Program Updates January 2004

The HIV/AIDS Awareness Program made over 250 presentations in 2003, to schools, churches and community groups. The audience reach included thousands of men, women, and children and made use of video, live theatre and lecture-style techniques. Every school in the Bumola Division of Bungoma District has received an Volunteer Kenya visit within the past 24 months. In addition most schools in other divisions within Bungoma have been reached, as well as schools in Butere-Mumias, Mount Elgon , Tesso and a few in Busia districts.

This program utilized the organization’s 10-year old Mitsubishi Pajero and was staffed by an overseas volunteer, and local staff which included a field coordinator, a translator (for local languages other than Swahili), and a driver.

The Empower Peer-Education Program was introduced in 2003 to offer six-session seminar training for community and youth groups interested in developing their HIV/AIDS volunteering work so as to impact more greatly on their home areas. Written especially for Volunteer Kenya, the Empower seminars will have been given to over 500 people by early in 2004. The accompanying manual is proving popular with local administrators, to the extent that several local chiefs and leaders in government HIV/AIDS co-ordination have undertaken the course.

This program utilizes the 17-year old Isuzu Trooper and is staffed by an overseas volunteer, a team of locally-trained volunteers who act as translators, and a driver.

The Bill Selke Memorial Clinic is a primary health facility which has been in the planning process for almost two years and which opened its doors in August 2003. The clinic offers a range of non-surgical services to the Kabula community, including a laboratory with HIV testing capacity and an in-house pharmacy offering drugs at non-profit prices.

Staffed by a registered nurse/midwife, a nursing aide, and a fully qualified laboratory technician, the clinic has on-call clinical officer services to augment the availability of volunteer doctors and medical students from overseas. The clinic also has a trained HIV/AIDS counselor and records and clerical staff.
Mobile clinics are provided on a monthly basis in remote communities which have no local health services. During busy volunteer months it is planned to increase this provision, as demand far exceeds staffing means. These clinics offer a full physical and medical check-up free of charge and supply prescribed drugs at cost.

To date availability of a suitable vehicle has been a major limiting factor on the clinic and its mobile services.

The EPICO-Jahns Academy is a community school offering quality education at pre-school and primary levels in Kabula. With a student/teacher ratio of 1:28 the school achieved one of the highest academic grades in the Bungoma district in a 2003 government inspection. Pupil numbers are currently about 180, but the number seeking places is far greater and is limited by funding constraints. The school offers day facilities at a fraction of the rate charged by other private facilities in the area.

Student Teacher Programs were started by Volunteer Kenya in 2002 in collaboration with Indiana University School of Education. Final-year students at Indiana University can fulfill their practicum requirements by working in Bungoma district schools for two months. This placement is supervised by the principal at EPICO-Jahns Academy and offers students secondary and junior school experience whilst helping under-staffed local government schools.

Our Women’s Microenterprise Program was commenced in the late 1990’s in response to high unemployment rates and low family incomes in Kenya ’s Western province. In rural areas gross cash income is still only about KSh 800 per month ($US 12.00) per home. With hundreds of members grouped in consortia organized by location, this project helps increase members’ incomes and gives them new opportunity and empowerment. A part-time field coordinator works with Volunteer Kenya to provide start-up training, basic machinery and on-going business advice to each group. The only vehicle available to the co-coordinator is a bicycle.

In what is claimed to be Kenya ’s first free Public Library, Volunteer Kenya was keen to fulfill its commitment to be responsive to local community needs. Working with volunteers in the US , the library has grown to become a significant resource to local schoolchildren. It is hoped that a new link with a library service in the US will bring a greater stock of adult reference material in 2004.