OBJECTIVE
To facilitate women’s empowerment through access to health care, education, and creating income-generating opportunities for more women.

BACKGROUND
The KKHCT begun as a health project and a programme component of the Kabiro Human Development Programme (KHDP), an organisation established in 1975 for the empowerment of women.

SCOPE
The KKHCT mainly provides basic reproductive health (RH) services including those covering general ailments while its Youth Programme provides opportunities for youth recreation and skills development through its youth centre.

MAIN ACTIVITIES
Comprehensive RH services including family planning (FP) services integrated with maternal and child health (MCH) care and curative services (ie : RH services such as screening and treatment of STIs, FP/MCH services, HIV/AIDS counselling, pap smears, pregnancy tests, etc.). Services are also provided at outreach sessions through tent mobile clinics.

Having served as a model pioneer in mounting the first urban Community Based Distributors (CBDs) of contraceptives in Nairobi’s urban slums of Kawangware; it also runs the Women’s Networking and Advocacy Programme to help women develop skills, generate opportunities for gainful employment and create awareness among mothers on the advantages of health and education. Its Youth Development Programme empowers youths through the Kabiro Institute of Technical Training (KIIT), a sub-component of the KHDP offering regular vocational training to unemployed, unskilled youths to develop their capacities and increase their skills. Space, facilities and infrastructure for recreation and development of health lifestyles for youths is provided.

It also has an Education Programme which established the Kabiro Primary School to cater for basic education needs of the community which simultaneously incorporates elements of health education to address the RH concerns of students (ie : teenage pregnancy, drugs taking, early sex). Another component is the Health/ Clinic Programme the RH Programme of the KHDP.

MANAGEMENT FEATURES

Strategy

• Create linkages with the community and the leaders as well as network with government and other stakeholders with a similar mission.
• Provide education to the community through health talks and video shows and evaluate them through surveys.

Capacity-Building

• Volunteers are recruited in consultation with community members to be peer educators.

Mobilising Resources

• Youth clubs attract many youths.
• Direct involvement of community members in recruiting peer educators.
• The KHDP was established to cater for basic education needs of the community.

Managerial Leadership

• Design a strategic planning approach.
• Address financial issue.
• Facilitate adequate training of staff and other service providers to enable the provision of quality services.

EVALUATION FINDINGS

• Social recognition received, community response to project activities, and support from donors are indications of the project’s success.
• Active involvement of community in KHDP projects, provision of funds, materials, physical labour, and land development, road, and physical infrastructure.
• Programmme has successfully empowered and motivated community members to utilise services out of concern to their own health.