MOCHIWELA

Rebecca and her triplets with the 
UN chief Ban Ki-moon and 
UNAIDS Director Michel Sidibe

WHAT MOCHIWELA STANDS FOR 

Mother to Child Welfare Association (Mochiwela) is a community based organization that was started in 2006 by a group of 15 mothers with multiple births, as a forum to empower, to share experiences and give each other support in the face of emotional, psychological and physical strains and at times devastations that follow a multiple pregnancy and delivery. 

Prior to the formation of MOCHIWELLA, the mothers had a shared challenge of going through a twin, triple or quadruple pregnancies and deliveries. This translated into a shared vision, of enabling the mothers of such pregnancies  and deliveries to access information that could help them, to access quality healthcare during their pregnancy and delivery and to access quality support to upbringing the babies born to them from such pregnancies and deliveries.

The mothers came together from within a cultural and social background that had its own myths around multiple pregnancies and multiple births which in many ways, compromised on their own health and that of the babies born to such births. Many of the mothers came from social backgrounds where women who give birth to twins or triplets or more were shunned and ostracized by the family where they came from, especially when this was their first delivery within a matrimonial instance. MOCHIWELLA was therefore founded to provide the support these mothers and other such mothers require to live decently with such pregnancies and deliveries and to upbring their babies decently within a supportive environment of love and care.

Ms Rebecca Awiti with her triplets

As a result of this, it is prudent that these mothers are able to access care and support to deal with these immense challenges, which should include information on their health and that of the babies to be born, resources to provide for themselves and babies after delivery and social support to up-bring the babies.

The geographical focus of MOCHIWELLA is Embakasi District in Nairobi, an expansive urban settlement with a big mix of very poor in slums such as Kayole, Kiambio, Pipeline, Mukuru and Soweto as well as middle level income people in Buru-Buru, Donholm and Savanna.

TARGET GROUP                    

The organization targets women on MNCH, PMTCT, SRH and Family planning.

MEMBERSHIP                 

The members register with the organization with an annual fee of KSH 200 and are able to access all the services as per needs assessment. Renewal is done every year with the same amount of KSHS 200. Current membership is at 108 Women and 290 children.