Improving the quality of lives

People living with HIV/AIDS (PWAs) in rural Western Kenya are learning to improve the quality of their lives through better food production. The Kenya AIDS Intervention Prevention Project Group (KAIPPG) is a local NGO that has been running HIV/AIDS programmes in rural communities in the small town of Mumias, 50 km from the Uganda border. One of the projects KAIPPG has created is the Community Based Dietary Intervention Project (CBDIP), a programme designed to give PWAs better information on nutrition and to provide support to HIV/AIDS affected households, James Onyango KAIPPG executive director, told PlusNews. "Nutrition is the medicine of the 21st century as far as HIV/AIDS is concerned. People need education on the value of food for HIV/AIDS prevention," he said. Poverty and low agricultural production have made the community increasingly vulnerable to food insecurity. The ability of farmers to grow food has also been reduced by the impact of HIV/AIDS. Under the scheme, KAIPPG selected 180 women to form "field schools", where they were trained in crop husbandry and food production. They were also taught how to care for HIV-infected children, hygiene tips to keep food safe to eat. These groups, through their group leaders, were also trained to give basic treatment and care to other sick members. Community members donated parcels of land and labour, which were harnessed through a "merry-go-round system". Each group raised crops on their allocated piece of land and passed on a certain percentage of their harvest to the next group. This was to ensure that the project was sustainable, Onyango said. The nutrition field schools were further divided into three small groups of 10 people to address the needs of weak and terminally ill PWAs. The 10 members maintained daily contact with each other, assisted one another in tilling the farms, and selling their farm products. "KAIPPG helped me discover that nutrition was a very vital component in a HIV/AIDS patient’s life. I was taught that a wasting syndrome called cachexia could be dealt with well by having a balanced diet. With good nutrition, dry mouth and mouth sores could be avoided. One lives longer and fights diseases accordingly," Celesencia Maloba, a beneficiary of the project, said in a report on the project. According to Onyango, projects such as these have helped reduce the high levels of stigma in the community. "With so many activities, people are coming to accept HIV/AIDS as a reality," he added. KAIPPG has also formed a network of six theatre groups to educate people about HIV/AIDS. In cultures where storytelling is used as a primary educational tool and where illiteracy is high, such presentations have proved to be a very effective tool, Onyango noted. During a recent visit to the district, a volunteer witnessed presentations about the role wife inheritance plays in the spread of HIV/AIDS, the effects of social isolation of infected individuals, and families who choose to use traditional healers instead of Western medicine to "heal" those who are infected with HIV. The NGO also employs two nurses who run mobile outreach clinics and a permanent facility for AIDS education, maternal-child education and monitoring the nutritional status of infants and young children. The mobile clinics operate a monthly cycle of visits to strategically placed rural communities. For more information about KAIPPG