The Maji na Ufanisi Approach | Community Engagement
Our Vision, mission, values
Our vision
An Empowered Just Society
Our mission:
To improve the quality of life of the disadvantaged through participatory innovative pro-poor water and environmental sanitation solutions.
Our Core Values
- Integrity
- Professionalism
- Equity
- Equal Opportunity
- Empathy
Maji na Ufanisi is a unique organization. We are a Kenyan NGO, working in partnership with local communities, government, donor agencies and the private sector to bring innovative water and environmental sanitation solutions to poor and disadvantaged people.
Our unique approach goes way beyond simply providing the basic physical necessities required. We look at the bigger picture – we focus on the people in these communities, giving them the skills and knowledge they need to change their lives for the better. The legacy of Maji's involvement is not just toilets and taps, it is a community empowered to believe in themselves, help themselves, and create their future. The friendly, dedicated, results-oriented staff at Maji na Ufanisi are proud to be able to assist these local, disadvantaged communities become confident, self-reliant and dignified.
The Maji na Ufanisi Approach
Maji na Ufanisi’s strength lies in our ability to work with disadvantaged communities as equal partners to help them improve their quality of life by creating innovative water and environmental sanitation solutions. To do this we bring together these communities, government and donor agencies, peer NGOs and the private sector. »more
Maji na Ufanisi believes that every disadvantaged community has the ability to address their daily challenges and change their quality of life. Our role is to help them identify their needs and provide them with the social, technical and economic skills and assistance they seek, to enable them to develop and deliver to water, environmental and sanitation solutions that are within their reach. »more
Maji na Ufanisi helps communities lead better lives by giving them the skills to solve water, environmental and sanitation problems, and at the same time to make a living out of it. In the process, skills, knowledge, finances, social networks and relationships are developed which generate further economic activities and empowers them to make decisions about their future, which in turn translates to better health, education and the voice to advocate for their basic rights. »more
Maji na Ufanisi’s ultimate goal is to restore dignity to disadvantaged communities. Everybody has the right to live in a clean and safe environment; to drink clean water; to go to the toilet in private; to wash. Access to these basic necessities restores confidence and dignity and opens doors to a more positive future. After all, it is often said that ‘Water is Life’ and ‘Sanitation is Dignity’. »more
Community Engagement
Given the gravity of water and environmental sanitation challenges commonly experienced in urban and rural areas of Kenya, Maji na Ufanisi is extremely careful in the selection of areas where we intervene. For instance, we look for urban slums where we believe that we can make a significant difference in improving the lives of the residents.
Once we have agreed to partner with a given community, we take them through a 10 steps process which includes community orientation and integration, mobilization and awareness creation, resource mapping and problem identification ultimately culminating in the development of a Community Action Plan. Once this plan is agreed upon, we then work with the communities to implement the projects but always ensuring that we maintain a balance between Community Organization ‘soft ware’ and the construction of Environmental Sanitation structures ‘hard ware’.