GlobalGiving.org: Organic Health Response for HIV/AIDS in Kenya

Fall Updates from OHR

Rose Carr — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 22:30:10 GMT

Internet Access on Mfangano

SISTERHOOD EXCHANGE PROGRAM TRAINING IN ELDORET

The Sisterhood Exchange Program (SEP) members traveled to Eldoret this September to receive training from the Imani workshops. The training took place for two days where members were trained on making shopping bags, yoga bags, pajama suits, double sided apron, and school uniforms. There was also training on beaded jewelry, clay, cards, books, and picture frames. Much of the training emphasized quality control and members are now working to improve the quality of their products.

The Ekialo Kiona Farming Department also traveled to Eldoret where they were motivated by the AMPATH farm and learned they will need a good irrigation system like drip irrigation which is used at most of the farms in Eldoret. They realized doing that will give them a green and healthy farm as water plays a big role in plant life.

INTERNET ACCESS ON MFANGANO!

Free Internet access has taken a step closer to 20,000 rural Kenyans living on a remote island in the middle of Lake Victoria in Western Kenya. The Organic Health Response, with the help of San Francisco-based partners, Inveneo and Equal Access, is preparing to install a wireless Internet link and community radio tower on the top Soklo mountain on Mfangano Island. Based on a comprehensive topographical survey by Inveneo’s connectivity engineers, Equal Access is developing a radio broadcast map using open access satellite software to assess the reach for Mfangano’s first community radio station. On the ground, OHR is moving forward with site preparations and the tower’s challenging construction 1600m above the Lake shore. Thanks to land generously donated by the Okello family, a 12th generation Mfangano family living atop Soklo mountain, the tower site will serve as both the point of reception for OHR’s 70km long-range Internet link, and the point of transmission for the Ekialo Kiona Youth Radio Station. Actual construction of this unique tower will be carried out by the Ekialo Kiona Sustainable Design Guild, a team of local Mfangano carpenters, welders, and masons who successfully completed construction on the Ekialo Kiona Center in May 2011.

Born in 1925, Joseph Okello Misiara is a native of the Soklo clan that has lived on Mfangano Island for over 12 generations. He is now the Elder responsible for taking care of the sacred Kwitutu forest, an old growth forest and ancestral burial site that remains atop the highest point on Mfangano Island. Inspired by the land donation made by Joel Oguta for the Ekialo Kiona Center itself, Mzee Okello and his eldest son have generously donated their family’s land near the Kwitutu forest, to bring free Internet to 20,000 of their fellow residents on Mfangano Island. During a visit this June, Mzee Okello explained that although he has never used the Internet or touched a computer himself, he knows his land will be used to build a tower that will “connect the world together.” Mzee Okello sees this donation as a landmark for his children and grandchildren and his final legacy to the community of Mfangano.

OHR GOOGLE TECH TALK

On August 17, 2011, Chas Salmen, the Founder and Director of the Organic Health Response had the opportunity to present at a Google Tech Talk on HIV/AIDS Prevention Collectives in Western Kenya. Specifically Chas discussed the Mfangano Island Healthy Networks Pilot Program. To view Chas's full Google Tech Talk, click here.

BLOGGING ON MFANGANO

This September, Chas Salmen, the Founder and Director of OHR, and Jenna Hines, OHR's Director of Agriculture Research Implementation, are moving to Mfangano for the year with many goals in mind. Over the course of the year, they are going to keep all of you updated through their blog to share stories from Mfangano, updates as they set up their farm, unexpected challenges, their progress with OHR and the Ekialo Kiona Center staff, and their evolving visions for a healthy Lake Victoria, and planet. Stay updated at:http://organichealthresponse.tumblr.com/

Links:

OHR featured on Worldview: "Global Activism"

Summer of Success

Rose Carr — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 23:32:03 GMT

Chas Salmen, Annika Terrana, and Kelsi Hines

Here's a quick glimpse of what we have been up to this summer so far!

OHR Hosts 2nd Team of UCSF Global HealthStudents!

Late June, Mfangano welcomed its second group of University of California, San Francisco students! This year's dynamic group of seven come ready to exercise their nursing, medical, social work, and pharmacy studies and will hit the ground running with projects in community health. The group will primarily focus on relaying last year’s research results back to the community.

