Upendo Village Update
April, 2004
Lydia Wanjiru, 32, is a mother of two girls, 15 year-old Mary Wanjiku and 7 year -old Kesia Nyakiri. Wanjiru lost her husband to AIDS in 1993 and her second born child in 1995. She has full blown AIDS and her last born, Nyakiri has all the symptoms of being HIV positive.
Thanks to the generosity of many concerned people, Upendo Village was able to begin providing services to women and children with HIV/AIDS in Kenya in May 2003. Upendo Village staff and volunteers are presently visiting 80-90 clients per week in the Home-based Care Program (HCP). Almost every week, Upendo Village provides emergency shelter for 2-4 clients, mostly women and children who come seeking medical help. Because the fear of AIDS is so great and the stigma associated with HIV so profound, Sister Florence Muia says: “One of Upendo Village’s main challenges is trying to help families care for their sick members, as well as counseling the clients to accept their status and live positively.” As of February 2004, over 80 clients were reconnected with their families in the rural areas for support and care. Since May 2003, 555 clients have been served through the HCP. Of these, 26 have died. Another 2573 people have participated in AIDS education and prevention programs at Upendo Village. 117 persons have already participated in pre-test counseling and testing and this will be greatly expanded with the soon expected donation of the oral rapid HIV test kits, making testing easier with results available within ˝ hour.There are 5 staff members, assisted by many volunteers. The staff consists of three Assumption Sister of Nairobi, the religious congregation of Catholic nuns to which Sister Florence Muia (Upendo Village Founder) belongs. Sr. Florence returned to Upendo Village, Kenya in December 2003. She is a trained counselor offering counseling support to clients, families and their communities. Sr. Catherine Mutio is a social worker providing outreach to women and children with HIV/AIDS and coordinating services that they need. She provides outreach to those abandoned by their families or villages, support to those who have lost loved ones to AIDS and refers clients to services that are available. Sr. Agnes Wanja is a nurse, who began working with Upendo Village in January 2004. In addition to providing basic medical support to those who are cared for in the HCP, she runs a small clinic at Upendo Village, which opened on 2-16-04. The clinic is now registered with and approved by the Medical Health Officer in charge of the nearby Sub-District government hospital. Other staff members are the security guard and the cook/nutritionist who provides food and nutritional supplementation for those who are given emergency shelter as well as those in the HCP.
In the fall and winter of 2002, Upendo Village completed the renovation of 4 classrooms donated to Upendo Village by the bishop of Naivasha for temporary use as emergency shelter for women and children with HIV/AIDS and as the Upendo Village headquarters. One of these 4 rooms is now being used by Sister Agnes, RN as a small clinic. For a more permanent site for Upendo Village, the bishop of Naivasha also donated some land, but it is at some distance from the present temporary site. We have recently been successful at raising the funds needed to build a permanent multipurpose building on the donated land. We hope to begin plans for the building in the coming months.
Kesia 7, an orphan and HIV+
Upendo Village has also now become a member of the “Street Familly Rehabilitation Program”. This is a program that seeks to implement the Kenyan government policy on rehabilitation of street families through local grassroots efforts. Many of these families are already infected with the AIDS virus or are at high risk for infection. The number of street children continues to increase due to the early deaths of their parents, with children left to fend for themselves. On February 24, 2004, Upendo Village hosted an AIDS awareness campaign for the street children, which included an opportunity to offer them a free medical exam and a meal.
Sister Florence Muia recently wrote: “Barely can a day pass without getting sick calls. We come from a certain direction and as we arrive back to the office we find a volunteer waiting for us to go to another direction to see a sick person. Some of the volunteers whom we trained are so active that they keep us on our toes! As a result of the hard work of the staff in reaching out to our clients who are homebound, our traveling has increased as the number of clients continues to grow.”
Margaret Wairimu with her children
Thank you for your continued support for Upendo Village and the people of Kenya. Your concern and support continues to bring hope and life to many. We continue to work toward the day when the people of all the countries of the world will be able to live healthy and happy lives.
Upendo Village, NFP.
HIV/AIDS Women Project-Kenya
Sr. Florence Muia, ASN – President