Women’s Cooperatives Ease Burden of HIV in Kenya

Dorcus Auma weaving sisal fronds into a basket. Her Kenyan women's group has helped provide income to care for her grandchildren, orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Credit: Charles Karis/IPSBy Charles KarisNAIROBI, Jun 27 2016 (IPS)Seventy-three-year-old Dorcus Auma effortlessly weaves sisal fronds into a beautiful basket as she walks the tiny path that snakes up a hill. She wound up her farm work early because today, Thursday, she is required to attend her women’s group gathering at the secretary’s homestead.Except for their eye-catching light blue dresses and silky head scarfs, they would pass for ordinary village women. They are part of the Kagwa Women’s Group in the remotest part of Homa Bay County in Kenya’s lake region.A recent county profile of HIV/AIDS prevalence by the National AIDS Control Council (NACC) revealed that Homa Bay County leads Kenya in HIV prevalence, standing at 25.7 percent.Auma joined the group in 2008 when the care of her three grandchildren was thrust upon her shoulders.“HIV/AIDS robbed me of my three children, leaving me with the burden of having to take care of three children left in a vulnerable condition,” says Auma.With no steady income to provide for their basic needs, she joined other women who shared the same predicament.UNAIDS says that microfinance can play a big role in helping households affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and the women’s group at Homa Bay has proved this to be true.Composed of 28 members, it started as a ...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: Active Citizens Africa Aid Civil Society Development & Aid Economy & Trade Food & Agriculture Gender Headlines Health Population Poverty & SDGs Women & Economy cooperatives HIV/AIDS Kenya UNAIDS Source Type: news