Leadia Pushes on with Living Hope against HIV/AIDS Pandemic (December 09 Update)
Our vision to revive hope among people living with HIV/AIDS through empowerment towards holistic transformation is bearing fruits. The HIV/AIDS projects focuses on prevention, care and support, and channels of hope through empowerment as a crosscutting issue.
As UNDP puts it, HIV/AIDS is a multifaceted epidemic that calls for multifaceted and concerted approach arrest it. With poverty being its brooding ground, living hope still remains the only antidote available within the means of communities that are committed to responding to the epidemic which is comparable to the bubonic plague of 1340s. Our efforts have so far struck code with local communities and we now have every sign to believe that living hope is a formidable antidote to the pandemic.
Size of the Project: We target mainly children and youths aged between 5 and 24, people living with AIDS who need care and support, the rest of people infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS, and families wallowing in poverty. We currently support 320 households. Each household has an average of five people. Overall, there are 1600 clients who attend our program.
Challenges we are responding to: So far, we have witnessed that disempowerment due to poverty is the leading challenge to the efforts to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS pandemic and reduce its effects. This disempowerment takes the form of marred human identity and vocation, and unjust relationships. These obstacles have rendered the affected people poor, physically weak, isolated, vulnerable, powerless, disenfranchised from social, economic, political and state power, and entangled in the vicious cycle of absolute poverty of being. These challenges require structural and societal change as well as personal. We have a three-tier program to address these challenges: in tier one we focus on material necessities, tier two we focus on social, economic, political and state capital (vocation and just relationships), and tier three we address worldview, culture, marred identity, and principalities and powers (human identity).
Programs of Intervention
Vision Club: Sex has been a taboo in many of the local cultures and traditions. In this era of HIV/AIDS and information technology, we are breaking the silence and modeling community oriented information on HIV/AIDS, sex, life vision and skills among others to empower especially the youths with a basis for vibrant and resilient life. So far, we have mobilised 4 primary schools and hope to expand it to include secondary school students as well. Our target is to address cultural roots of abuses of sex by changing sex narratives. Besides training teachers, community leaders, parents and student leaders as the vanguards of this program, we have established social activities for the youths which include soccer, netball, drama, community services to redirect their energy to positive actions. (Picture of soccer club in a training session- Pic 1)
Food Security: In order to restore and maintain the health of people who are infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, we decided to launch organic farming beginning with soy project. We have so far bought two oxen and one ox plough to help people plough new fields for crops-(pic 6). We gave out five kilogram of soy seeds to a total of fifty households as a micro loan project. Upon harvest, they will give back five kilograms that we will give out to another set of fifty households. They will also sell a portion of the harvest to set up funds for micro loan scheme. (Picture of work in the soy garden- pic 5)
Piglet and goat project: We have given out piglets and goats to boost household capacity to engage in production for consumption and income. (Picture of piglet project- pic 4)
Community Based Initiative for Care and Support: With the resolve never to let people die alone and unattended to because of HIV/AIDS and poverty, we launched out a program to identify with them at the time of need by offering support and care. We have trained a total of 21 home caregivers who monitor households ensuring that their physical, social, spiritual, emotional and moral environment is conducive for their well being. We still need more home caregivers to cover 200 people who have AIDS. (Picture of home caregiver team- pic 3)
Child Sponsorship and Education: We have 60 orphans we support through school out of over 400 orphans we have identified. We support them with scholastic materials and school uniform. (Picture of children holding up the books they received-pic 2)
Areas of Expansion:
-Vegetable and fruit gardens in each household
-Cow/goat and Chicken projects
-Music lessons, soccer tournaments, and computer lessons
-Micro finance and community cooperative society
-Wellness center as the main referral for treatment and coordination.
Challenges: Despite the numerous successes we have registered, general and specific challenges continue to bog down our operations. In order for us to expand our programs, we need financial and material support. We still need more of each of the following items to fully cover phase one of our program
Ox plough @ $140, Ox @ $280, piglet @ $14, goat @ $34, chicken @ $6, Soy @kilogram $1.50, football @17, netball @ $17, child sponsorship @year $100, cabbage @kilogram @ 6, onion @ kilogram $8, keyboard @ $1,150, generator @$1400, projector@ $850, TV screen @ $500, Video deck @ $170, DVD player @ @ $230.