In partnership with the Kenya Medical Research Institute, OHR and UCSF designed the first community health baseline study for Mfangano East. During the summer of 2010, UCSF students trained and hired 9 local research staff to gather data from households in the community. The household survey assessed community health and demographics, including information on HIV/AIDS knowledge and stigma, income, food and water security, and social support.

The same local research staff will return this year to assist the UCSF students in organizing and conducting community focus groups. The focus groups will discuss OHR programming, specifically for the Micro-Clinic Project. Both staff and community members look forward to using this information to help shape the future of OHR and its programs and services.

VagaBead: Bead a Better World

On July 31st, 2011, OHR participated in a celebration of international crafts with VagaBead, a local Minneapolis bead and jewelry business. The event will featured OHR’s Sisterhood Exchange Program aprons and jewelry alongside other vendors, great eats and global beats. VagaBead founders Kara and Craig collect beads straight from the source, traveling to international markets, then making and selling jewelry at home. VagaBead generously offered to donate 5% of all their profits to the Organic Health Response.

OHR Welcomes New Co-Directors of Operations!

The Organic Health Response is thrilled to announce our first US-based staff, our new Co-Directors of Operations,
Kelsi Hines and Annika Terrana! Kelsi and Annika are founding members of OHR, with extensive experience living and working within the communities of Mfangano Island, organizing HIV/AIDS awareness events and ecological sustainability activities, coordinating OHR's volunteer home-stay program, and developing the Ekialo Kiona Youth Radio Station. Kelsi and Annika will direct day-to-day US operations as OHR Founder, Chas Salmen, returns to Kenya for 12-months to implement the Mfangano Island Healthy Networks Pilot Program.

Please feel free to touch base with Kelsi and Annika as your primary contact for any questions or ideas relating to ongoing OHR programs, fundraising, partnership opportunities, volunteer coordination, or media announcements: khines@organichealthresponse.org, aterrana@organichealthresponse.org. We look forward to exploring new directions under their creative leadership, and working together with the rest of the OHR team in Kenya and the US to continue our long-term vision, seeding health possibilities through community-rooted partnerships.

2011 has already been a year of many successes and progress and we are so thankful for all your support. Stay tuned for more updates.

Sisterhood Exchange Jewelry Making

A Spring of Growth

Rose Carr — Tue, 31 May 2011 15:13:03 GMT

OHR Retreat Group Shot

Spring has been exciting time full of growth for the Organic Health Response. Here's a glimpse at what we have been up to so far in 2011:

OHR's First West Coast Roundtable a Success!

OHR members from across the U.S. recently convened in San Francisco for the first official OHR retreat. With over 15 volunteers present we spent the weekend getting to know one another, bringing the team up to speed on the many projects and programs, and dived into OHR’s first visioning session, led by our very own Hal Campbell! Overall, the retreat was a huge success. We emerged with a promising action plan for the upcoming year and OHR's new vision statement:

“Seeding health possibilities through community-rooted partnerships.”

We look forward to having our Kenyan partners join us in our next great get together!

OHR Wins First Place in UC Berkeley's "Big Ideas" Competition

Selected from over 200 entries, OHR has won 1st place in UC Berkeley's "Big Ideas" Competition. The annual competition inspires innovative and high-impact student projects aimed at solving the world's most pressing problems. The aquaponics project aims to address "Big Ideas" category Global Poverty Alleviation by increasing food security in the Lake Victoria basin.

Headed by Matthew Tierney, the aquaponics project is a sustainable food production system that combines aquaculture, or fish farming, with vegetable and chicken farming. Not only could this system provide a more secure and nutritional diet, but aquaponics disincentives unnecessary slash and burn agriculture and overfishing in Lake Victoria, and allows fishermen to stay at home with their families. Stay tuned for details as we work to bring the aquaponics project to life!

Sisterhood Exchange Program Delivers 3 Apron Shipments to U.S.

All the way from Mfangano Island, a total of 3 large shipments of aprons and jewelry, sewn and beaded by the women of the Sisterhood Exchange Program, have successfully left port and arrived in Colorado, U.S.A! Since last summer the women of the SEP craft group have been hard at work fulfilling the numerous orders placed from across the U.S. Each apron ordered directly benefits the SEP women of Mfangano. Individual orders are currently taken on a rolling basis with shipment orders sent to the SEP quarterly.

