HIV/AIDS Program
HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa
In Africa, HIV and AIDs are so wide spread that one way or another, entire communities are affected. If they don’t have HIV themselves they care for someone who does, they earn less, they grow less food, fewer children can go to school and more children are homeless.
STATISTICS:
Globally
- The total number of people (world-wide) living with HIV was 33.2 million in 2008 (22.4 million of those live in sub-Saharan Africa)
- 2.5 million people were newly infected in 2008 and 2.1 million died of AIDS-related illnesses.
Sub-Saharan Africa
- Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most affected region, where 1.9 million people were newly infected with HIV in 2008, bringing to 22.4 million the total number of people living with HIV. More than two-thirds (67%) of all people infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa
- The majority of people (60%) living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa are women and girls
- In 2008 more than three quarters (72%) of all AIDS-related deaths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa
A Community wide Response
Because the effects of HIV/AIDs on the community of Makindu are so wide spread, strategies for prevention and intervention must be community-based and integrated. That is why MCC services include providing for the basic needs of the children within households in the community, thereby strengthening the fabric of the entire community. MCC has also funded and developed a clean water system and is working to expand small business development opportunities.
HIV Services in Makindu
MCC received a grant from the Center for Disease Control and in June 2003 started the very first AIDS project within MKU. The centre provides free and confidential HIV counseling and testing with trained counselors, AIDS education and awareness, an HIV library of materials, and a safe and supportive recreational facility for street kids… the hope was to entice them away from the dangers of the streets, to encourage them to get back in school, and to have a support system available to them. They also provide mobile VCT (voluntary counseling and testing) services going out to multiple rural regions, and offer night VCT along the highway to be more available for the many international and local truckers traveling through MKU on the highway at night. Because we located the facility along this main NBO-Mombasa highway, there are people stopping in from all over east Africa, and Asia, who are traveling in from or to the Indian Ocean port. It became hugely popular and successful, so much so that we had to find another organization to keep it up and running, allowing us to focus our energy on our children’s centre. Thankfully, we were able to get the organization Hope WorldWide (another NGO who works specifically with HIV/AIDS) to take over the management of the HIV centre. It continues to be very successful, and is expanding. There are now other AIDS projects regionally that provide many services that Hope WorldWide coordinates with, and the attitude of the community has drastically changed in the past few years… no longer such a deadly secret, less stigma, and much more hope.
On a more personal note, since the inception of our program, four of our children have died… and all four died of AIDS. We knew these children were HIV positive, and knew they would not be with us long on this earth: Emma Rose was only 1 1/2 years old when she died; she loved just to be held, and would snuggle in as close as she possibly could. Her body was weak, but you could still feel the strength in her heart’s embrace. Mwasya died at age 6, and was ever mischievous, joking and smiling throughout, and always with a stubborn and strong resolve (see “Mwasya” insert on website). We then lost Kibibi at 16 years of a age, who knew about AIDS, and knew she would someday die of the disease. She became quite an advocate for the other children, encouraging them to continue in school, and to plan for their future (Kibibi was featured in the 1999 Eugene Register Guard series). This young lady was one very graceful, courageous, and resilient soul, with wisdom far beyond her years. Most recently, Ndunge died at eight years of age after just entering MCC, and sadly before the advent of ARV’s (anti retrovirals) in Kenya. In the interim, we loved these kids… and then, we loved them some more…what else could we do? They became mentors to us all, and provided added inspiration to our dedication to fight this disease. Theirs is now a great legacy: to help motivate and propel efforts to prevent more children from dying. Like Ryan White of the U.S. and Nkosi Johnson of South Africa, these young children have been our teachers, and wise, compassionate, and compelling guides — and the impetus for change on an individual and global level. They have helped us adults face this issue, encouraged us to grapple the challenges, and to love and cherish those infected.