In 1999, ICA Kenya had recently completed two three-year integrated development assistance programs, and proceeded to have dialogue with leaders in nearby high poverty areas to inquire about their interest in inviting ICA Kenya to do a needs assessment in their location. The leadership of Kitui responded with enthusiasm, and ICA staff, along with an independent consultant, completed a preliminary needs assessment. Then ICA Kenya approached ICA Japan, and together a proposal was built to submit to JICA as a candidate for their new Partnership Project.

After JICA accepted the proposal, a mission team composed of JICA, ICA Japan, and ICA Kenya visited several villages and lead workshops to learn their current interests and to inform them that their request to be assisted by the Partnership Project could begin as soon as the Kenyan government gave its approval. In all, over 500 people participated in these workshops, and many officers of the national government were consulted, and gave their official consent.

The workshops and needs assessment revealed an overwhelming passion to respond to basic human needs, with a very high priority on getting access to year around water. Other widely mentioned needs were for leadership training, health education, agriculture and agroforestry technology, and income generation.

Early in the first year of the project, 30 villages were selected, the needs assessment updated, and long range planning was done in each village using the Strategic Planning Method of ICAﾕs Technology of Participation. This was followed with group and leadership training, with an with a dual concern for both accomplishing the project objectives and establishing a strong context for self-development and sustainability.

In the first two years, there was an intense delivery of the above mentioned basic needs. At the end of the second year, about 75 local leaders came together to exchange their learnings, and to re-focus their attention towards the long-range sustainability of the area in a mode of self-development. A key input was the results of a two month evaluation which focused on what depth changes had taken place in the community, and what needed to happen in year 3 to insure the mind change from ﾔwe do project after projectﾕ to we are able to actively lead our own development and obtain the necessary resources and government involvement.

Project year three includes several leadership learning sessions to strengthen their pro-active leadership ability, and to shift the paradigm to confidence in the self-initiated self-development as a way of life and a life-long journey.

In the case where five years is available, a longer time would be spent in year 1 for leadership development; however with the 3 year constraint and the high sense of urgency to satisfy basic human needs, we feel that the present development approach excellently matched the reality all were facing.

Following the three year Partnership Project sponsored by JICA, there will be staff retained to follow through on the income generation and credit systems, and to continue to support the emerged active leadership. With a new government in place in Kenya, it will be a time to actively partner with the local government as a leader in facilitated and catalyzed development, and fulfilling their responsibility to provide adequate resources to local citizens.