Child Survival Project (CSP)

Child Survival Project (CSP) is a four year project initiated from October 2012 supported by Concern Worldwide through funding from USAID.
The project’s aim is to reduce high maternal, infant and child morbidity and mortality among women of reproductive age and children less than five years in Marsabit central district in the northern Asal region in Kenya.

The project’s purpose is to contribute to the improvement of health and nutritional status of children less than five years, pregnant and lactating mothers.

Expected Results of the Project
To achieve its goal, the project will bring about measurable improvements in key maternal and Newborn Child Health (MNCH) indicators through the realization of the following four intermediate results:

1. Increased access to and quality of MNCH services
2. Increased household-level MNCH knowledge and practices
3. Strengthened village level health structures
4. Improved policy environment for pastoralist MNCH.

The project implementation took the approach of community conversation geared towards community empowerment.

Community conversation is a facilitated community dialogue where members of the community come together to discuss the causes of their under development, arrive at resolutions and plan for and implement actions to change their situation. It is a process that enable people to think through their behaviors and values, identify how these affects them and other community members defined as” MALA MARI” in the local language.

To achieve this, the community undergoes a series of attitude change and data gathering tools to enable them to think outside the box and that the community has the capacity to deal with their underdevelopment since they have resources. The purpose of this is for the community to discuss their concerns and come up with possible solutions without external support and be able to solicit help from well-wishers where they lack physical and technical capacities.

At the initial stage, 5 community units were identified through the MOH department. The units include: Manyata Jilo, Sagante, Hula hula, Kituruni and Dirib Gombo.
Formation of CC groups begun from the community entry process where communities were mapped during leaders meetings in each of the 5 units followed by administration of community entry and data gathering tools in each of the CC groups by trained T.O.Ts.

Each CC group then selected 3 community facilitators who were trained and went back to lead dialogue within their groups under the supervision of T.O.Ts. The groups then prioritized health as priority concerns and the MOH Community Health Strategy (CHS) focal person took them through sessions of information sharing on prioritization of health as follows:

1. Communities were facilitated to link health to other prioritized concerns and explore health service delivery and referral systems at the village level.
2. Community facilitation to understand the importance of their participation in health service delivery including selection and remuneration of Community Health Volunteers (CHVs).
3. Sharing of the selection criteria for Community Health Committees (CHCs), Village Health Committees (VHCs) and CHVs with the communities.
4. Facilitation of the communities to review and give their inputs to the criteria and agreeing with them on the final criteria.
5. Facilitating the communities to select CHCs, VHCs and CHVs using the agreed criteria.
6. Facilitating the communities to agree on a mode of remuneration/motivation of the selected CHVs.

To date, CHS workforce training have been accomplished as follows:

1. 116 VHCs trained in 5 units (Manyata Jilo, Hula hula, Kituruni, Dirib and Sagante).
2. 46 CHCs trained in 5 units (Manyata Jilo, Hula hula, Kituruni, Dirib and Sagante).
3. 170 CHVs trained on basic modules in 5 units (Manyata Jilo, Hula hula, Kituruni, Dirib and Sagante). More training on technical modules are being planned going forward.
4. CHVs training on technical modules is being planned for, and will begin in the month of July 2016.

Deliberation on CHVs remuneration package, documentation and signing of tripartite agreement have since been completed in all the 5 units
From inception, the CC processes have been characterized by several successes as illustrated