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As part of our efforts to provide HIV/AIDS education to the community of Lenana we held a seminar at the school, one Saturday in September. The seminar was intended to focus on awareness, answer questions and dispel some of the misconceptions surrounding the issue in Kenya, prevention and encourage people to get tested and know their status. We spend quite a bit of time preparing for the day, we designed posters highlighting key HIV facts which can be used at future seminars and when volunteers talk to schools in the area. We also prepared a hand out for the attendees to take home and hopefully share with other people, it talked about HIV in Kenya, treatment, prevention and testing.

The day went really well. Teachers from the school setup tents in the courtyard so the audience wasn’t too hot and we provided tea and light snacks to lure them in. About 60 odd people turned up which we were very happy with as not too much promotion had been done, most of them were women as we expected, but 15 or so men did turn up, and were very involved in the conversations, and encouraging of what we were doing, and of people to take more responsibility within the community.

We got some tough questions and had some heated discussions. It seems sex is an embarrassing issue for both parents and teachers to speak to the kids about, so no one really talks to them about it, and the children miss out on important information, stuff that in Kenya, could really save their lives. So we spoke about the importance to communication and how it can help break down the stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS in Kenya. During the section about prevention we had one of the Tumaini ladies get up and give a quick demonstration of a female condom which the ladies found particularly interesting, she explained how
it works and also that if you put it in 30mins before sex the men (particularly drunk ones) don’t even notice it. Other questions like what happens when a baby is born HIV positive and then is tested again a year later and is negative or how come my first born is HIV positive and my second isn’t? Thankfully as a group we were able to answer all of these.

One of the topics I spoke about was the issue of concurrency, where people have multiple concurrent sexual relationships for an extended period of time. This creates a network of people, and when they have unprotected sex (which most people do) then HIV can spread rapidly throughout the network, infecting even faithful partners. Concurrency is one of the biggest reasons why HIV is such a large issue in this part of the world, it’s like everyone thinks their partner will be faithful, and HIV is someone else’s problem. With Free condoms, free testing and free treatment, Kenya has all the tools to fight HIV, but the rate is still rising.

Probably the bit of the day which had the most impact for the audience was when each of the Tumaini ladies got up and told their stories. How they felt when they first knew their status, how their families reacted (many have been ostracized) and how they live their life now and are healthy. The women we’re able to open up and really get the message home in Swahili, rather than everything we said being translated from English.

To close out the day we reminded people of the importance of getting tested and being responsible, that HIV is not just a problem for poor people, that the community must work together to help in the fight against HIV and AIDS in Kenya.

• Trying to decide which IDP camp to go to. Pipeline or GilGil both are massive & need big help, 1 has 14,000 people living in tents. Crazy. #
• Taught an HIV & Sexual Health class to one of the Lenana high schools today. Slow to get the class going then some really tough questions. #
• Looking into setting up an e-commerce site for the HIV ladies to sell the jewelry, but seems @PayPal or other gateways don't work in Kenya. #
• RT Rebuilding Lives Video shows insights into Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Kenya http://twurl.nl/c3uko6 (via @GVNnFoundation) #
• RT @UNAIDS @MTVSAIgnite effective and proven #HIV #prevention methods for all people is key http://tinyurl.com/ya34oe8 #
• Tough last official day with the HIV/AIDS program. Worked to help the ladies fulfil an order for 45 neclaces. Be nice if they turned up. #
• Moving to the pipeline IDP camp on sat. They say the HIV program is a walk in the park in comparison. #
• RT @UNAIDS Great toolkit for managers of #HIV prevention programmes to intensify efforts: http://hivpreventiontoolkit.unaids.org/ #
• My host Mumma saw the police, gun down two people at Dagoretti corner up the road from our house today. Brutal. #
• Tired, broken and packing, seems it's just the barking slum dogs and me still awake in Lenana. #
• I'm gonna miss Lenana. The kids calling out to me, "how are you". Teasing the goats. Hanging with my host family. #
• Went back to Ngando and Tumaini today to say goodbye and the whole school sang a song for me. Felt pretty special. #
• It's a grey day as I leave Lenana heading for Pipeline IPD camp near Nakuru. Sad goodbye w' host family & project, promised 2 come visit. #
• Just found out my Kikuyu name is Waweru which means see very far. #
• I'm in a lil pub near the camp called Gladys' the beer is warm, but the owners policy is, (in a broken english/swahili) go behind the ba … #
• Arrived at IDP yesterday. Camp is an interesting place, will take some time to settle in. Lots of cute kids tho. New house mumma is Bette. #
• Full moon over the rift valley tonight. First real day at IDP tomorrow. Gotta find John, head of health for the camp to discuss my plans. #

Remember when you were a kid and your parents used to tell you that there are starving kids in Africa if you wouldn’t finish your dinner? Having seen it for first hand in Kenya I can tell you that they were right. This year on the 17th and 18th of October, to coincide with world food day, the GVN Foundation is putting together a global dinner party called Eat So They Can. Where people host dinners for their friends and families to raise money to stamp out hunger around the world.

