Testimonials

Mourning to Delight
It has been 20 long and dreadful years for Mary Adhiambo and her 3 children since the death of her husband. Mary lost everything. Living with the dreaded HIV / AIDS virus, infected by her late husband, her ability to provide for and educate her children was stripped away because of the stress related diseases that left her bed ridden. Being the second and younger wife to her late husband, she was looked down upon and eventually kicked out of her matrimonial home by her step sons, leaving her helpless. Her children bore the burden of living life with hardships all through the years.

Hope came alive for Mary and her children when her neighbor Eunice came to the rescue. Eunice is one of Christian Mission Aid’s HIV AIDS program volunteer in Nyanza province. Nyanza, a province in Kenya, ranks highest with HIV / AIDS infection rate in the country. Although there has been a tremendous drop on infection rate from 14% to less than 9.9%, many are facing challenges with this disease in the region (UNAIDS 2008).

Community Leaders Educated Aids Response (CLEAR) is a program that works with people infected and affected by HIV / AIDS in Nyanza province. Training lay leaders and influential people in the community, they
create awareness of this pandemic within their community. CLEAR also identifies the neediest widows in the district by building “Units of Hope,” sturdy new homes, for widows and orphans.

Eunice Ogutu, Mary’s neighbor, who is also a CLEAR volunteer, recognized Mary’s needs and introduced her to CMA’s CLEAR program. Mary was given counseling that dealt with the stigma of living with the virus for her
and her children. She was also trained in how to care for her ailments when at home through Home Based Care training and also received a medical kit that contains medicine that fights off opportunistic diseases.

Furthermore, she was identified as one of the widows to benefit from the Units of Hope project.. A Unit of Hope is a home constructed for extremely needy widows like Mary. The Unit of Hope is a 2 room structure, whose roof is made of tin which is made to harvest rain water. The Unit of Hope comes with a water tank attached to the roof. To complete the Unit, a bathroom and toilet is also included.

“I have never had a house, a bathroom or even a toilet but CLEAR have been so wonderful to me. Now I am feeling healthy and very happy that I have somewhere to sleep,” Mary says, joy obviously emanating from her molar to molar smile. “I thought I was dreaming when I moved into my home!” she added.

Visiting Mary, her eyes shone with joy because of the turn of events since a CLEAR volunteer impacted her life. Thanks to CMA friends and partners, now Mary and her children have hope. Now, she plants food crops in her little kitchen garden outside her house to feed her family, while some she sells to make a living.

Because of the generous gifts of donors, Mary’s mourning has turned into delight. It is t gift of love that has touched a family in Kenya