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HIV/AIDS is a national disaster for the people of
Kenya as it is wherever it is found worldwide. Children
face the loss of one or both parents and possibly
being infected themselves, and youth are at great
risk of being physically and sexually exploited, neglected,
and stigmatized. They often drop out of school and
face an uncertain and precarious future. Women and
grandparents become the sole caretakers of their families.
Communities suffer as do individuals and the society
as a whole.
HIV/AIDS and Holistic Development in Kenya
WHAT WE ADDRESS:
1) All aspects of HIV/AIDS
2) Other human-development challenges, such as poverty,
hunger, low literacy and lack of education, human-rights
concerns, inadequate healthcare.
3) Sustainability and eco-living
4) The special challenges faced by youth and women
5) Access and use of ICTs
6) Use of the arts for HIV/AIDS education and prevention
AIDS 2004 BANGKOK
In Bangkok there will be two representatives of the
work we are collectively doing in Kenya. Stan
Tuvako (poet, playwright, activist) will
present his own work (“Youth Awareness Perspective”,
“Poetry in the Note of Life”) and that
of ANFORD, ActALIVE, and KAIPPG as this has been applied
to projects in Nakuru, Kenya. Ingrid Kloet
of Planet Poz will be discussing the “Hands
Project” which she and her husband, Steve
Garrett, brought to Kenya and introduced
to the Little Lambs Project, an organization
which helps orphaned children.
Presentations will include:
Youth Awareness Perspective
A community-service and peer-education project
which addresses social and health issues for youth,
and uses the arts and ICTs to connect youth nationally
and internationally.
Hands Project-Kenya
A panel created by the children of the Little
Lambs program in Nakuru will be displayed, and its
creation discussed. The Hands Project, which originated
in Thailand, seeks to empower individuals and communities
affected by HIV/AIDS through use of the arts. The
project involves making brightly-colored murals printed
through the application of painted hands to cloth
or paper, which are then signed by the participants.
It is the brainchild of Jose Luis Cano and the Life
Home Project in Phuket. for more about this simple
yet empowering activity,
write to Jose at [email protected],
and visit them at the conference.
ActALIVE
This coalition, which has 250 members in
25 countries, will be discussed in terms of its work
in Nakuru, Kenya.
Planet Poz
Will have an exhibition booth.
GRASSUP NOW
This project,
involving four nonprofits in Kenya, is an initiative
sponsored by The Commonwealth of Learning.
It focuses on four program areas: nutrition, income-generation,
environmental education, and the use of ICTs and ODL
(open and distance learning) to deliver content. It
seeks to develop materials which can be shared by
all members for mutual community benefit, and will
hopefully create a program model which can be transferred
to other parts of Kenya and the world. Involved in
this program are both KAIPPG and OVF-Kenya, the OneVillage
Foundation affiliate in Mbita, which is establishing
the first of what it hopes will be many “Unity
Centers” throughout Africa, focusing
on ICTs-aided holistic development.
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KAIPPG (Kenya
AIDS Intervention Prevention Project Group)
is a grassroots NGO which addresses all aspects of
HIV/AIDS in addition to poverty/alleviation, mal/nutrition,
education and general healthcare, human-rights, gender
and youth concerns, sustainability and eco-living,
and ICTs access and use. Its international branch
does global outreach and fundraising. [email protected]
(James Onyango)
KAIPPG/International (USA) founder
Janet Feldman
([email protected]) has also organized ActALIVE,
an international arts coalition whose members use
the arts/media/ICTs to address HIV/AIDS and other
human-development challenges.
ANFORD (African Nations Foundation for Rural
Development) is a youth group which works
on peer education efforts in schools and communities,
and is especially active in projects related to the
arts and with children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.
[email protected]
(Stan Tuvako)
[email protected]
(Edward Amani)
Planet
Poz is a US-based organization which
works in conjunction with ANFORD, KAIPPG, ActALIVE,
and others to develop programs for HIV/AIDS-affected
youth. It is also an advocacy organization for treatment
access and all issues related to PLWHAS, or people
living with HIV/AIDS.
[email protected]
(Ingrid Kloet)
onevillagefoundation
is a US-based nonprofit with affiliates in
Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria. Its mission is to integrate
sustainable development policies and programs with
the use of ICTs, and to promote concepts of eco-living
which will help to address HIV/AIDS in holistic ways.
[email protected]
(Joy Tang) [email protected]
(Kennedy Onyango)
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