Community Health and Empowerment Clubs in Kenya

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GHC builds Community Health and Empowerment Clubs (CHECs) throughout villages in Western Kenya.  We are currently in 7 villages in Kisii County and 2 in Homa Bay County. In the late summer of 2022, we received a Rotary International grant to enter into 6 more villages--4 in Kisii County and 2 in Homa Bay County, bringing our total to 15 villages. 

Kenya GHC staff participated in an apprenticeship with AfricaAhead NGO from October 2020 to March 2021 to learn about how to conduct CHECs, as well as water, sanitation and other health related curriculum. GHC went beyond health training and created a 10-week  Economic Empowerment curriculum and currently offers participants various economic opportunities, such as beekeeping, vegetable farming, and poultry raising to improve the sustainability of their villages. 

We have developed a holistic, sustainable, community-driven model for our CHECs.  Our 24-week Health Training curriculum addresses the issues of health, while our 10-week Economic Empowerment curriculum focuses on improving economic opportunity and social stability.  Our clubs emphasize community input and involvement to facilitate community ownership and long-term sustainability.  

To maintain the quality and integrity of our clubs, GHC employs permanent staff on the ground to educate, train, monitor and evaluate progress. Using baseline, midline and endline surveys, our staff members collect extensive data to measure and evaluate behavioral change in response to our teaching and experiential exercises. GHC also works with local governments, health facilities, and community leaders to ensure sustainability in all sectors of the program. 

We are focused on an entirely new way of providing assistance—rather than simply giving or doing, we teach and empower communities to solve both current and future problems. We respect people and believe in their capacity to build up themselves and their communities. In short, we help people better help themselves.