Every day, 25,000 people die because of hunger; 18,000 of them are children. The World has produced more then enough food to feed itself since the 1960′s, yet around the world, over 850 million people are chronically hungry.

Living in Kenya for the past month, I’ve been lucky to have been well fed by my host family, or able to afford food when I need it, but I’ve seen many people who are not so lucky. The drought in Kenya has put food prices up and food security is a big issue here. At the school where the HIV project is based, the children get fed a hot meal every day, but for some it’s the only meal they get, as there families can’t afford the high prices.

I won’t be hosting an event this year since I’m in Africa, but I know people who are hosting events around the world and so will be speaking to those people at the event over webcam using Skype, speaking about my experience here and what I’ve seen in the programs I’ve been part of.

Get Involved

You can get involved too, here are a couple of ways.

1. Sign up to host a dinner party for your friends and raise money.
2. Find out about existing events and help promote and attend them.
3. Follow and Retweet @EatSoTheyCan on Twitter.
4. Join the Eat So They Can Facebook group
5. Spread the word with the Eat So They Can trailer below.

If you are hosting an event, and are interesting in talking with me via webcam during the dinner, contact me via the comments section below, or message @HelpMeHelpKenya on Twitter and we will set it up.

• Seminar went really well, had a crowd of 70 so engaged & vocal peeps from Lenana area. Even a few men. Hope they get tested & use condoms. #
• Photos from the HIV/AIDS Seminar up on the FB page http://bit.ly/HMHK-FB New blog post coming soon. Working on structure for next volunteers #
• These kids, all of them are gonna break my heart. So happy and charming running through the slums. #
• The decision as to whether Durex can help with the "No Rubber No Ride" Matatu campaign is with the Durex powers at be. Fingers crossed. #
• Sounds like Durex could be interested in the "No Rubber no ride campagne. #
• 2 x Fundraisers for @HelpMeHelpKenya at The Sunburnt Cow in New York this weekend. http://bit.ly/HMHK-GF & http://bit.ly/HMHK-BD Please RT #
• RT @RedCross typhoon victims in Philippines in need of food/clothng. Call the American Red Cross to help. 18004357669 #

After two straight days of the director not showing up for the program, we became a little disheartened, having traveled half way across the world to be part of this project, we felt our time could certainly be put to better use than just sitting and reading our books, while the ladies made the jewelry. Time in Kenya seems more theoretical than factual. So we decided to change it up. It’s all well and good to assist these few ladies who know their status and are open about it, but we both feel that prevention is the key, and more could be done to educate the children and others in the community about HIV and AIDS, hopefully persuading them to go get tested and use protection if and when they have sex.

Kathryn (the other volunteer) has a friend in South Africa who works with community HIV education and he offered the materials he has created for us to use a base. Coupled with the South African materials and some research into the situation in Kenya, we spent a few days creating education materials to be used with students in the local schools and seminars that Tumaini puts on when they have volunteers. We have also created a series of laminated posters featuring key points about HIV in Kenya which will be used at both seminars and talks to the students. Hopefully the materials we create will become the basis of future community HIV education, where subsequent volunteers can use them to inform more and more people about the issue, what it is, and what it isn’t.

The trial run of the materials was used with the Ngando primary school during Guidance and counseling with both boys and girls aged 12 and up. Some of the children knew a lot about HIV, like how it can be transmitted, what it stands for etc, but we also got to dispel some of myths which occur in the Kenya, like that HIV is a hex someone has put on you, or that it only affects poor people. We also spoke about sex, and how it’s very important to wait till you’re ready etc. The class concluded with a condom demonstration, including how to put it on (using a banana) and the basics of how it works. It’s pretty embarrassing telling 50 kids some as young as 12 how it all works, but it’s a small price to pay if it means they go and use a condom when they start having sex, it could save their lives.

• I'm very sad to say that Baby Michelle died this morning before we could go see her. She is with the angels now. http://ping.fm/N7Pnl #
• Despite today's sad news. Much still to be done. We taught a class on HIV/AIDS & Sex Ed focusing on prevention. "No Rubber No Ride" ~HIV Ad #
• Today your generous donations provided new gutters for the school to collect rain water for cooking. They currently have to buy water daily. #
• Didn't really appreciate the inter-program politics today. I came to Kenya to help people. But I created great posters for seminar on sat. #
• There are 14 seats in a Matatu and 1 in 14 adults in Kenya are HIV positive. Looking into bumper stickers for Matatus. No Rubber No Ride. #
• Looking to contact condom companies to sponsor the NO RUBBER NO RIDE Matatu Campaign. Will be looking for peeps to donate skills soon. #
• Getting my hands dirty. Seminar tomorrow. #

The first few days on the HIV/AIDS program went well, meeting with the organisers, setting up the weekly schedule and buying beading supplies was simple enough. Since the program started during the last week of school holidays, the first Monday was when the real stuff started. As scheduled we began the day with home visits, walking through the slums of Lenana and beyond to visit the ladies in their homes and see how they lived. Unfortunately (as we now know is all too common) there was a miss communication and no-one was home. After a few hours walking through the slums in the heat only to find the ladies not home, we did visit the home of one of the HIV+ ladies, Rose who was walking around with us.

