Upendo Village Update

July 2005

Upendo Village, a home where love is spoken!  Joseph tries to coax a smile from Peris, an AIDS orphan suffering from severe malnutrition and AIDS, who has just arrived at Upendo Village.

Through loving presence, solidarity and services, Upendo Village continues to bring hope and dignity to those living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya, Africa.  Sister Florence Muia and her staff of five plus over 20 trained volunteers provide home based care, nutritional supple-mentation, voluntary HIV counseling and testing (VCT), AIDS care giving and prevention education, group and individual counseling support, and emergency shelter for many poor people in and around Naivasha.

Recently, Upendo Village has partnered with the Naivasha Rotary Club as participants in a group known as the Naivasha Disadvantaged Support Group (NADSGO).  The process includes a special “gender desk” at the police department with specially trained officers to handle cases of “defilement and rape”.  As a member of NADSGO, Upendo Village partners with specially trained police, counselors, nurses, and lawyers who make up the multi-disciplinary incident response team.  NADSGO, in collaboration with the Naivasha Rotary has also set up a safe house as a haven for abused women and children who need emergency shelter and protection.  While there they receive counseling,medical exams and police documentation in order to proceed with successful prosecution of the offenders.  NADSGO also organizes events to promote community awareness of abuse and how to report it.  Upendo Village sees this effort to educate and advocate for an end to defilement and rape as essential in the struggle against HIV/AIDS.

 Grade school children sing their poem educating the Naivasha community about the evils of devilement and rape, and the connection with the spread of AIDS during a public rally organized by NADSGO (see article above).

In February 15 Upendo Village clients participated in a Memory Book workshop sponsored by the Society For Women and AIDS In Kenya (SWAK), learning how to record “family memories” for their children and loved ones.  They were invited to record their personal and family histories and family trees, their children’s birth dates, their interests in life, and their hopes and dreams for their children’s future.  Pictures are included whenever possible.  The aim of the memory book is to give the children a sense of their family roots and a better understanding of who their parents were after their parents have died.  Parents are also taught to write wills in order to protect property for their children’s future.  All these activities help both the clients and their families deal with the grief and losses resulting from AIDS.     

After returning from her July 2004 trip to Kenya, Sister Beatrice Hernandez, executive director of Upendo Village NFP, was able to share some of her personal experiences of the fine work of Upendo Village with the members of the Naperville Rotary, in Illinois.  After the presentation, the rotary presented Sisters Florence and Beatrice with the Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow-ship, a humanitarian award “in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world.”  Medallions, plaques and lapel pins were presented, symbolizing the award.  We are grateful to the Naperville Rotary Club for this honor.  However, we are even more grateful for their support and solidarity with the people of Upendo Village.

 

Sr. Florence has been the recipient of several other awards.  The first Certificate of Recognition was received in 2003 from the Red Cross for her support of their efforts in the Naivasha community.  In 2004 the Naivasha Rotary honored her for her community involvement as an AIDS activist and service provider.  On World AIDS Day (12-1-04), Sr. Florence was recognized by the Constituency AIDS Control Council for her efforts in the nation’s struggle against AIDS. Again in 2005 the Naivasha Rotary awarded her for her support of Rotary activities, especially the Safe House program as part of the NADSGO.  Such cooperation and networking across organ-izations continues to be a hallmark of Upendo Village.

 On June 29, 2005 Sister Florence Muia was named as a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize as one of the “1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005”.  1000 women from different countries around the world were nominated as a group to represent the millions of women who labor in obscurity for international cooperation, understanding, solidarity, human rights and justice.  Sister Florence has made Upendo Village a model for international cooperation among ordinary people working together to address the AIDS pandemic in a personal and holistic way.  She has also brought together people of many religious traditions, both Christian and Muslim, to address the needs of those with HIV/AIDS and to reach out to the entire community in and around Naivasha to address AIDS prevention, care of orphans, putting an end to defilement and rape and promoting open support for those infected and affected by HIV. 

 

Thank you for your support for Upendo Village and the people of Kenya.  Your concern and solidarity bring hope and life to many.  Together 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.—

                   Beatrice Hernandez, OSF, MD

Upendo Village, NFP.

HIV/AIDS Women Project-Kenya

Sr. Florence Muia, ASN – President

Sr. Beatrice M. Hernandez, OSF,MD-Executive Director

Mailing Address:  P.O. Box 449

Wheaton, IL 60189

E-mail:  contact@upendovillage.org