Started in 1986, the project now reaches more than 200 villages in Kenya's western provinces. While the project has made steady progress towards achieving its goal for immunization, many say that its real success has been the way it has helped to build a new level of intersectoral and interfaith collaboration in many communities of the region. This collaboration has paid off by stimulating the construction of latrines and helping create better access to clean water. Some say that the project has even helped reduce ethnic and religious prejudices in the region, prejudices that have been a major stumbling block for development. Because of the project's community health workers, we have a regular visit from mobile clinics.
More homes have latrines and are putting good hygiene and sanitation into practice.
After the training, the volunteers are sent back to their communities, having been asked give 10 hours a week of their time as community health workers. When we talk about improvement in primary health care in a village, we are talking about information and changing behavior. Because community health workers are from the grassroots and they know the culture, they are able to change behavior much easier and faster. Specifically, the participants were all local people who are learning to help to improve the health of their village. This approach helps the project's sustainability.