It was a typical equatorial day, sunny and warm, as we started our site visits with a stop at a Center outside the Kajiado district where the Masai people live. These dirt roads are unmarked, and we thought we took a wrong turn until we saw the tin-roofed hut ahead and the people standing outside to greet us.
Sister Bernadette Nealon, Program Manager of the Community Health Program in Kisumu, Kenya — where one of WiRED’s Community Health Information Centers is located — related this account to Pauline Karani, WiRED’s Administrative Manager.
I just returned from a site visit to the Community Health Information Centers in Kenya. These facilities are continuing their remarkable work getting out the HIV/AIDS message and providing other medical information to local communities.
Mwanaisha Narotso wears many masks. She is not only sells fruit and grains at the local market but she is also a well-known traditional birth attendant and a herbalist. Like other herbalists, Mwanaisha deeply believes in her traditional cultural practices.
Eric, age 20, was unaware of his health problem until he visited WiRED International’s Community Health Information Center (CHIC) in Butula, Kenya. Intending to learn more about sexually transmitted diseases from WiRED’s medical e-library, Eric realized that he might be suffering from syphilis.
Following the success of the initial five Community Health Information Centers (CHICs) in Kenya, WiRED International created 11 additional Centers that will not only provide access to health information, but will also include community outreach programs for people who find it difficult to travel to the CHICs.
Rose Otaye has been living with HIV/AIDS for several years, and at this time she displays no symptoms of the illness and lives an active, productive life. One of Rose’s many activities is to council HIV positive people; her special focus is nutrition.
Popularly known as “the Computer place”, WiRED International’s Community Health Information Center (CHIC) in Butula is proving to be the best strategy for fighting AIDS. Confirming the popular notion that “information is power,” the story of 11-year-old Joseph is a testimony to WiRED’s work in this part of the world.
I’m delighted to be here today for the opening of this Health Information Centre at the College of Medical Sciences of the University of Nairobi. I want to congratulate the staff of the WiRED project, Professor Gary Selnow and Pauline Karani, for their hard work in setting up this center, and I especially want to thank Professor Makawati, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, for the support and guidance given to this project.
The Medtronic Foundation renewed support of WiRED International’s healthcare programs by awarding the San Francisco-based non-profit organization a grant of $40,000 to fund Phase-II of its priority healthcare programs in Iraq.