Thank you for all your support in helping us work towards our mission. We'll continue to keep you updated on our work, events, and news.

New Vision Statement

Aquaponics Project

Sisterhood Exchange Program

Links:

www.organichealthresponse.org

A Successful 2010

Rose Carr — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 03:00:11 GMT

World AIDS Day 2010

On December 1^st, 2010 the Ekialo Kiona Center hosted its 3^rdannual World AIDS Day celebration. Hundreds of guests gathered to hear speakers from all over Mfangano, with special messages from the Mfangano East Chief (below), Mfangano’s public health official, representatives from FACES and the Ministry of Health, along with other area chiefs, clan elders, church elders and community members.

Youth representatives from various villages performed poems, songs and plays, informing and challenging their peers to avoid risky behavior, to stay informed and to know their status. Twenty people were tested and counseled, helping to bring the Ekialo Kiona Center’s total number of people tested to 776!

The 2010 Year in Review:

2010 was a monumental year for OHR, and we could not have done it without your support. Below are some of the year’s exciting milestones. We:

Established OHR as a Colorado-based 501c3 non-profit
Completed initial construction of the 10,000sq-ft Ekialo Kiona Center, featuring %100 local labor and ferro-cement materials locally donated
Established the Ekialo Kiona Sisterhood Exchange Program, training over 25 local HIV+ women in crafts, income generation and business skills
Celebrated Mfangano’s first Annual Earth Day event, featuring an open forum and discussion panel and the hosting debut of EK’s Community Radio Committee
Hosted 8 UCSF medical, nursing and public health students through the freshly established OHR Volunteer Program and Home Stay Network on Mfangano
Trained and hired 20 local interpreters, community health workers and data analysts to complete the Mfangano Health Baseline Study regarding disease, HIV risk, nutrition, income and water security within the Ekialo Kiona catchment area
Officially opened the Ekialo Kiona Center for EK Members! EK Members now register through individualized HIV Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) sessions with OHR's onsite VCT counselors
Established a streamlined referral and follow-up system for HIV/AIDS care and treatment, in partnership with UCSF Family AIDS Care and Education Services
Celebrated our 3^rdAnnual World AIDS Day
Installed a 300Watt solar system, 3 Inveneo low-power workstations, with a Safaricom Internet Router to successfully provide free internet access to all EK Members
Became the leading VCT center in enrollment for all of Suba District within the first 3 months of operation

What a year! To date we have over 700 members, and EK is currently the only active stand-alone VCT center on Mfangano Island. Special thanks to all our partners and all of you for continuing to make our mission possible.

Sisterhood Exchange Group

Links:

www.organichealthresponse.org

"Colorful as People Were Happy"

Rose Carr — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 15:17:01 GMT

We are excited to share OHR's latest progress from the island! Below are a few updates from Mfangano:

Developing IT solutions for OHR’s Ekialo Kiona Center:

Working with Inveneo.org, OHR will begin installation of a full 1000W solar power system, new computer lab featuring Inveneo low-watt workstations, and a wireless broadband Internet connection for the Ekialo Kiona center. When completed, this facility will serve as the first and only community Internet access point for 20,000 remote residents on Mfangano Island.

Designing and Implementing the world’s first Micro-Clinic Network for people living with HIV/AIDS:

Comprised of self-selected relatives, friends or colleagues a “micro-clinic” is not a building but a health management collective. Rather than treating HIV+ individuals, this “social networking” program will recruit and train preexisting groups, link them through IT, and provide incentives to create a resilient network that will keep people living with HIV/AIDS healthy and rural communities strong. This program will be coordinated out of the EK Center, our MC “hub.”

Netballers unite!

On October 15^th, Ekialo Kiona successfully hosted our first netball tournament! Five all-women teams representing the villages of Kitawi, Kitenyi, Malamasa, Mauta, and the EK Sisterhood Exchange played it out in a day filled with cheer, teamwork, and prizes. In the words of EK’s executive director, Richard Magerenge, “The Friday was colorful as people were happy and the games were exciting.”

