There has been increasing discussion in the health education and development literature of the need for more effective community approaches. Though policies and plans for improving the health, social, and economic situation of a country can be promulgated at the national level, they must be realized locally if change is to occur. Many countries face difficulty meeting even modest development goals at the village level. This paper presents data generated from a project in rural Kenya, involving residents in six rural villages in the coastal region. Participants were interviewed at the outset and following programme activities. Face-to-face interviews were conducted. Questions included queries about social and demographic factors. Each interviewee was also asked to express her level of confidence in her own ability to contribute time, money, or labour to community self-help (or Harambee, as it is called in "Kiswahili"), to reach her own personal goals, and to earn income. Findings suggest that health and nutrition education can be effectively introduced in learning groups that focus on participants' interests and new information and skills coupled with new access to food sources results in new behaviour.