DECENT HOUSING AND THE COLLISION WITH CULTURE

Nyanza province in Western Kenya is majorly inhabited by members of the Luo community, a Nilotic group that came into Kenya from Sudan. This community community's chief economic activity is fishing along the Lake Victoria and small farming activities.

Most of the Luo speaking people's activities are regulated by cultural and traditional practices that chiefly centre on sexual intercourse. In era of HIV/AIDS this is a sure way of helping spread the disease. It is no wonder that Nyanza province leads Kenya with the rate of HIV/AIDS infections and death. The onset of a planting season is commenced with sex, harvesting and even building a decent house after a spouse's death. When a man dies leaving behind a dilapidated house, the widow's only chance of repairing her house or building a new one is to accept the community's choice of a man to "inherit" her. Such kind of inheritance is usually against the will of the widow and does not take into account the incidental health risk to the widow who must now succumb to the whims of the villagers on pain of being sent away from her marital home. Forever.

A widow's only chance to decent housing is to risk their lives or have sex with HIV positive men thereby increasing their viral loads and decreasing their years on earth at great detriment to the orphans left behind.

A number of couragious women are joining hands with as to say NO to this inhuman and flagrant violation of the rights of these women and would like to have better houses for them and their children. Leaking houses bring cold and discomfort to young souls who shift all around the house looking for drier palces as it rains. This has put many children and widows to frequent threats of Pneumonia, Malaria, Coughs and many other diseases. Help us build homes for these women of courage and send a strong message politely and firmly that : Yes We Can".

The Plight of HIV/AIDS orphans in Kabondo, Kenya

Orphans in Nyanza province (which leads kenya with the rate of HIV/AIDS) face a number of challenges. One of these isthe psychological trauma resulting from the prolonged illnesses of their parents.

Young children as young as 9 - 12 years old are forced to change roles to act as care givers to their parents as they live out the last days of HIV/AIDS. These include their parents facing the humiliation of having to be cleaned of excrement by their young children and the children themselves bearing the burden that is beyond their call of their innocence and youth. These people die after exhausting all the meagre family income leaving the children with nothing to fall back to.

These children need educational support (school levies, school uniforms, school textbooks and exercise books, shoes, clothes, health care and food), psycho social support and support with shelter for those who are left in grass thatched houses exposed to the vagaries of the weather.

Their guardians, foster parents and well wishers who stay with them also need training and support to be able to carry out small businesses that can help them to take care of the children in a sustainable way.

Currently 1,810 orphans are registered with us. Out of these 37 have been confirmed to be HIV positive. We presume they contracted the disease in their innocence as they cared for their parents without any knowledge about hygiene or anything else. These are the people we seek your help to support.