After four decades of prevention efforts, HIV/AIDS remains a global public health crisis.
Over 20 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa, one of the hardest hit regions.
MOST of those impacted by HIV/AIDS are WOMEN
IN KENYA, the disproportionate impact of HIV/AIDS on women is fueled by poverty, gender inequality, lack of access to healthcare, and persistent HIV stigma.
NEARLY HALF OF ALL KENYAN HOUSEHOLDS LIVE BELOW THE POVERTY LINE (approximately $15 USD income per month for rural households and $29 USD/month for urban households).
To address hiv/aids in kenya, we must focus on the most vulnerable population--women--and work to improve their health, FINANCIAL stability, and empowerment.
Started as an orphan prevention program, the Women’s Equality Empowerment Project (WEEP) works with single mothers in extreme poverty who have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 7 rural and urban communities across Kenya.
This qualitative research project aimed to answer the question:
How does WEEP improve the lives of HIV-positive single mothers in extreme poverty?
Here's what we found . . .
1. Through WEEP, MOTHERS GAIN income-generating, money management, and business SKILLS
"When I got sick . . . I couldn't work anymore and that is what has caused me a lot of problems. Now what I have found that will help me, I have learnt how to sew clothes and then these beads, I can make them. Now what has made me most happy is sewing and making beads . . . making clothes as well."
2. WEEP MOTHERS GAIN ECONOMIC STABILITY through resources such as housing, income, and access to business capital
"Once we started borrowing small amounts and giving it back, we realized it is of benefit to us and now we can borrow even a lot more money as we pay it back and we are able to continue with our business. And right now there is no one who has graduated [from WEEP] who does not own her business and it's because of that money."
3. WEEP IMPROVES food security, nutrition, and medication adherence for better PHYSICAL HEALTH
"Now I feel I can stand on my own. When I left [the hospital] the first time I was carried like a baby on my neighbor's back. Even now the neighbor sees me and gets shocked at how good I am looking. Now I'm heavy and healthy and I can do any business whatever it is."
4. WEEP FOSTERS EMOTIONAL WELLNESS, including self-acceptance, reduced stress, and hope for the future.
"Now I don't have any fear because I am a person who accepted herself and I say I can even stand and go on TV and I tell people: 'Accept it, if you're found to be HIV positive, accept yourself.' What I tell women, of importance is accept yourself, even if your husband refuses to accept you, accept yourself and continue with your treatment and you'll live to help your children."
5. WEEP BUILDS SPIRITUAL WELLNESS, helping mothers to build their faith and maintain a spirit of love and forgiveness for others.
"So many things I was carrying, like you see the burdens you are carrying . . . if they were beating my kids, they were refusing to give them food, those things will kill you very fast. But if you know God and get your mind being . . . lift by God, you'll be able to live. And you'll be able to forgive."
6. WEEP PARTICIPANTS gain independence and develop a sense of personal agency as they BECOME EMPOWERED WOMEN.
"When now [we graduate from WEEP], what are we going to do? Will we really go back to the life, the difficult life we had? And here were these people that tried to bring us up. We have to stand on our own feet, so that when we get out of WEEP it is evident that all we needed was a boost, a support, so that we can push ourselves forward."
7. WEEP PARTICIPANTS BECOME EMPOWERED MOTHERS who can provide for their families, manage the household, and keep their children in school.
"A woman should be strong and be willing to work for herself with her own hands, because, like us, our husbands left us. Now we are taking our children to school and they are eating and they are dressing well without relying on a man coming from there to bring food to put on the table for eating."
8. WEEP IMPROVES SOCIAL SUPPORT, including strengthened peer and family relationships, community acceptance, and diminished HIV stigma.
"Now they come and visit me. They sometimes even ask for support from me. It's a change. Even the neighbors that used to stigmatize me, they changed their attitude. Now we are friends, we live happily. They, most of the time, they come to ask for advice from me. Before they would not come near me. Yea, no one would like to associate with me, talk to me, even my children. No. But it's a change."
9. WEEP PARTICIPANTS BECOME WOMEN OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE: Community role models, HIV educators, and people who are able to help others in need.
"Now my family has realized that I am somebody. I talked to my brother and I said, 'Brother...I know you did that because of lack of education, but now I've been educated and I educate other people in the community' [...] and I've seen my brother really being strong and when someone is sick [he] will stand with that person and say 'You know when my sister was sick, we didn't have time, the time to take care of her, and when she came back she taught us a lot of things.' And now they have learned."
ONCE BARELY SURVIVING, graduates of the WEEP program are now THRIVING, SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS WOMEN, able to provide for their children and BREAK OUT OF POVERTY.
The WEEP program is supported by Health Education Africa Resource Team (HEART), a faith-based non-profit organization located in Nairobi, Kenya.
To learn more about the WEEP program and how YOU can help single mothers in Kenya to thrive beyond the HIV/AIDS epidemic, connect with HEART online!
If you're ready to help single mothers in Kenya to thrive beyond HIV/AIDS, click the link below to donate!
This research was conducted by Dr. Colleen Fisher with assistance from numerous HEART staff and WEEP program participants.
To read the full research article, which was published in the International Journal of Education and Social Sciences Research, click here.
Dr. Fisher is Associate Professor and MSW Program Director at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA. To learn more about Dr. Fisher’s current and upcoming projects, click the link below.
Credits:
All photos copyright Colleen Fisher