Improve the wellbeing of 10,000 Orphans in Kenya

: ACTIVITY PROCEEDINGS

The purpose of this activity was to increase sustainability by ensuring the beneficiaries have owned the activity for a long and will continue doing after WE REACH exits. WE REACH conducted training for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) caregivers on the kitchen garden and how to start a small business in their community. The caregivers were selected because of the learners the organization is supporting in schools so that they can be able to sustain them and the children they take care of. This will go a long way because it will ensure that the families will not go hungry and will have a balanced diet, and also will better their economic status. This will be beneficial especially to the OVCs living with HIV.

Kitchen garden

The caregivers were trained on how they can start and maintain their kitchen garden. It was made clear to them that a kitchen garden is a small shamba or garden near their houses, where they can plant various vegetables and fruits. It was vivid that not any other shamba or garden can be called a kitchen garden.

It came out during the training that a kitchen garden can play a vital role in the sustainability of the family. That is food basket and also financial stability. The caregivers were urged to use the kitchen garden as a source of income-generating activities by selling part of their produce in the local market. This will enable them to acquire other essential needs like clothes, shoes, and school fees among others.

 In managing and maintenance of the garden, it was discussed and agreed that they can use the traditional method in yielding more produce by boosting the fertility of the soil by using animal waste and ash to prevent pests from damaging the crops. They were taught how to make compost mature and other organic fertilizers that cannot harm the soil.

Caregivers were urged to text their garden’s soil in order to know the acidity of the soil so that they may decide what is the best crop to plant.

Animal keeping such as poultry farming, dairy farming also bee farming were discussed in detail and the caregivers were encouraged to practice them. One of the participants gave her experience in poultry keeping. She said that the raring of chickens has many benefits. One it gives eggs, meat, and mature for the kitchen garden.   

The caregivers who did not have gardens were encouraged to start developing their own because it’s an important initiative in the homestead. This cuts down the budget by 50% of the house. Therefore, making it a ness city for each and every household to embrace.

How to Start a Small Business?

Having or owning a business is one of the ways of earning a living apart from being employed. Owing to the current situation in the country and the world on the Coronavirus pandemic, most of the population has lost their jobs and some are getting half of their salaries. Therefore, participants saw the importance of owning a business in the current crisis of unemployment.

 Some questions like what need is there in my community? What can I do to address the need? And also where can I get the capital to address the need? The aspect of getting out of their comfort zone was emphasized in a way that, gives them the motivation to pursue the unknown hoping for a better ending.

Discussion and brainstorming were used to bring out the business opportunity available in their community which is; poultry keeping, selling fruits, vegetables, masks, and liquid hand washing soap among others. Some caregivers have businesses that helped in the discussion on how they started their businesses, their challenges, and their achievements.

They were later trained on how to identify and pick an appropriate location for the business, how to set their prices and how to keep records of what they sell in order to account for profit or loss.    Caregivers are important as they can be role models to the children. They are critical in ensuring the children's food and other basic needs are available.   

WE REACH took contact with the caregiver and the schools which their children attend in order to follow up on their academic work and well-being. This will help the organization in planning and coming up with strategies to address its problems.

3.0: LESSONS LEARN

• Training the caregivers in the kitchen garden helps boost the nutrition of the family.
• Business can be a source of employment.
• The kitchen garden can reduce the budget of the house by 50%

4.0 CHALLENGES

• Lack of starting capital for the business
• Lack of enough space to set up a kitchen garden.
• Lack of knowledge and skills to start and manage a business.
• Most of them lack exposure and experience in running a business.
• Lack of market of the produce.

5.0: RECOMMENDATIONS AND REQUIRED ACTIONS.

• The caregiver should find ways of resource mobilization like fundraising from family members or borrowing from micro-finance institutions.
• They can plant the vegetable in bags or tins if they have no space.
• They can liaise with the extension officer on the best approaches to boosting the production of their farm.
• They were conducting market research first to have knowledge of which products are in demand and their sustainability in the area.

2.0: ACTIVITY PROCEEDINGS

The main goal of this activity was to improve the well-being and quality of life of orphaned learners living with HIV in schools. WE REACH conducted training for the guidance and counseling teachers, school administrators, and non-teaching staff to give them knowledge and skills to respond to support learners living with HIV as well as promote a more supportive school environment for them. The schools were urged to create Health clubs so that they can be an avenue in addressing issues of general health and the issue of stigma in the school. The main purpose of the school visit was to confirm the existence of the Health clubs and if the OVCs have also been incorporated into them.

Most of the schools visited had started to implement what they were taught in the seminar. That is they had formed the clubs and incorporated members from different grades and classes also learners with various conditions were added to the Health clubs. The reason for that was to reduce discrimination and stigmatization of particular pupils due to their conditions, HIV status or background, and vulnerability. The school administration worked in collaboration with the organization in identifying the most vulnerable orphans in those schools so has to help them in tackling the challenges they experience in school and at home.

A school like Kakamega, Kilimo, and Rosterman meets every Thursday as a Health to learn and discuss issues that affect them while in school like; menstrual hygiene, water-borne diseases, discrimination, and stigma among others. Those sessions proved to be very instrumental in the school because learners have started to change their mindset on HIV. Most of them understand that HIV cannot be transmitted through; shaking hands, playing together, sharing utensils, or sharing writing materials among others.

The club members are now acting as ambassadors in their various schools by sensitizing other pupils and also parents on discrimination, and stigmatization of pupils. Though they are still a challenge of disclosure between the parent and the teachers which have posed a serious health issue for the learner. That is when an OVC living with HIV misses or fails to take their drugs, the viral load increases which can lead to opportunistic infections. These infections may lead to death due to the weakening of the immune body system.

The organization assured the school administration that they will work in collaboration with the Ministry of Health Kakamega County, in the office of Sub County coordinator of HIV and STIs to invite parents and caregivers of the OVCs. To train them on the importance of disclosure and the general well-being of the learners living with HIV. This help increases the health of the OVCs by increasing the adherence level of the Orphans living with HIV. The parents and caregivers will be trained in the kitchen garden also and a proper balanced diet for the orphans.

3.0: LESSONS LEARNT

• There is still a stigma, myths, and misconceptions about HIV in the schools and the community.

 4.0 CHALLENGES

• Most of our teachers lack the knowledge and skills to guide and counsel learners living with HIV in schools.
• There are existing barriers to communication between the teachers and the learners living with HIV
• Our teachers lack guiding and counseling techniques to help the learners with HIV and also help others with their psychosocial problems.
• Issues of confidentiality have been a problem in the schools that's why stigma has been on the rise.
• Lack of enough funding to train more teachers and schools on the issues of prevention, treatment, care, and support of learners living with HIV.

 5.0: RECOMMENDATIONS AND REQUIRED ACTIONS.

• Teachers should get more training on HIV care to address the issues of learners living with HIV.
• Guiding and counseling teachers should find the best ways of overcoming barriers to effective communication and counseling the learners living with HIV.
• The school administration should come up with ways to reduce stigma and the learner and the non-teaching staff.