Rose looks after two AIDS orphans who’s mother died of the AIDS related symptoms earlier this year. They live in a small 10′ x 10′ slum shack, where they cook, eat, sleep and bath. It was shocking for me to see people living in such hard conditions, but inspiring to see how Rose, who has been living with HIV for 17 years, and the two girls can live and remain so positive, given what they have gone through. Unfortunately Rose’ house was the only one we could see that day.

Later on the Monday, I taught a class of boys ages 10 – 17 for Guidance and Counseling, not having really been in a classroom for the better part of a decade, it was a little nerve racking, having 50 sets of eyes staring back at me. It was more of a introductory get to know you session, where I found out each students name, age, siblings, parents etc. As I guess could be expected, it was hard to get a handle on that many boys of different ages being stuffed into one tiny (normally they have 30) room. Next time we might try older kids so we can talk about more mature issues, and mix the boys and girls. It has become clear to me that there are major gender issues within this community, and getting boys and girls to communicate more openly about things like sex, will begin to break down some of the issues.

More photos after the jump [Read more →]

• Day 3: Today the program really starts. Home visits then guidance and councelling with the kids. #
• Day 3: Walked for miles thru the slums, saw how some of the ladies live, very sad. Then guidance class with 40 boys aged 10-15. Was tough. #
• http://twitpic.com/gz0jf – HIV Positive mother & daughter I counseled today. The 8 month old baby Michelle just started ARV drugs & is sick. #
• Day 4: Individual Counseling. HIV positive mother & daughter I counseled. 8 month old Michelle sick from ARV drugs http://twitpic.com/gz0jf #
• Day 5: Bit of a lull. Group counseling turned into a morning of reading, director was a no show. So we're looking at changing the game plan. #
• Day 6: Another no show. Working on creating HIV education materials for future uses. New blog post and photos @ http://ping.fm/1mVjC #
• THE KIDS: New album up on Help Me Help Kenya FB Page. http://ping.fm/tJfIH #
• Just found out 8 month old Michelle is in hospital, but stable. Going to go see her Monday hope she makes it. http://bit.ly/edUP5 #

After a couple of days of orientation and getting to know the other volunteers starting at the same time as us, Thursday was the first day with the Tumaini community HIV/AIDS program. The program was started by Sophia Balongo who is the head mistress of the Ngando primary school in Lenana. In 2004 Sophia noticed that some of the parents from the school were becoming sick and dieing from what seemed to be HIV/AIDS like symptoms and so in order to help those in need, assists the members of the program (all currently women) so they can earn a little money and support themselves. This is basically done through making and selling beaded jewelry, these are generally sold overseas by other volunteers as they can fetch a much higher price and hence get more money for the program. One of the volunteers also helped the group get a license to sell charcoal, so they buy large sacks of charcoal, and then break it up into smaller bags and sell it to people within the slums. Most of the cooking is done inside the small shacks with either charcoal of kerosene both is toxic for the lungs and respiratory issues are very common.
The work we will generally be doing is broken out by the days of the week, some days we do home visits where we walk around and visit the ladies in their homes and see how they are living and if they need anything. Other days are Material Making, where they ladies come and make the necklaces and bracelets in a room near the school, or group and individual counseling. On Monday afternoons we also teach a class in the school for Guidance and Counseling. During the class we are suppose to help the kids understand the dangers of sex and HIV, but we’re not supposed to discuss condoms, as they believe it would encourage the kids to have sex.

More photos after the break

[Read more →]

• Had orientation today. Met the other volunteers and heard about the different programs. Psyched for the Animal orphanage tomorrow. #
• WELCOME TO LENANA. New blog post up and photos on HMHK facebook page. http://ping.fm/YMFae #
• Cuddled with a 1 month old cheetah cub today, while a 4 month old one licked and nibbled on my finger. Today's goals achieved, I can go now. #
• Baby Cheetah photos are on HMHK Facebook Page: http://ping.fm/1lsdn
  Lala Salama from Africa #
• Day 1 of HIV/AIDS program. Cold weather, bleak outlook. The challenges facing this community & the region are huge. No responsibility. #
• Day 2: Met 2 of the ladies & heard their stories. There's a bad stigma surrounding HIV & AIDS in Kenya, so people aren't honest w' partners. #
• Do you Tweet? are you a Twit? on Twitter? Follow @helpmehelpkenya for updates on my aid work in Kenya. #