MTONGWE COMMUNITY INITIATIVE ORGANIZATION (MCI)

Mtongwe Community Initiative (MCI) is a local NGO operating in the Likoni division of Mombasa, Kenya. MCI emanated from the Bamako initiative, a community based Primary Health Care program, which started in 1994. However, with the realisation that community problems extended beyond that of merely health, the community set up an organisation that operates in the following key goal areas:

1) HIV/AIDS management

2) Water and sanitation

3) Gender and enterprise development

4) Education, advocacy and campaigns

1. Increased community participation and project ownership for the better utilisation of locally available human and material resources.
2. Building the capacity of the community to ensure efficiency, the sustainability of projects, and self-reliance.
3. Enhanced responsibility, as well as sharing and collaboration in resource mobilisation between community members and other stakeholders.
4. The mainstreaming of gender in all aspects of our work.

MCI works to empower the people of Mtongwe to actively address their basic needs. We particularly focus on the most vulnerable groups in our community, those being women, the youth, and children. Current projects include:

• Mobilising the community through folk media as a means of mitigating the effects of poverty and other social injustices.
• Lobbying in the community to advocate for access to ARC drugs and ARVS, and the provision of essential drugs at our community pharmacy.
• Community awareness and sensitization for HIV/AIDS prevention and behavior change.
• The provision of Home Based Care and support services for those infected or affected by HIV/AIDS.
• The identification and mobilization of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAS) to ensure their active participation in development matters as a means of social integration and acceptance in the community.
• Building the capacity of PLWHAS through training on entrepreneurship and enhancing their capacity to initiate Income Generating Activities.
• The use of Peer Educators to enhance behavior change amongst young people.
• The provision of vocational training to orphans at the village polytechnic for self-reliance in the future.
• Mobilizing the community to engage in savings and small-scale business start-ups as a means of supplementing household income.
• The development and protection of water sources, as well as chlorinating wells so as to ensure access to safe water for all.