We endeavor to bring the knowledge to local people and help prevent and control diseases.
The Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS) conducted in 2003 by NASCOP shows that Nyanza Province is the most hit with HIV/IADS epidemic. It has the biggest percentage of infected adults, 15% (310,000 adults out of 1,100,000 infected adults) followed by Nairobi with 10% (130,000 adults out of 1,100,000 adults infected). The province also leads in the rate of infection. If nothing is done about this high growth of HIV infection, there will be a large decrease in the population which is still healthy by the year 2025. This is the year that Kenya declared in 2005 will be the year in which every household will get access to clean and safe drinking water. If nothing is done about HIV infection, clean water will be delivered to deserted households. Thus, HWF is addressing this issue in the most threatened areas of Nyanza and Western provinces. HWF has undertaken campaigns and training on HIV AIDS through and among 12 Community –Based Organizations in Nyanza province. HWF designs HIV/ AIDS campaigns and trainings according to the needs of a specific class of people. For example, the public transport sector in Kenya employs millions of youths as drivers and touts. Due to the nature of their work, they are exposed to the risk of HIV / AIDS since they lodge anywhere when the night finds them. HWF trains these men in their workplaces.
Ministry of Health and World Health Organization, together with HWF overall goals for national development, highlight four strategic goals for HIV / AIDS prevention and care:
- Enabling people to protect themselves against HIV infection.Encouraging greater political commitment to HIV prevention programsEnabling people infected and affected to pursue their lives with quality and dignity
- Developing coping strategies to alleviate long term effects.
HWF is helping out Orphans, the ones who suffer most as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. To date the HWF has supported 12 CBOs in Nyanza and Western to ensure that AIDS orphans in Nyanza and Western Provinces get schooling, food and shelter. Future activities planned include training of CBOs on VCT, home based care, provision of livelihood activities for careers, and medication management, HWF is planning to carry out studies on the impact of culture on spreading of HIV / AIDS.
The HWF personnel have experience in working with HIV/AIDS related issues with government programs in Kenya and the USA.
Community Resource Centers act catalyst centers for community development. The centers are venues for training, health vaccination and campaigns, mobile health clinics, libraries, references and meetings, all towards uplifting social ethics and means of the community. HWF completed one resource center under the Nubia Village Project in Kisii town, Nyanza Province with financial support from Community Development Trust Fund of the European Union. The center, in addition has saved related costs, money so saved is used to develop other aspects of the community. |
Nubia Village Hall - before |
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The 2003 Demographic Health Survey conducted by NASCOP shows that 26,000 children die from Malaria every year. Transmission rate is very high in Nyanza. Programs have been developed to cap this epidemic but have not succeeded because most drugs have proved ineffective. Malaria is the cause of most illness and death in Nyanza. HWF has developed programs to help to minimize this epidemic. One of these is training on environment hygiene and to provide knowledge on how to reduce malaria vectors and transmission by getting rid of stagnant water around homes and general sanitation, such as cutting grass short.
On plan, HWF wants to help local communities produce of mosquito nets. The women in the community will make the nets and sell them at a subsidized price to pregnant women and families with children under 5. This will enable at least 90% of families to sleep under nets. Mosquitoes that transmit malaria bite in the night. Nets will reduce the number of people who will suffer from the malaria. This project should produce income which will increase per capita income. HWF wants to minimize waterborne diseases including typhoid and diarrhea through hygiene training, proper sanitation and waste disposal and boiling drinking water.
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Training session on Prevention of Water Born Diseases |
HWF plans to develop a hygiene handbook, training manual and collate material from both Ministry of Health and Health organization for training CBOs. The tool kit will be used by CBOs to train and equip communities to deal with health and hygiene related issues.
The orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), as a result of the HIV/AIDS need support. So do the disabled who are largely ignored by society and have fend for themselves. HWF is quite involved in supporting these vulnerable groups though provision of shelter, food, clothing, medicines, school needs and other everyday needs. So far work with the disabled has been mainly through organizing fund-raising events for wheel chair provision etc. This work arose as a by-project since we found out that disabled people in the province are regarded as being a "Bad Omen”. They are kept virtually in confinement, often with little or no social contact with other people and are denied even the most basic of human rights e.g. education.
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