You can support us by making financial contribution, prayer and telling someone else about what we are doing.
For any feedback contact David Ofumbi at 6266025010
As UNDP puts it, HIV/AIDS is a multifaceted epidemic that calls for multifaceted and concerted approach arrest it. With poverty being its brooding ground, living hope still remains the only antidote available within the means of communities that are committed to responding to the epidemic which is comparable to the bubonic plague of 1340s. Our efforts have so far struck code with local communities and we now have every sign to believe that living hope is a formidable antidote to the pandemic.
Size of the Project: We target mainly children and youths aged between 5 and 24, people living with AIDS who need care and support, the rest of people infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS, and families wallowing in poverty. We currently support 320 households. Each household has an average of five people. Overall, there are 1600 clients who attend our program.
Challenges we are responding to: So far, we have witnessed that disempowerment due to poverty is the leading challenge to the efforts to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS pandemic and reduce its effects. This disempowerment takes the form of marred human identity and vocation, and unjust relationships. These obstacles have rendered the affected people poor, physically weak, isolated, vulnerable, powerless, disenfranchised from social, economic, political and state power, and entangled in the vicious cycle of absolute poverty of being. These challenges require structural and societal change as well as personal. We have a three-tier program to address these challenges: in tier one we focus on material necessities, tier two we focus on social, economic, political and state capital (vocation and just relationships), and tier three we address worldview, culture, marred identity, and principalities and powers (human identity).
Programs of Intervention
Vision Club: Sex has been a taboo in many of the local cultures and traditions. In this era of HIV/AIDS and information technology, we are breaking the silence and modeling community oriented information on HIV/AIDS, sex, life vision and skills among others to empower especially the youths with a basis for vibrant and resilient life. So far, we have mobilised 4 primary schools and hope to expand it to include secondary school students as well. Our target is to address cultural roots of abuses of sex by changing sex narratives. Besides training teachers, community leaders, parents and student leaders as the vanguards of this program, we have established social activities for the youths which include soccer, netball, drama, community services to redirect their energy to positive actions. (Picture of soccer club in a training session- Pic 1)
Food Security: In order to restore and maintain the health of people who are infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, we decided to launch organic farming beginning with soy project. We have so far bought two oxen and one ox plough to help people plough new fields for crops-(pic 6). We gave out five kilogram of soy seeds to a total of fifty households as a micro loan project. Upon harvest, they will give back five kilograms that we will give out to another set of fifty households. They will also sell a portion of the harvest to set up funds for micro loan scheme. (Picture of work in the soy garden- pic 5)
Piglet and goat project: We have given out piglets and goats to boost household capacity to engage in production for consumption and income. (Picture of piglet project- pic 4)
Community Based Initiative for Care and Support: With the resolve never to let people die alone and unattended to because of HIV/AIDS and poverty, we launched out a program to identify with them at the time of need by offering support and care. We have trained a total of 21 home caregivers who monitor households ensuring that their physical, social, spiritual, emotional and moral environment is conducive for their well being. We still need more home caregivers to cover 200 people who have AIDS. (Picture of home caregiver team- pic 3)
Child Sponsorship and Education: We have 60 orphans we support through school out of over 400 orphans we have identified. We support them with scholastic materials and school uniform. (Picture of children holding up the books they received-pic 2)
Areas of Expansion:
-Vegetable and fruit gardens in each household
-Cow/goat and Chicken projects
-Music lessons, soccer tournaments, and computer lessons
-Micro finance and community cooperative society
-Wellness center as the main referral for treatment and coordination.
Challenges: Despite the numerous successes we have registered, general and specific challenges continue to bog down our operations. In order for us to expand our programs, we need financial and material support. We still need more of each of the following items to fully cover phase one of our program
Ox plough @ $140, Ox @ $280, piglet @ $14, goat @ $34, chicken @ $6, Soy @kilogram $1.50, football @17, netball @ $17, child sponsorship @year $100, cabbage @kilogram @ 6, onion @ kilogram $8, keyboard @ $1,150, generator @$1400, projector@ $850, TV screen @ $500, Video deck @ $170, DVD player @ @ $230.
You can support us by making financial contribution, prayer and telling someone else about what we are doing.
For any feedback contact David Ofumbi at 6266025010
posted by LEADIA at
8:41 PM
