Neema
This group started on in September 2016. Most of the members came from the Bomani area in Kilifi South – which is around 15 km from Mtwapa and a very rural area. In this region a big number of the women didn’t have the opportunity to go to school, married young and have many children. Also the stigma on HIV/Aids in this region is still very high.
This is the first group where we allowed men to become a member. This was an explicit request from the women themselves. At first, we were a bit hesitant and it gave a few challenges, but after changing a few of the rules in the groups it works very well and today we are convinced that it helps to lower the stigma in the community. But we still get only very few men. Most of the men don’t even want to be tested.
At the start the local hospital offered a space for free at their premises to hold the meetings. Although this was a nice gesture it didn’t turn out well, as stigma-issues blocked the group too much. There was not enough privacy. After 2 years we moved the group to another venue.
The program for this group but also for Jerito, Great Hope and Jitoe group was very much affected because of the Corona-pandemic in 2020. The groups couldn’t meet for almost 5 months and there were also some periods that doing business was very difficult. Because of this delay we have extended the program for these groups with an extra 4 months.
We are very grateful that we were able – with the help of some extra donors – to support the women and the families during this period with extra food packages. This really has helped them a lot.
The group started with 23 members and after the introduction phase 20 members got their certificate and continued with the second part of the program. Unfortunately, this group lost 7 members, who died. One member had cancer, the other ones we have to say didn’t adhere properly to the medication and/or went to local herbalists instead of the doctor. Three other members left the group for several reasons.
The remaining 10 members did all quite well. Two of them got employed (one of them at the hospital to coach other HIV-positive patients) and the others built their business with the help of the loans they got (up to 300 Euro). They are selling vegetables & fruits, food products, textiles, groceries and 2 of them have a farm. Eventually 10 members graduated in February 2021 with a nice party.
At this graduation party there was a special recognition for one member, named Mzee Hudson. Hudson is father of 8 children, and a farmer living in Kaloleni – around 25 km from where the group was meeting. At first, he came by bike, but after some time the bike was broken. But he didn’t give up. He came walking – every week and never missed one meeting and was always on time. Because of his extra-ordinary dedication to the group and the program he was awarded and got a very suitable present: a new bike!
