A health organisation known as Kenya Medical and Education Trust (K-MET) has embarked on community conversation programme to identify problems facing them and their solutions.
According to the K-MET reproductive health co-ordinator Caroline Nyandat they have decided to embark on this kind of approach in helping communities to ensure sustainability of projects.
She regretted that in the past most donor funded projects ended up collapsing after withdrawal of donors simply because the communities were not involved at the initial stages of the project.
“Communities should be involved in development projects within their locality from the onset to ensure that they own it and take care of it. That way they will be automatically responsible for it, and make sure such projects continue to benefit them,” said Nyandat.
She stated that they are conducting the programme under their Tetea uzazi salama project which focuses on maternal health interventions.
She stated that in the project they link the community and health facility to ensure they realise the need to go to the facility to get maternal health care.
Speaking at Nyalgunga village during one of the community conversation event, she said they intend to conduct the community conversation project in Siaya, Kisumu, Homabay and Migori counties.