Health Care
Both this mother and her child have AIDS. The mother is very sick and losing weight. Child is ill with a cough, scabies, and malnutrition.
The goal of the Community Based Home Care Program is to make available basic medical supplies for those who are living with HIV/AIDS, and educate caregivers to respond to physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).
Assistance for those villagers with full blown AIDS, or potentially fatal secondary infections related to advanced suppression of the immune system is a crucial element to the Kenyan Imani Project goal. Villagers do not have enough food (let alone proper nutrition), no sanitation facilities or clean water to drink. Their diet consists almost completely of maize flour which is made into a doughy mixture called Ugali. Diarrhea and dysentery are enormous problems in the villages as most water comes from the Sabaki River (which is also used for bathing, washing, and waste disposal).
Medications are not available to villagers unless they have access to
monetary resources, and most villagers are unemployed or make just a
few schillings each day. This is barely enough to feed their large
families (typically seven to ten children).
Specific objectives in implementing a system of home based care were initially begun months ago by Imani Project volunteers. Volunteers visited families, identifying families where there was a seriously ill person. The appropriate level of need was assessed, and family circumstances were documented. Volunteers continued to visit families in their home villages, creating a caring atmosphere and gaining the trust of the families, caretakers and PLWHA.
For the past seven summers, Marlene and the volunteers had visited villagers with full-blown AIDS. CAREKITS (sanitation and medication treatments) are given to the caretaker and each family. A guide for using the CAREKIT written in Kiswahili is included in each kit. The items are put inside a plastic bag with a zip lock closure. After the CAREKIT is initially given out and explained to the patient and caretaker, home visits continue and supplies are replenished as needed.
One of the most important things that we were able to accomplish this year was to establish a monthly HIV+ support group. There are currently 15 HIV+ individuals coming together each month to support one another, and to receive continuing education. There remains a significant stigma associated with publicly acknowledging your HIV status. That these courageous individuals have been willing to come forward and support one another is an important step in changing attitudes towards HIV/AIDS.
This one-year-old child cannot walk. She is constantly sick with diarrhea, fever, and respiratory infections. Her mother and father and her only sibling have already died of AIDS.
Villagers now have access to anti retro-viral medications. In order to obtain medications, individuals must go to Malindi District Hospital. Together with the Kenyan Red Cross, we were able to help transport persons needing assessment diagnosis and treatment to the hospital. This is the connection we hope to strengthen and grow in the coming years. All members in the HIV+ support group are now taking anti retro-viral medication.
The Kenyan Imani Project is teaching the SODIS method of water purification. This is a very simple technique which can be easily done at the family level involving removal of 99% of bacteria in unclean water by exposure to sunlight (UV radiation). Imani Project volunteers teach this method to individual families, providing them both plastic water bottles and directions written in Kiswahili.
The villagers were extremely concerned about their loved ones who are sick with HIV/AIDS. We did not see evidence of ostracism or shunning, but rather a growing and pervasive sadness.
Accomplishments during the past year:
- Significant reduction in deaths from HIV/AIDS or secondary infections.
- Nutritional training for fostering families, HIV positive support group members and Imani Project volunteers.
- Connection with the Kenyan Red Cross in order to provide transportation to Malindi District Hospital.
- Reduction in the stigma surrounding AIDS.
- The Orphans and Vulnerable Children's Center (opened July 2007) continues to flourish in the village of Misufini. Orphans and their fostering families are able to come and pick up needed supplies from the center.