About

Organization Profile

Centre for Indigenous Women and Children (CIWOCH) is a community based organization founded in 2005 and registered in 2006 as a child rights and social development organization working to address issues of primary concern for the Maasai pastoralist women, youth and children and the larger community in Kajiado District.

CIWOCH attaches great importance to the active participation of youth, children, women, families and communities in identification of their needs and subsequently in the design, implementation and evaluation of projects that empower the community with special consideration to the views on women and children.

CIWOCH vision: A society that nurtures and promotes Maasai women, youth and children to realize their maximum potential and whose rights and concerns are respected, recognized promoted and safeguarded.

CIWOCH mission: promoting the cultural, health, environmental and educational development of pastoralists’ women, youth and children to facilitate their access to essential social services and economic empowerment.

Governance and Management Structure

The governing organ of CIWOCH is the governing board. The governing board comprises of 7 persons. The programme coordinator is an ex-officio member of the governing board and serves as the secretary.

Management Structure

The executive leadership and day to day management of the organization are vested with the program co-ordinator (Who is the chief executive officer of the organization).The programmes coordinator operates under the guidance and direction of the board in carrying out the functions of the organization.

Core Values and Principles

Equal opportunities: CIWOCH is committed to ensuring that opportunities in the community are equally shared

Self reliance: CIWOCH recognizes social and economic independence are key in promoting self reliance

Volunteerism: CIWOCH treasures the art of volunteerism as a sustainable way of encouraging communities to engage in their own social transformation

Self-determination: We recognise the rights of people and communities to determine and develop their own future.

2.5 Commitment

CIWOCH will:

Promote and protect the rights of disadvantaged and marginalized women

Design and implement programmes that are effective and impact driven to improve the lives of women and children

Work with relevant partners to address marginalization and pull resources together

Engage in the development of favourable policies and advocacy platforms to address indigenous women and children rights and develop a common voice in line with CIWOCH’s shared vision and values

Respond and adapt to development challenges

Objectives

A. Promote the education and welfare of children especially girls and women

1. To establish an Educational Grant for child sponsorship, in aid of needy children and those affected by HIV/AIDS.
2. Development of a community action plan-CAP, with a gender legal framework enabling implementation of women human rights to social justice and leadership.
3. To build a Network Capacity involving community participation, civil society groups, Human Right Institutions, Faith Based Organizations and Development partners for collective instrumental support towards implementation of the program objectives.
4. Formulation of Technical Advisory and Lobby committees to enhance a common voice in addressing fundamental rights of indigenous Maasai women and children rights in the community.
5. Rural Maasai women economic empowerment for sustainable lively livelihoods, to enable female headed families sustain their living by raising capital to sponsor their kids for, education, health services, provide good shelter, clothing’s and nutrition in terms of adequate food supply. This can best be done through Bead project initiative where indigenous knowledge to make the beads jewellery by the Maasai women adds to a natural talent, modern skills may be required only to guide them in designing a particular shape/image of interest.
6. Educate the community on the importance of education and discourage harmful cultural practices like FGM and early marriage.

Specific program strategies:

1. To establish an Early Childhood Development Program that builds on the cultural strengths of the community.
2. To build capacity of key stakeholders (families, communities, government departments, civil society Organizations and faith based organizations to support child protection).
3. Provide support to Orphans and other Vulnerable Children (OVC)
4. Psychosocial support for children and youth in and out of school.

B. Empower the community to improve living standards through participatory community development processes

1. Conduct a community-led, participatory needs assessment in order to determine the community priorities to come up with sustainable interventions.
2. Undertake social research in all areas of interest to the community members by use of participatory research methods.

Specific program strategies

1. To empower communities to establish focal points for child protection using Child Centered Community Development Approaches.
2. Involve and empower youth and women through training in reproductive Health education, life-skills development and peer education.
3. Create awareness on HIV/AIDS and Strengthen the capacity of the community based responses to provide care and support for the HIV/AIDS infected and affected families.
4. Prepare and source for relevant information, education and communication materials and establish information centres.
5. To establish an endowment fund to receive grants, donations, gifts and other assistance in any form whatsoever.
6. To undertake initiatives that seeks to improve the livelihoods and food security of pastoralists with a view to reduce poverty through self reliance.

Special Target Group

1. Orphans and vulnerable children
2. Maasai Community women
3. Youth in and out of school
4. Livestock traders

Achievements

CIWOCH as community rooted organization has so far since its inception accomplished the following development results:

• Trained 120 community youth and women as peer educators and child rights advocates. The create awareness on HIV/AIDS and child rights. They also help to mobilize youth for behavior change
• Trained and facilitates 48 youth as magnet and development theatre facilitators. They educate the community through theatre, this is done in cattle trading centres, water points, cultural bomas and other community gatherings.
• Carried out major campaigns in the community on HIV/AIDS and child rights with Emphasis on the right to education.
• Supports the Magadi heath festival. An annual festival where school children get a chance to interact with parents. They educate the community through songs, drama and poems which have messages HIV/AIDS/STIs and other reproductive health issues.
• Facilitates Parents teen’s discussion forums in schools and the community, this helps to create an opportunity for parents and teenagers to discuss reproductive health issues. This was necessitated by the high pregnancy rates among Maasai girls in magadi division
• Trained 24 teachers in life skills education, this teachers have formed life skills and health clubs in 15 primary schools in Magadi division
• Mobilized the community for testing and counseling of HIV/AIDS and also mobilized the community for uptake of health services. More than 400 people tested in five such outreaches
• Supported the formation of 8 siankikin (young women) clubs, this women meet weekly to discus reproductive health issues and other gender issues like domestic violence. They support each other and have started merry go rounds and small businesses. CIWOCH works with the export promotion council (EPC) to market beads and jewelry made by these women.
• CIWOCH has been appointed a member of the District Steering Group and District Development Committee for Kajiado North District.
• CIWOCH has registered 800 orphans and other vulnerable children, has so far distributed sanitary towels to 200 girls aged 12 years and above, buying school uniform to 208 children and will issue goats to 100 families
• CIWOCH is now running a sanitary towel campaign project that aims at providing sanity towels to 5000 masaai girls for the next one year starting may 2010.

Appeal for Support

CIWOCH depends on well wishes for the support of its programs. We appeal to well wishes to support us both in kind and in cash. We will appreciate any kind of support.

Geographical Coverage: Our project operation covers the entire 4 locations and 8 sub locations of Magadi Division with a total of 13 sub-locations, with a Population Density of about 50,000

Main Sources of Funding in Magadi:

USAID – Through APHIA II Rift Valley/ Family Health International [FHI]

National AIDS control Council

Other Stake holders:

• Ministry of health
• Ministry of Education
• RECONCILE/CORDAID
• Ministry of youth
• Magadi Hospital
• Magadi Soda-Work place program
• Churches
• Youth groups
• Traditional and civic leaders
• NOPE

Office Location By: [District; Division; Location]

• District – Kajiado
• Division – Magadi
• Location – Magadi [Magadi Soda Township]

Profile Completed By:

Esther Somoire
CIWOCH Program Coordinator
Address: P.O BOX 31, MAGADI
Office Contact Details: Landline Phone, Tel: 020 801 4092
E-mail: ciwoch@gmail.com
Cell-Phone: 0726904-808

Number of Staff:

Full-time 3: Parttime 1;Volunteers 3: Total 7.

Legal Status:

We are registered by the Government of Kenya as a Community Based Organization [C.B.O] with the department of social services in 2006