Community-based Empowerment

One of the biggest questions that has been raised about the CARE for AIDS model concerns continuity in the success of clients after they finish their nine-month time with the center. Over the past year, our center workers have come up with several ways to address this concern and insure that clients don't simply fall off the map, into their old ways of life, after their time with CFA is finished.

A big step in accomplishing this goal was taken when Rosemary and Humphrey, the workers at the Imani center, started registering their clients as a "support group" with the Ministry of Gender and Social Services. This is a designation that they took with them after finishing with the center in December, and it means that they will continue meeting together once a month - the women in one group, and the men in another. Imani Baptist has agreed to let them continue using the church building to meet, and in this way Rosemary and Humphrey can keep a watchful eye on the group without taking too much time away from working with their new clients. This is key in helping all of the former clients to maintain the sense of community and fellowship that they developed during from the CFA center, and it provides a great chance for them to encourage and love one another on a consistent basis

Additionally, HIV/AIDS support groups are eligible to receive help from the government through occasional initiatives launched by government bodies. The support group of former Imani clients applied for a government-sponsored project that subsidizes the building of commercial fish ponds, and just this past week they were granted the project. One of the clients donated some land that her family owned, and they secured a gift of a thousand young fish to start breeding after the pond was completed. The group elected a secretary and a treasurer to keep things organized, and they started contributing small amounts of money toward the project costs.

Yesterday I visited the sight of the fish pond, and I was amazed by what I saw! About 20 clients were helping to dig the pond (about 50 by 100 feet, and 5 feet deep), and a few more clients, who were too old to dig, were preparing some vegetables for all of them to eat. They had used their combined financial contributions to pay for some additional laborers and the food, and they were keeping careful records of attendance and payment. I was so impressed with the joy and enthusiasm that all of the former clients displayed in undertaking their work - I talked to several of them who were so excited about the prospect of generating an income through this endeavor, and especially about the fact that they were working together with people that they knew and trusted. For people like Grace Ndutu, the group's treasurer, who had previously been stigmatized and afraid to go out among people to work, this is a huge encouragement! I also met with the government representative for the project, Vincent, who insured me that the group was doing a great job and they would soon receive plastic sheeting and water to fill the pond.

It's so exciting to see economic empowerment like this that really works! I am incredibly proud of the industriousness and persistence of these clients, and I am praying for success in this venture and in future ventures that are still on the drawing board.