Chairladies of women's groups met in January 2022 and discussed of WASH and Grow!project's 2021 results and of Mifuko Women Development CBO's role KOKEILU
Mifuko Women Development (MWD) is a registered community-based organization (CBO) formed in 2021, operating within Mbooni subcounty of Makueni county, Kenya. It is composed of 26 women self-help groups (SHG) engaged in weaving baskets for Mifuko Oy. The organization is currently acting as the local implementation partner with Mifuko Trust for the implementation of the Wash & Grow! ecological sanitation project in rural parts of Makueni.
The formation of the CBO brought together the individual self-help groups and created an avenue for implementing programs and initiatives geared towards elevating the well-being of members and the local community at large.
MWD is governed by a board of 9 elected members who work closely with the groups' chairpersons to reach all the group members. The CBO met in January 2022 where the chairladies of the member SHGs reviewed the performance of the first year of the Wash & Grow project. The leaders were satisfied that the project was well implemented during the 1st year despite that the CBO was new and was the first time it had carried out a community project. The leaders applauded the formation of the CBO as it brought several benefits.
“Mifuko Women Development CBO has brought us together. Before the CBO, we were not able to meet as a team. We used to meet at zonal level but now we meet periodically on different occasions to discuss matters of concern, which has made us stronger as a team,” says Judy Wambua.
According to secretary Felister Joshua, MWD has impacted the women’s groups positively in several ways: “Through our local implementation organization of the Wash & Grow! project, we have gained knowledge and skills on CBO operations and governance as well as project implementation and management. Again, the CBO has ensured that the groups are involved in the planning and execution of the project activities. This would not be possible if the project was still operating with the individual small self-help groups.”
The CBO members pledged to continue to support the implementation of the ongoing project by taking into consideration the lessons learnt during the past year. On behalf of the individual member groups, the chairladies of the groups expressed their gratitude to Mifuko Trust for the continued support of the project.
