In the recently conducted County Peer Review Mechanism Summit that was held at the KICC in Nairobi, Nurturing Care for Early Childhood Development was fronted as one of the best practices in Siaya County. An establishment of the Smart Start Siaya, Nurturing Care Programme has been a transformative initiative aimed at bolstering Early Childhood education and Care. A delegation from Samburu County, led by their CECM for Education Hon. Mark Egelan, is in Siaya County to learn some of the best practices from Nurturing Care. The delegation was welcomed by the County Executive Committee Members whose dockets play a major role in the implementation of the programme. They later met the Multi Sectoral Team and departmental focal persons before proceeding to Uhola in Ugenya to acquire first-hand information on how it is implemented at the community level.
The beneficiaries, through a programme dubbed 'Moments that Matter,' an initiative of the ADS Nyanza, gave their testimonies on how Nurturing Care has greatly impacted on their lives. Male involvement was cited as one of the major achievements of the programme considering the number of men who currently participate in the programmes' activities. They acknowledged zero domestic violence in their area to the existence of the programme saying since the involvement of the men, families have learnt to engage peacefully with an aim of giving the children a peaceful environment to live in. They also pride their financial stability to their focus in kitchen gardens that have greatly boosted their source of income and also seen to it that their children eat balanced diet.
The visitors promised to ensure they emulate some of the practices they learnt despite the cultural differences that might pose a challenge in implementation. They agreed to have their First Lady brought on board as the Patron to spearhead the programme in their county.