Lydia Wanjiru's Story
Lydia Wanjiru, 32, is a mother of two girls, 15 year old Mary Wanjiku and 7 year old Kesia Nyakiri. Wanjiru lost her husband to AIDS in 1993 and her second born child in 1995. She has full blown AIDS and her last born, Nyakiri has all the symptoms of being HIV positive. The family live on a three acre piece of land left behind by her husband. When Sr. Florence Muia visited the family, she found the daughter Mary could not bear the grief as she watches her mother's health deteriorate. She knows too well what killed her father and her second born sibling. Mary unable to bear her mother's health condition, she ran away from home leaving her 7 year old sister to care for their mother. Nyakiri is showing some signs of being HIV positive but she is strong enough to care for her mother. Their little home stands in a bush with grass up to the doorstep. They look out through the door each day for God's providence, hoping a neighbor or God-send person might come their way with at least some food. They are God's poor who cannot afford the cost of medications, even transport to the hospital. This is just one of so many hundreds of similar stories of women with children suffering from HIV/AIDS. Your little donation can make a difference in their lives!
Lydia has this to say about UPENDO VILLAGE "The services will help women a great deal. Women are vulnerable and disadvantaged. It is a blessing from God and will assist many".
Agnes Wambui's Story
Right is Agness Wambui, a 29 year old mother of two boys, Duncan Kariuki and Anthony Gitau, age 11. Soon these two boys can become orphans, too. At the present time, Agnes cannot raise any money for the children's food and rent. Recently, the landlord locked the family outside for lack of payment. Only after Wambui's mother came to plea with the landlord and promised to look for money were they allowed back into their two rooms. The rent is $15.00, but they cannot afford it an no money for school fees either. Twice she went to a trial clinic for AIDS patients organized by the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) in Nakuru. The clinic provides patients with 8kg Unimix flour (90% corn & 10% soybeans) along with vitamins. They are supposed to attend the clinic twice a month, but Wambui cannot afford to raise $5 for bus fare required for the trip. "The burden is too heavy for me" says Wambui's mother. "I have my own 12 year old daughter and two orphans aged 13 and 15 years from y first born daughter who also died of AIDS in 1996. I have no steady income, hardly surviving from casual jobs. How I wish UPENDO village can open its doors today".
Orphans
Approximately 2.2 million Kenyans are living with HIV infection. More than 1.5 million people have dies from AIDS.
Today Kenya is home to approximately 1 million AIDS orphans. The majority have dropped out of school to earn a living for themselves and their younger dependents. Having suffered the tragedy of losing one or both parents, these orphans are stigmatized, alienated, shunned, abused and neglected. Current statistics show that 80 -90% of infections are in the 15-49 year age group and 5-10% occur in children less than five years old, like little Kesia pictured above. In 1999 the former President of Kenya acknowledged that the AIDS pandemic was a threat to the very existence of the nation and declared it a "national disaster".
