With just a $26 micro-grant, Tabitha Festo started selling vegetables on the streets of Nairobi and started a medical clinic out of her home. With much dedication and partnership, that same clinic today has grown to serve tens thousands in the heart of Kibera. Your assistance will help continue the work that Tabitha started by providing healthcare, family planning, counseling, and testing/laboratory services through the Tabitha Clinic for 45,000+ people in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, Kenya.
Kibera, located in Nairobi, Kenya, is one of the most densely populated urban settlements worldwide. Because Kibera lacks basic government services, like sanitation and sewage, the slum's 1 million residents suffer from many infectious diseases. Meanwhile, there is a severe shortage of health services. The Tabitha Medical Clinic provides basic healthcare to 45,000 Kibera residents annually and serves as the referral clinic in the slum for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).
CFK's clinic provides free HIV testing and treatment and organizes support groups for those living with the disease, in addition to providing treatment for those with diseases like cholera, malaria, TB, and influenza. Outside the clinic, health clubs in schools focus on prevention and teach youth basic sexual health education. To increase prevention, CFK is currently training 100 community health care workers to provide basic care and promote improved hygiene behaviors to 10,000 homes.
An estimated 7-12% of Kibera's population suffers from HIV/AIDS and thousands die annually of preventable disease. Through your help and the work of Carolina for Kibera outcomes will be three fold: 1) Kibera will have healther families with improved access to healthcare, 2) Community action will decrease illness from preventable disease and 3) Mothers, children and those living with HIV/AIDS will have comprehensive care.
