Vegetables for mothers
Patricia Korver, CEO and founder of ChildsLife has just returned from a project visit to Kenya. She reports that our current 2 groups of mothers are turning out to be very keen gardeners!
As part of the Live, Learn, Earn hiv mothers program, ChildsLife now provides mothers with 'Kitchen Gardens'. Kitchen Gardens allow mothers to grow their own vegetables at home. The Kitchen Garden consists of a firm grow bag filled with good, fertile soil and high quality seeds. Onions, kale and spinach can be grown and provide good quality and healthy food for mothers and their family. The bags are placed either outside the mothers' homes or within a fenced and secured area, depending on the situation.
Healthy nutrion is a key element in recovery and regaining and maintaining strength. Growing food within the slums is very challenging as there is hardly any fertile soil to grow on in the surroundings. Kitchen Gardens has proven to be a succesful solution.
I am proud to announce that another round of candidates of our latest group of the ChildsLife Live, Learn & Earn HIV Program in the Kenyan Mukuru kwa Reuben slum have attended a festive Graduation Ceremony. During the 12 month program, the women worked hard and have regained their health & learned business skills they can use in their daily lives. They are now more in control of their health and have become financially stable and able to provide for their children. They see their futures are bright!
Over the years more than 2000 women have followed the 12 month Live, Learn, Earn program. The program has encouraged awareness and openness about HIV in the Kenyan slums. It has fought against discrimination. LLE has countered the generalization that people with HIV brought it upon themselves by promiscuous behavior. The program has helped HIV/AIDS patients overcome fear of rejection by spouses, family and friends. The program has given the members financial stability. But most importantly, the program has given the members a second chance to life.
The ChildsLife Live, Learn, Earn program is succesful but we currently have over 200 women on waiting lists in Mukuru and Kibera Slums in Nairobi. We want to help these women. We hope we can count on your continued support. Also if you know of anyone else who would be interested to help too, please forward this message.
Thank you so much!
With warm regards
Patricia Korver-Kicak
Links:
When women are diagnosed with HIV-AIDS, their world collapses. Often, they are condemned by their community and family, or even abandoned by their partner. Because she of her illness, it is incredibly hard for her to work and earn money to feed herself and her children.
For this reason, the 3 phases of the ChildsLife Live, Learn, Earn program are important. But what are these three phases?
Phase 1 Live: Medical care, psychological support and counseling, food packages and supplements to regain strength.
Phase 2 Learn: Group therapy and a wide range of workshops, including AIDS prevention and family planning.
Phase 3 Earn: Business training and upon successful completion women are offered a business grant, which is used to start their own business. Women become financially independent and can provide for their family.
To date 1900 HIV+ women from Kibera and Mukuru Slums in Nairobi, Kenya have successfully graduated from the program, regained their independence and rebuilt a future for themselves and their children.
Thank you for your support in 2018!
Links:
Mobikit with solar computer technology for the LLE program
In Africa’s slums and rural areas, many women learn of their HIV status through antenatal and childbirth services – yet only 10 percent of women receive antenatal care. In order to improve access to health care for HIV positive women and girls and to stop transmission to newborns, ChildsLife has introduced the ChildsLife Health Care Provider Network for its Live, Learn, Earn program for HIV mothers.
With mobile natal kits, which include solar powered backpacks equipped with laptops, tailor made medical software and medical kits, ChildsLife health workers are able to reach out, diagnose and treat HIV mothers and ensure they receive all the necessary medical care, including supervised birth, in a local hospital.
To date an additional 300 pregnant HIV+ women and those intending to get pregnant from Kibera Slum in Nairobi, Kenya have been enrolled in the LLE program.
With this innovative technology, ChildsLife provides an environment where women with HIV receive critical care and are able to give birth to healthy children.
What are the results?
To date 1900 HIV+ women from Kibera and Mukuru Slums in Nairobi, Kenya have successfully graduated from the program, regained their independence and rebuilt a future for themselves and their children.
Introduction video
Watch the video in the attachements where we introduce the MobiKit to you.
Links:
‘’... I remember a couple of months back I was in critical condition. So I decided to call some of my church members to come and fellowship in my house. I thought by so doing, I would get encouraged and easily pick up myself and try to live positively. But trust me not, I felt quite hopeless after the experience. They literally showed me to my face that there was little hope of survival for me.
But alas, am still living! This program has given me hope and renewed my strength. I have discovered that I’m not the only poor mother living with this condition in a very poor environment.
Through this program, we have encouraged each other and I am now a better person than I was before becoming a member of LLE,’’ Flora.
‘’we have come together. The teachings have been very useful. We are united like brothers and sisters. We stand as one and can now survive.!”’ Isabel
‘’the food we received was important but it was the education that will have the longest effect.’’ Maya
Links:
Project Reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you will get an e-mail when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports via e-mail without donating.
We'll only email you new reports and updates about this project.
