IN THE countdown to Christmas most of us look forward to piles of presents and festive feasting.
But this is also a crucial time to rally support for people who aren’t so lucky.
On the launch of Christian Aid’s Christmas Appeal Mary Griffin finds out how you can really make a difference this year.
THIRTY years ago a virus was first reported that would change the face of global health.
HIV/AIDS soon came to be known as a death sentence, devastating Africa worse than any other continent.
Here in Coventry and Warwickshire it’s almost impossible to imagine an epidemic that results in one in three of us being pronounced HIV positive, but these are the stark statistics communities in Africa have had to bear.
“Everyone has been affected,” says Stephen Ngugi, of Christian Aid’s Nairobi office. “It has affected every family.”
Since the beginning of the epidemic, HIV/AIDS has orphaned more than 14 million children in sub-Saharan Africa and killed 25 million people worldwide.
Thirty years after it’s discovery HIV is no longer a death sentence but today more than 1.6 million Kenyans continue to live with the virus, with many more feeling its effects.
That’s why this year Christian Aid’s Christmas Appeal is focusing on the life-changing impact its work in Kenya is having on individuals and on the country as a whole.
Grassroots projects supported by the NGO show how creative thinking, access to information and shared support can bring new hope to a country hit hard.
One such scheme, run from a small shack in a Nairobi slum, is going to the heart of the problem to tackle the stigma surrounding HIV.
“When we see skeleton pictures of people that’s scary,” says Asunta Wagura, the founder of Kenya Network Of Women With Aids (KENWA).
“We want to fight that. People look at AIDS as people who are dying but with medicine and good nutrition these people can live good productive lives.”
The fear and stigma surrounding HIV makes raising awareness difficult and continues to stop many people from getting tested and accessing the treatment and support they need.
So Christian Aid’s partners are setting up community groups where people living with the virus can share stories and support, spreading information and restoring dignity.
Asunta contracted HIV from her first boyfriend and was immediately cast out by her family.
She says: “There’s still the issue of immorality surrounding HIV.
“My family rejected me. I needed support and I got that from four women who I started this group with.
“The reason we came together was because there was a lot of stigma and discrimination and if you tested positive everybody automatically concluded that you were an immoral person – a prostitute – and that you deserved to die as quickly as possible.
“There was no care or counselling or any kind of support.”
With four other HIV positive women, Asunta reached out to her surrounding community, and many more women went on to reach out further.
Their organisation now has 8,000 members in Nairobi, central Kenya and right across the country, providing counselling, health advice and financial support to women and their families.
There’s also crucial support for children who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS, leaving them vulnerable, stigmatised and in need of help with health, education and nutrition.
Christian Aid has been supporting tens of thousands of these children across Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Zambia.
But funding provided by USAID came to an end this year and the charity is now urgently looking for other sources of support to continue this critical work.
Supporting this appeal is your chance to make a real difference this Christmas.
Here are some of the life-changing projects your money will support in the year ahead...
The Rural Transport Network
Using motorbikes that can navigate narrow muddy paths beyond the reach of cars and trucks, a team of 12 volunteers visit remote communities, bringing information, supplies and support.
The bikers use their health training to counsel people through HIV testing and afterwards they provide much-needed advice, helping people to take their medication effectively, to get malaria nets and to meet and mutually support others in a similar situation.
In their spare time the health workers are encouraged to use their motorbikes to earn a living, whether that’s running taxi services or selling products far from town.
This allows the volunteers to support themselves and their families, encourages them to value the bikes and motivates them to keep on devoting time and energy to their health work, supported by Christian Aid and Virgin Unite.
Filling the Gaps
This project lets people living with HIV know where government support is available and helps them to access that support.
It also identifies where government provision does not meet people’s needs and aims to fill the gaps.
People living with HIV are encouraged to set up and run support groups, allowing communities to come together in a supportive environment to tackle problems as a team.
Loans and savings associations have been started up to help groups set up enterprises such as chicken and goat rearing, beekeeping and farming so that group members can feed themselves and earn an income.
THE Kenya Network Of Women With Aids group provides care and support for destitute women and their children who are living with HIV/AIDS in six slum communities in and around Nairobi.
It’s a grassroots organisation founded by five inspiring HIV-positive women who were rejected by their families after becoming infected.
The group provides home-based care, nutritional support, medical support and counselling. It also helps to empower families financially.
One of KENWA’s main focuses is on orphans and vulnerable children, training up young people as child counsellors, providing infant formula milk, school uniforms, nutritional support and memory books for children who are having to cope with the loss of their parents.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
Your generosity could help volunteers deliver life-saving supplies and bring joy and hope to people living in poverty around the world.
* £15 could pay for life-saving mosquito nets and their delivery.
* £27.50 could pay for one home-based care kit for someone living with HIV.
* £81 could provide health training for a volunteer to provide support where it’s needed most.
* £1,645 could buy a motorcycle and allow a new volunteer to cover the long distances that often separate poor communities.
* If you would like to donate or find out more about Christian Aid’s work on health and HIV visit www.christianaid.org.uk/christmas or call 0845 7000 300.
Bring joy this Christmas. Donate now.