World Aids Day - December 1

Me and Mama Caroline at Ronnie's house in Nairobi

Mama Caroline (far right) and the women of Jitolee Craft Group

I don't know much about the intricacies of HIV/Aids but I do know the devasting effects it can have on people's health, well being and livelihoods. HIV/Aids has had horrible effects on developing countries especially Africa where the lack of available drugs, social and medical services mean that almost an entire generation has passed on. The passing of these people have left a huge gap in the social fabric as children have been left without parents, responsible for their own care and that of their younger siblings. Or orphans have been taken in by grandparents or relatives most of whom do not have the resources and energy to care properly for the children. It is a sad situation.

Most people, even in developing countries are not fully aware of how the disease actually is passed on and so terrible stigmas have developed about people who do acquire HIV/Aids leading families and business owners to shun members who get the disease. Most women are left alone to raise their families when their husbands, who are most often the cause of their acquiring HIV/Aids, abandon them. Education is the key to overcoming the stigmas and available drugs are the method of keeping the disease under control. But not all HIV/Aids stories are sad ones.

In the Kibera Slums of Nairobi, Kenya a group of courageous women have banded together as the Jitolee Craft Group to create incomes for their families and to educate the public about HIV/Aids. Mama Caroline and her group of 14 HIV positive women were not able to get regular jobs because of the stigma of Aids and so they have come together to create beautiful works of art in beaded necklaces, beaded sisal bags and now clothing made from the traditional African Kanga. The women meet at Mama Caroline's tin shack in Kibera slums as it is the largest and work away to produce crafts which they sell at local markets sharing the profits which then help each woman buy food, clothing and pay school fees for their children. While at the markets, the women educate the public about HIV/Aids and Empowerment for Women. We have been purchasing crafts from the Jitolee Craft Group which we sell with the proceeds returning to Kenya for our Educational Scholarship Program.

I am truly inspired by the resiliency of these women who struggle daily not only with the effects of the disease but with the stigma and other social injustices like being raped when they attend the community bathrooms in the slums (even when they explain they have HIV/Aids, the male rapists do not care so you can see how the disease can spread). I am also in awe of their desire to make a difference by educating the public when many other women keep silent so as not to suffer the stigma and shunning.

Today on World Aids Day, please remember that HIV/Aids is a disease like any other and cannot be passed by giving one who is suffering a much needed hug. Learn from these determined and resilent women that anything is possible and if you have the chance to buy a product made from the Jitolee Craft Group please support them generously. You are helping these women support themselves and their families for they are working hard and do not expect a hand out but rather a hand up to a better quality of life. A beaded gourd that Mama Caroline gave me is a daily reminder of the challenges these women face and how they are rising above their disadvantages.