The event also drew in twenty-five new members, bringing our total membership enrollment to 615 since our June 11^th opening. Ekialo Kiona is now the only facility offering VCT services on Mfangano.

Thank you!

In the spirit of the season, we would like to specially thank all of you. Without your continued support the mission of OHR would not be possible. We are thankful for you!

With peace,

The OHR Family

Links:

www.organichealthresponse.org

Alive and Growing!

Annika Terrana and Katie Fiorella — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 03:25:38 GMT

We have a large team on Mfangano this summer working hard to move our vision forward! Below are updates sent directly from the island! Thank you for all your support, we could not do what we do without all of you!

In June, Organic Health Response officially opened the Ekialo Kiona Center for membership! Since opening, Ekialo Kiona has enrolled over 400 members, all of whom have gone for Voluntary Testing and Counseling.

Voluntary Counseling and Testing-World Cup Program – The World Cup Program was a resounding success. In just a few months after opening our VCT program, OHR has tested over 400 individuals, more than any other Suba District VCT Clinic in this time period. Ekialo Kiona Club members also enjoyed the opportunity to watch the World Cup with our new projector and satellite tv!

Research Project – Organic Health Response is hosting a team of UCSF/UCB Global Health students and supporting a research project in Mfangano East. The student group has supported nine newly hired research staff members and OHR staff in learning research methods and how to carry out the upcoming household survey. The survey will assess community health and demographics, including income, food, and water security, HIV/AIDS knowledge, and social support. Both staff and community members look forward to getting started with the project and using the information to shape OHR's programming.

Agriculture – With the help of a grant from the Rotary Foundation, our farmers are planning farm improvements and new programs! The increased support is allowing OHR's organic farmers to prepare the farm for demonstrations and to support broader community programs.

Grant Writing – With the help of OHR Grant's Coordinator, Hannah Grath, OHR hosted a grant-writing workshop in mid-July. Over 20 community members were trained on how to formulate a proposal, research grant opportunities online, and write a grant.

HIV+ Women's Craft Group – The craft group's sewing, paper, and beadwork departments are going strong. The group is looking forward to additional training in sewing and will soon add a suite of apron designs to their repertoire!

Ekialo Kiona Radio – The Ekialo Kiona Community Radio Committee is currently working to develop strong programming for EK's radio station, to air sometime next year, focusing on positive health, environmental issues, and social solidarity, among other relevant topics. The committee has hosted several community events, including a hugely successful Earth Day, and several HIV awareness forums, and continues to meet regularly for journalism skill development workshops.

Sustainable Design Guild – In addition to constructing the Ekialo Kiona sustainable building, the Sustainable Design Guild has led several ferro-cement training workshops with local masons and a neighboring technical school.

Until next time, The OHR Team

We Feel it Too!

Kelsi Hines and Rose Carr — Sat, 15 May 2010 02:44:55 GMT

The Organic Health Response has been feeling the momentum of their work spread across Mfangano and the world. After the great turn out on World AIDS Day 2009, Organic Health Response celebrated the 2nd Earth Day event on Mfangano this April. The day was filled with events such as garbage pickup competition, tree seedling give away, organic pesticide demo, stone collecting competition, and Voluntary Counseling and Testing services. The event ended with the Radio Committee broadcasting earth friendly facts on the microphone and the declaration of Mfangano’s first Environmental Hero Award.

We are almost half way through 2010 and we’ve really been gaining ground. With construction soon coming to complete on the Ekialo Kiona Center, the building crew has been offered future opportunities to use and teach their skills of sustainable design around the island. A vocational school on Mfangano has hired the crew to teach their students the ferro cement technique and build additional living quarters.

We’ve hired community members from the surrounding communities representing Mfangano East to act as a secretary, groundskeeper, security guards, receptionist, and information technologist at the Ekialo Kiona Center. All were hired by January 2010 and have been helping the OHR Director get the Ekialo Kiona Center off the ground.

Beyond Mfangano, friends of the Organic Health Response across the globe have been sharing the mission with fundraisers and awareness events. This year events have taken place in San Francisco, Minneapolis, and Hangzhou, China with a great response.

Plans are already moving forward for the summer in Mfangano with a group of students from the University of California San Francisco traveling to the island for research. They plan to evaluate program effectiveness and determine potential scalability of Organic Health Response pilot programs for similarly affected communities across Lake Victoria, sub-Saharan Africa, and beyond.

