INUKA Community Based OVC Project (ICOP)

Inuka Community based OVC Project (ICOP) is a USAID-funded  five-year project directly implemented by Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team (AMURT) in Bondo and Rarieda Sub-counties of Siaya County.The goal of the project is to  expand service coverage and improve the overall wellbeing of 11, 000  Orphans and Vulnerable Children living in 4, 150 households. During the year 2017, the project comenced its fifth and final year of implementation from the period starting July, 2017. The project is implemented with support from 22 LCHVs and 198 CHVs attached to 11 CBOs spread acrross 11 loactions in both Bondo and Rarieda sub-counties.

During the year under review, ICOP project focused more on employing strategies that catalyze OVC households’ transition and  graduation, galvanizing local communities’participation for OVC ownership and progressively increasing County Government responsibility of  OVC care  for sustainability. These strategies include; engaging local communities more  often, continuous  engagement of  local CHVs and 11 CBOs , Intensive  engagement with  Siaya county Government  to increase political and financial commitment for a sustainable OVC response, engaging ‘OVC HH transition/graduation’ discussions with  local communities and County Children’s office, ensure  collaborations with other USG & Non -USG actors, while maintaining Rights based  and Gender sensitive principles aligned with PEPFAR 3.0.To this end, ICOP has been cognizant of the fact that Local community, Local Gorvernment and civil society partnerships are critical to the project  success and ongoing sustainability of OVC care services in Siaya County.

In rendering these critical services, the project meaningfully collaborated with Local communities, County Gorvenment, other OVC partners and stakeholders through consultations, data sharing  forums, linkages and referals. Through existing  community structures that includes Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWS), LCHVs and CHVs, the project was  successfully  able to link 294 OVC to County government bursary schemes in the year 2017. This went a long way in supporting education for targted OVC by improving access, attendance, performance and progression.

Project Objectives

ICOP aims at achieving the following four main Intermediate Result (IR):

• IR 1: Access to age-appropriate essential services for the betterment of the health of most needy 11000 OVC and 4150 caregivers through direct, home- based and referral services enhanced.
• IR 2: Capacity of local communities built to deliver sustainable, quality, high impact range of critical services to OVCs
• R 3: The economic capabilities of 4150 households looking after targeted OVC Strengthened.
• IR 4: Quality improvement of OVC service delivery within the 2 Sub Counties promoted

Geographical coverage

The project is implemented in Siaya county, specifically covering two sub-counties: Bondo and Rarieda sub-counties reaching a total of 11,000 OVC in the locations below:

Success story – Gabriel Kasmuel Rina   

• Gabriel Kasmuel Rina, a caregiver from South Sakwa location has shown remarkable progress in terms of health and household economic empowerment. “Before ICOP started working in this location, I was sick and had lost hope in life, I had lost my two wives due to HIV after using all my retirement benefits in their treatment
• The household was identified as one of the highly vulnerable ones, enrolled to VSLA and later supported to establish a shop with stock worth KSH 15,000/=.
• He can currently pay school levies to his three children without a struggle and also afford decent and regular meals for the household.
• Rina also established a tree nursery from where he plants tree seedlings for sale.

He is currently Economically stable, targeted for graduation this December 2017