1. WATER AND SANITATION
Water borne and water related diseases are the major causes of morbidity and mortality in Tana River District. The high prevalence of these diseases is caused by lack of clean water, poor and lack of sanitary facility, poor environmental sanitation creating mosquito breeding sites, unaffordable to purchase mosquito bed nets by the community, lack of knowledge on disease prevention, poor immunizations coverage to under five years children and poor access to health services.
The major causes of this is poverty at the community level and the government failure to access health care and safe drinking water to the community.
To address these problem, KESHA is working to supplement the local ministry of health in carrying out community support health services aimed at Primary prevention, Secondary prevention and tertiary prevention of diseases in the community.
This project carries out the following activities in remote villages with poor access to health services to supplement the ministry of health:
i. Mobile medical clinic
- Immunization to the under five children
- Antennal clinic to pregnant women
- Treatment of common ailment and referral
- VCT service
- HIV/AIDS care and support
- Distribution of mosquito bed nets (ITNS)
- Health education including hygiene
- Training and empowerment on VIP latrines
- Distribution of water treatment tablets
ii . Community empowerment and support on water and sanitation facilities.
- Training communities on good hygiene
- How to construct VIP latrines
- Partner with donors and community to construct sanitary facilities in institutions.
Community water and sanitation.
78% of the homes in the villages have no toilets. People relieve themselves in the nearby bushes creating a health hazards. To improve this, the NGO has partnered with Himat Contractors Company limited who's engineers support in providing technical expertise while KESHA provides the health aspect to the community on how to construct VIP latrines (ventilated improved latrines) and the project work through empowering the community to do their own development. The project provides the slabs, the ventilation pipes and the technical expertise while the community provides the land, labour and local materials. This partnership will results to increase in homes with toilets resulting to decrease of communicable diseases e.g. diarrheas diseases.
2. HIV/AIDS PROGRAM
HIV/AIDS is a major challenge to Kenya, since the first case was diagnosed in the country in 1984, it is estimated that over 1.5 million people have died due to AIDS-related illness, resulting in 1.8 million children left as orphans. It is also estimated that 1.4 million people in the country are living with HIV today.
There is no exception, in Tana River District it is estimated that there are over 5000 AIDS orphans. The situation in Tana River has been exacerbated by lack of VCT (testing facility) where majority of the community don't have the opportunity to know their HIV status. This hinders pregnant mothers who are HIV positive to benefit from PMTCT (Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission), people engaged in marriages without knowing their HIV status. Poor access to ARVs in the community is also blames in the high HIV/AIDS death rate.
The poverty level and lack of access to good nutrition is a major contributor to short life span to those infected with HIV as their immunity system is lowered quickly.
To reduce this problem, we have the following projects:
Health education
This project provide health education and advocacy to the community especially the youth on the issues of HIV/AIDS. The impact of the scourge and the prevention issues. The NGO is working with 58 community based organization to reach the sparsely distributed population in the district.
Mobile VCT services
The organization has designed a project of implementing mobile VCT services to the community level that will involve door to door counseling and testing. This project will provide link between those found to be positive and the district hospital where ARVs is dispensed. The project will include a tracking system to make sure that post test counseling is given and patient are supplied with the drugs as prescribed.
The project will support the patient with nutrition to help them to improve their immunity system and adhere to the treatment regimes.
This project has not yet fully received funding especial to cater for transport cost and personnel.
Orphans and Vulnerable Children
The HIV/AIDS scourge has left so many children to be orphaned. Some of other of children are in the streets and other are in the mercy of their relative who some of them are being abused.
The project has an orphanage home where currently has 25 girls rescued from the community. Though the home has a capacity to accommodate more girls if more funding is realized.
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3. COMMUNITY ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
Poverty is the major factor contributing to all the hardships these communities are facing. For us to initiate true developments in the community, their economic status is very important. Most of these diseases they are facing are related to poverty.
The NGO has the following community empowerment projects:
i) Economic empowerment trainings
This project provides trainings to the community especially women groups and youth groups on how to start and do small business to improve their livelihoods. Some groups have so far benefited with the project and they have some businesses.
ii) Agricultural /livestock and crop farming
The district has potential for crop and livestock farming. The River Tana Delta provides fertile lands and water for agriculture. Livestock farming strives in the hinter lands through range farming.
This project has improved the link between the farmers and extension officers. It has supporting the farmers to do micro-irrigation through the use of water pumps to pump water from River Tana. This has lead to the farmers adopting new farming technology.
Those keeping livestock are also supported to improve their animals through the introduction of high breeds goats for milk. |
