe. This led to the formation of MCI based on the need to have an organization to spearhead changes to existing conditions. Mtongwe Community Initiative gained its NGO status in 2001.

About MCI’s Clients

MCI serves nine villages comprising a population of approximately 32,000. Many of the issues MCI addresses disproportionately affect women and children in the community and most of their programs work to address these vulnerable members of society. MCI has focused its efforts on women’s empowerment by encouraging participation of women in its programs, appointing a woman to lead the enterprise development program and ensuring that half of its 11 member executive board is comprised of women. This approach seems only fitting where the Area Chief of Mtongwe is also a woman! Gender parity is one of MCI’s main goals.