Kenya is home to 650,000 HIV/AIDS orphans, 16,000 of which live in the Homa Bay District, on the shores of Lake Victoria. This remote area of Kenya has some of the worst health conditions in the country. Health care services are inadequate for the number of patients the epidemic is creating, as well as being difficult to access. The lack of effective drugs and qualified health professionals is compounding the situation.
HIV prevalence is at its height in this area because of common traditional practices such as wife inheritance and polygamy, all of which encourage multiple partners and therefore the spread of HIV/AIDS. Fishing is a major source of income in the region because of the proximity to Lake Victoria. Usually the men go out fishing then sell their fish onto the women who can sell them on again. Sex has commonly become part of this transaction escalating the spread of HIV/AIDS. As a result, the area has many AIDS orphans and widows.
Aims
- To improve the health status of 200 orphans and 240 widows in Homa Bay
- To empower widows and orphans to stand up for their rights and to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS
- To strengthen HIV prevention activities in the district
- To offset the economic impact of HIV/AIDS on families through encouraging widows to engage in income generating activities
Achievements
- Orphans supported to attend school
- Increased education and awareness surrounding HIV/AIDS through peer education, curriculum teaching and posters and videos
- Community-based voluntary counselling and testing services set up in the region with community members trained to counsel on the importance of testing for HIV. Increased number of clients testing for HIV/AIDS
- Referrals to larger health facilities made for patients to receive treatment for HIV/AIDS and other opportunistic infections
- Free condoms distributed and health education given by respected community role models
- Widows groups empowered and provided with loans to start small businesses