Thank you for your support and continued belief in our mission. The community of Mfangano and volunteers and staff of Organic Health Response genuinely appreciate your compassion and contributions. As one of the community members said “When I'm at EK (Ekialo Kiona Center), I'm feeling happy.” We feel it too!

It's been a great year!

Rose Carr — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:04:45 GMT

It's been a great year for the Organic Health Response ... we launched our new website at www.organichealthresponse.org, we celebrated Worlds AIDS Day on December 1st, 2009, with over 1,000 visitors for the Ekialo Kiona Soccer game and Awareness Events at our project site in Western Kenya, and we're getting even closer to finishing construction of the solar-powered Ekialo Kiona community resource center.

We are so grateful for all of the continued support we have received. The Mfangano community truly felt this support in 2009 through all of the progress during the year.

In 2008, when we set our building completion date for December 1st, 2009 – in celebration of World AIDS Day – we knew we were setting ourselves up for a challenge. We gave ourselves 1 full year to design and build a solar powered community center … on a remote island in the middle of Lake Victoria, with no electricity, no vehicles, and a 3-hour wooden ferryboat ride between the mainland and our site at Kitawi Beach on Mfangano Island. We also decided to build this center as from our community---no outside contracting firms... We decided to build the EK center from local designs, with local sand and stones, with 100% local labor, and through local leadership.

So far, we’ve encountered only a few bumps along the way. Designed, built, and managed almost entirely by Kenyans, we are extremely proud of our work thus far. We continue to work hard to complete the roof, windows, doors, and interior details. Our next steps of interior set-up and program implementation will begin in the Spring of 2010.

Stay tuned for more updates in 2010. We have a lot to look forward to, including the launch of the Ekialo Kiona Radio Station set to launch in the spring and the Micro-Clinic Network in the summer of 2010. Produced in Suba and Luo language, Ekialo Kiona Radio will facilitate health and nutrition awareness, sustainable agriculture and fishing innovation, youth engagement, indigenous culture and history, and original music. EKR will help maintain our network of micro-clinics, give young people a chance to contribute their voices, and cement a sense of solidarity for thousands of isolated people across Lake Victoria.

Through partnership with the Global Micro-Clinic Project, OHR is designing special workshops to empower 100 cooperatives of 5-25 people with practical tools to address the biological and social aspects of HIV/AIDS infection. This micro-clinic network will serve as a social infrastructure across Mfangano to implement sustainable initiatives such as organic farm plots, composting bio-gas latrines, solar cooking ovens, and other innovative health programs.

A huge thank you for being a part of the Organic Health Response and helping our work move forward. We can't wait for 2010 and will continue to keep you updated. As Chas Salmen said, "The vision we have been talking about for 3 years is really happening."

Mfangano Island update

Matt Werner — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:41:08 GMT

Laying the ferrocement foundation of the Ekialo Kiona Center

Chas Salmen, the Organic Health Response-Global Micro-Clinic Project HIV/AIDS Initiative Director, has recently returned from Mfangano Island in Kenya. He has given me the following information to update you on the progress of “Micro-Clinics and Organic Farms for HIV+ Kenyans.”

The Ekialo Kiona Center is on schedule to be completed by World AIDS Day: December 1, 2009. The Ekialo Kiona Center is the community center hub on the island, which will feature a solar-powered computer lab, library, classrooms, micro-clinic rooms, office, and conference room, with an amphitheater just outside the building.

The attached video and photos show the progress of construction on the center, as well as how the micro-clinic network will extend across the island, with the Ekialo Kiona Center as its hub.

Nancy Bui, the Director of Research Administration for the Global Micro-Clinic Project, has also returned from Mfangano Island, where she completed a needs assessment of the people on Mfangano Island who have been impacted by HIV/AIDS. The GMCP and its partner, the Organic Health Response, are currently compiling information, going over collected data, and assembling a research team for its next trip to Kenya in December. The micro-clinics, which aim to empower Mfangano residents to prevent and manage HIV/AIDS, are scheduled to be rolled out in summer 2010.

