Kenya and AIDS

Kenya
Kenya is a country of great ethnic diversity with Kenyans boasting of 42 separate tribes and even more local languages. Tribal violence is a common problem. During the early 1990s, clashes killed thousands and left tens of thousands homeless. Ethnically split opposition groups and a single party state dictatorship allowed the regime of Daniel arap Moi, in power from 1978 until 2002, to be re-elected for four terms, with the elections in 1997, 2002 and 2007 all being marred by violence and fraud.   In 2007, after the worst election violence in Kenyan history, the deaths of hundreds and displacement of hundreds of thousands, a government of national unity was formed which has brought back a decent level of stability to the country.

Where we work
The Katito Community is found within the Nyanza Province of Kenya, about a 40 minute drive from Kisumu on the edge of Lake Victoria. This part of Kenya has been hit hard by HIV/AIDS and many families are run by children, are headed by a sickly parent or rely heavily on aged grandparents.

Kenya and HIV/AIDS

• Kenya has declared HIV/AIDS a national disaster as it has more than 2,100,000 people living with AIDS and HIV; that is 14% of the population. It is estimated that more than 1.5 million people have already died due to AIDS and that 500 people die each day from the disease.
• AIDS is spreading very rapidly. Poverty, ignorance and traditional practices such as wife inheritance have exacerbated the problem. People are poorly educated on safe sex and on exactly what AIDS is.
• Young people are at the most risk of being infected with AIDS. Many already have been infected or were born with it.  As many as a million children have become orphans because their parents have died of AIDS. 
• Orphans are not a new phenomenon in Kenya, but the scale of the problem is. In the past, aunts and uncles took the orphaned children of their sisters and brothers into their own homes. Now, all too often the aunts and uncles are also dead, or too poor to help
• Add to this the recent social and political unrest and limited access to food and you have many communities in Kenya on the verge of starvation.