The East African Center for the Empowerment of Women and Children offers both education and health programming to the Takaungu village sub-location. Our health programs include the Vutakaka Maternal and Reproductive Health Clinic, the Community Health Worker program, and extensive health education classes on a diverse range of topics.

Vutakaka Maternal and Reproductive Health Clinic

Opened in January of 2006, the Vutakaka Maternal and Reproductive Health Clinic provides pre- and post-natal care, immunizations and growth monitoring for children, HIV/AIDS testing, and basic medical care. In 2009, 1,522 children and 864 women were treated at our clinic. The clinic is staffed by a registered nurse who is assisted by our Head Community Health Worker, and two assistant health workers.

Community Health Workers

Our original CHW program consisted of a staff of 10 health workers who went door-to-door each day to educate their communities about healthy practices and HIV/AIDS.  This program was very successful - in 2009, our CHWs saw 21,352 people in 6,745 homes!  We now have one head Community Health Worker, and 2 support staff and are in the process of transitioning our CHW program into the Government of Kenya's Community Health Plan.  Once this transition is finished, there will be 50 volunteer CHWs in the Takaungu area, all working in small 20 household sectors to change the health practices of their neighbors.

Health Education

In 2008, the health education programs took a new direction, focusing on a program called Stay Alive, an HIV/AIDS education program for 9 to 14 year old students in four local schools. The Stay Alive program has continued and grown since then.  The program now educates 270 students in grade 4 on HIV/AIDS and other age appropriate health topics. In 2010, two of our female health staffers created support groups for grade 6 girls in the 4 local primary schools.  These groups have over 70 girls in total.  Our health team also holds weekly health education classes at the local secondary school and with many different community groups.

Due to an increased supply of drugs from the government hospitals and clinics, we have been able to offer our health services at a lower cost (10 KSh for adults and FREE for children). This has increased the number of patients coming to our clinic dramatically - sometimes we are seeing more than 50 a day with only one nurse! We want to thank our nurse, Valerian, and all of our Community Health Workers for putting in the extra time and effort to deal with this increase. The CHW's have learned how to properly dispense medicine, dress wounds, and weigh and evaluate babies. The team is a great support system for Valerian. We are so excited to be able to serve more of the community with our health programs, but it wouldn't be possible without our wonderful staff. More exciting news about the future of our CHW program coming over the next couple months!