KIPE April Activity Report from Jim Adede

Below is an excerpt of the KIPE Activity Report for April. Hopefully, you can get a sense of the breadth of there work with people living with HIV/AIDS in and around Kisumu. -Matthew

From the Desk of Jim Adede:

During the month of April (2008), KIPE continued providing on-going group, individual, and couples counseling along with psychological support and the medical treatment of opportunistic infections via a twice weekly clinic. Program members were empowered through specific education addressing disclosure, positive living, prevention of parent to child transmission, importance of partner notification, HIV treatment adherence stressing the negative effects of medication defaulting, challenges affecting men having sex with men (MSM), family law and inheritance, coping mechanisms, stress and stress management, misconceptions regarding male circumcision and HIV risk, drugs and substance abuse, and issues of mutual respect and community sensitization regarding HIV.

Specific KIPE projects for the month of April included the Village Savings and Loan Initiative, the provision of social and economic support to victims of Kenya’s post election violence, a micro-finance initiative, the Food Security and Livelihoods projects (including the Model Farm projects), and activities promoting community involvement in “joining hands” with the government and civil society organizations on curbing the alarming rate of HIV/AIDS infections in Kisumu East and West Districts.

Numbers in Brief:

Number of individuals reached through community outreach: Abstinence and/or Being Faithful – 426

Number of individuals reached through community outreach: General behavior change – 1,132

KIPE based individual counseling – 126 individuals

KIPE based group counseling – 469 individuals

KIPE based dialogue forums sessions – 643 individuals