Physical Health Kenya Project #2511

Organic Health Response for HIV/AIDS in Kenya

by Organic Health Response

Project Report | Feb 29, 2012
2011 - The Year in Review

By Rose Carr | Communications Coordinator

The year 2011 was incredibly exciting for the Organic Health Response. Below are a number of activities that have been moving forward during the year. Thank you for your continued support as we grow as an organization!

CONSTRUCTION COMPLETE AT EKIALO KIONA CENTER

In Spring 2011, the Ekialo Kiona Sustainable Design Guild completed construction of the 10,000ft2 Ekialo Kiona Community Center at Kitawi Beach. Trained in lightweight Ferro-cement techniques, the crew built and roofed the east wing of the EK center, which now serve as confidential HIV counseling rooms. The Ekialo Kiona Center reached over 1,400 members, all of whom now know their HIV status. All HIV tested EK Members have free and unlimited access to the Cyber Lab, library, conference rooms, and the open-air amphitheater.

CYBER-VCT UPGRADE

Ten sleek ultra-low power Inveneo computers reached the EK Center in July, along with upgraded networking and seminar equipment. With help from OHR IT Coordinator Brian Mattah, Mfangano residents have been learning typing, word processing, and Internet skills. The Ekialo Kiona Center is the only Internet facility or library on the island serving over 20,000 isolated Mfangano residents. Students, teachers, health workers, farmers, and fisherman from the community come here to research innovative ideas for sustainable health, fishing, agriculture and educational opportunities.

OHR & MCI ROLLOUT MFANGANO MICROCLINIC PILOT PROGRAM

After 3 years of productive collaboration, OHR has formalized our partnership with Micro clinic International (MCI) to implement an innovative social support pilot for the HIV-affected communities of Lake Victoria. With a newly hired & volunteer staff of 12, the team has successfully registered over 40 micro-clinic groups from the island to participate in a comprehensive training designed to empower them with the practical tools to address HIV/AIDS in their affected networks. The Mfangano Island Healthy Network Impact Study (MIHNIS) began in October 2011. This study will assess the impact of the novel Micro-Clinic program targeted at HIV-affected networks in Western Kenya. The MIHNIS will evaluate the effectiveness of this intervention for improving antiretroviral treatment adherence, HIV/AIDS disease trajectory, social support, and risk behaviors among people living with HIV/AIDS and their associated social support networks.

DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM INSTALLED ON EK ORGANIC FARM

In Fall 2011 a drip irrigation system – one of the first of its kind on Mfangano Island – was installed at the EK Farm. The new system, with drip lines and a new 3,000L water storage tank, is a vital step toward our goals of enhancing organic nutrition for EK members and promoting sustainable agriculture on the island.

SISTERHOOD EXCHANGE PROGRAM COMPLETES 6 SHIPMENTS OF CRAFTS TO U.S.

Meeting twice weekly at the EK Center, the men and women of the Sisterhood Exchange Program continued their handmade production of African aprons and jewelry. In 6 separate shipments, over 300 beautiful African aprons, handmade jewelry and paper products found new homes in Colorado, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The SEP also completed three additional training exchanges, returning home with newly acquired craft and business skills. The income earned through the Sisterhood supports many families on the island with food, school fees and healthcare, and empowers women with an independent income.

350 BICYCLES & 300 HELMETS EN ROUTE TO MFANGANO

In December, over 350 donated bicycles and 300 helmets from Colorado, USA were packed into a 40ft shipping container bound for Mfangano Island. These bicycles will stock EK’s new Bike Shop, providing EK Members bicycles at a special discounted price. With only one ring road encircling half the island, bicycles provide an easy and affordable transportation option for residents, improving access to healthcare and treatment facilities, schools and village centers. A big thanks to Bicycles for Humanity-Colorado and Greg Lynch.

OHR CELEBRATES 4th ANNUAL WORLD AIDS DAY 2011

On December 4th, in honor of World AIDS Day, Mfangano held the island’s first-ever road race! Over 50 residents registered to run, each learning their own HIV status before the kick-off. Men and women of all ages participated running a 5- or 10-km leg. OHR also kicked off the December “Get to Zero, Get to $5,000” campaign that highlighted four notable dates in honor of four groundbreaking OHR programs. Thank you to all who donated! Because of you we are now a step closer to zero AIDS-related deaths, zero new HIV-infections, and zero discrimination.

WEST COAST ROUNDTABLE A SUCCESS!

This spring, OHR members from across the U.S. convened in San Francisco for the first official OHR retreat. With over 15 volunteers present we spent the weekend 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.

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.”

Links:

www.organichealthresponse.org

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Nov 15, 2011
Fall Updates from OHR

By Rose Carr | Communications Coordinator

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"

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Aug 12, 2011
Summer of Success

By Rose Carr | Communications Coordinator

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

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