Chas Salmen has finished his Master’s thesis at Oxford University, and is currently at the University of California, San Francisco. Thank you for continuing to support this project. We are currently pursuing speaking venues to share our experiences working on Mfangano Island and our micro-clinic model.

If you know of a good venue for us to speak at—anything from a church group, classroom, social club, your work, etc., we would like to hear your recommendations. We are based out of the San Francisco Bay Area, and also have staff available for speaking engagements in New York and Washington, DC. We would love to connect with others who share our mission of empowering communities to find sustainable solutions to prevent and manage diseases.

Please post a reply on our globalgiving.com page, or e-mail me at mattwerner [at] gmcp.org

Best, Matt Werner Vice President of Marketing, Development, and Communications The Global Micro-Clinic Project

Chas Salmen on the Ekialo Kiona Center site

Ekialo Kiona Center being built by local builders

Links:

Update 05.22.09

Chas Salmen — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:42:39 GMT

Ekialo Kiona Center design sketch

First of all, a huge thank you to everyone whose donations thus far have helped move us towards a completed Community Center, a staff of trained HIV counselors, and internet access for thousands of Kenya’s most at risk men, women and children. And we are making progress! The Ekialo Kiona community center has been under construction for the past two months—the foundation is laid, walls are coming up, and with continued support we are on schedule for an October completion (see attached photos). In addition to work on the Center itself, we’ve added exciting new partners to help develop not only a community run radiostation and IT program, but also an affiliated youth development program. As noted in the main project summary, EKR will broadcast with a10KW transmitter from the top of Soklo mountain on Mfangano Island to ensure the maximum possible coverage. This station will feature community-driven programs, designed in collaboration with international partners, aimed at raising health awareness, mobilizing youth activism, improving social solidarity, introducing sustainable agriculture and fishing ideas, entertainment, and preserving the endangered Suba language and cultural identity. The station brings together local residents to design programming that cuts to the heart of the health crisis on Mfangano. Produced in Suba and Luo language, EKR will help maintain our network of micro-clinics, give young people a chance to contribute their voices, and cement a sense of solidarity for thousands of isolated people across Lake Victoria. We are working with the African Broadcast Association (ABA) and Youth Factor, a pro-bono consulting group dedicated to facilitating youth empowerment projects, on a variety of short and long-term goals. These include the instillation of radio equipment, hiring and training local staff, and most excitingly, designing a state of the art youth radio program that will get the young people of Mfangano directly involved in fighting the HIV epidemic in their communities. With the continued support of foundations, international partners, and individual donors like you, the EKR will begin broadcasting in February 2010. In addition to recent work on the EKR, we have made great strides in developing the personnel and resources necessary to launch micro-clinics in the Spring of 2010. A micro-clinic represents a therapy management collective of neighbors, relatives, and friends who come together to provide psycho-social, nutritional, and treatment-adherence support for people living with HIV/AIDS. Through partnership with the Global Micro-Clinic Project, OHR is designing special workshops to empower 100 teams of 5-8 people with practical tools to address the biological and social aspects of HIV/AIDS infection. This micro-clinic network will serve as a social infrastructure across Mfangano to implement sustainable initiatives such as organic farm plots, composting bio-gas latrines, solar cooking ovens, and other innovative health programs. In July an international team including staff from GMCP, OHR, and Oxford University will travel to Mfangano to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment for the roll-out of micro-clinics across the island next spring. Progress has been consistent so far and with the completion of the center, as well as staffing and program roll-outs, still to come, this promises to be a tremendously exciting year for OHR and the people of Mfangano. On a personal note, this December and January I had an opportunity to spend 2 more months with my friends on Mfangano Island as we prepared to break ground on the Ekialo Kiona Center construction. During our first Organic Health Response Board meeting we used a solar-powerd laptop and cellphone modem to view our GlobalGiving website; one board member jumped with excitement to see his photo on the worldwide web. The vocal appreciation from students, farmers, fishermen, community health workers, and village elders, their overwhelming enthusiasm, and the reinvigorated sense of community present at the work site, reminded me each of the lives that this program is already begining to touch. Thank you for your support, each contribution is bringing us closer to giving these remote villages the tools they need to turn the tide against HIV/AIDS.”

Ekialo Kiona Center floorplan

the construction team hard at work