Home-Based Care for HIV/AIDS victims

The burden of HIV/AIDS continues to pose a major challenge to Kenya’s Health Care system, as the impact of HIVAIDS and its socio-economic consequences have undermined the nation’s resources. Enormous challenges still prevail: exposure due to upsurge of population and unemployment in slum areas, lack of capacity building by relevant stakeholders, differences in the risk of infection faced by different population groups. This is being exacerbated by the little change of sexual behavioural patterns as a result of deep-rooted cultural practices and beliefs, as well as the high level of poverty.

Particularly vulnerable to infection are young girls in slums and widows; individuals in HIV discordant relationships; and substance abuse, which is rampant in Kibera Slums.

With rising cumulative deaths from AIDS, vulnerability to the impact of HIV/AIDS, particularly among orphans, vulnerable children, widows and the elderly is becoming increasingly apparent.

KISCODEP’s intervention   

• KISCODEP is in the forefront in organizing awareness campaign programs with more emphasis on the need for sexual abstinence among the youth and taking acceptable measures, encouraging people to visit VCTs to determine their status. 

• We have 50 beneficiaries in our program; our volunteer social workers know where they stay and normally update the secretariat on the conditions of each of them. 

• KISCODEP, through volunteer social workers (those who are living with HIV) offers counseling to those who have or have shown symptoms of HIV, and seek through medical examinations. This has helped many who were HIV positive to learn how to live positively with the scourge and taking retro-viral drugs.

• Part of the money contributed by the NGO members are used to buy food to the infected in the KISCODEP CBO.

• Many members who are living with HIV have been educated about micro finance and many are in small businesses for income generating; many of them are now self reliant.

Challenges 

• The money contributed by the NGO members is not enough to buy sufficient food for the sick who cannot be able to work for it.
• It is sad most of children in our school are drawn from parents living with HIV and need a lot of our input in terms of provision of basic requirements.