The paper addressed itself to the issue of community participation in intervention programme and that if the beneficiaries are women, then the category of people to be involved in the programme should be women. In buttressing this, the nursing superintendent of an Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) programme in Saradidi, rural Kenya together with 184 mothers attending the clinic were interviewed. The majority (89%) were of the view that in Maternal and Child health (MCH) programmes, it is only ideal that women should be involved because this tend to blend with their traditional roles of child bearing and nurturing and moreover, in such matters, women would tend to relate better to other women rather than men; women would again tend to show greater willingness and commitment to help other women. This was even butressed by the fact that the majority of the mothers interviewed were prepared to participate in such programmes geared towards helping other women. The women explained that contrary to the belief that rural women are so preoccupied with survival that they hardly have time for relaxation, they do have the time to visit friends, especially in the evenings, participate in church activities and knit. A case was thus made for greater female involvement in intervention programmes where the target population is women. If maximum success is to be achieved, there is need for greater female involvement in intervention programmes geared towards improving the lot of women and children.
PIP: A survey of nursing superintendents and 184 mothers attending a rural Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) program in Saradidi, Kenya, confirmed the hypothesis that female involvement in program planning and implementation is crucial to the success of projects targeted at women and children. 136 (75%) mothers considered the EPI successful; 89% felt that women should participate fully in programs affecting rural women and 61% of these women indicated they were personally willing to become so involved. 78% had brought friends to the EPI project and 63% had informed friends about the service. Female friends and relatives were by far the primary source of knowledge (113 mothers) about the EPI, followed by female neighbors (36 mothers); community health workers were cited by only 30 mothers. Most mothers were of the opinion that women are more suitable than men for maternal-child health outreach and delivery because of their personal familiarity with the issues, ability to relate to other women about sensitive matters, and family role as nurturer and health provider. Nursing staff echoed these views. The success of the Saradidi rural health program (5427 child visits, 3560 immunizations, and 972 maternal health visits in 1991) may, in large part, reflect the fact that six of the seven community nurses are female.