Our Vision:
To create a long lasting solution for better living for the vulnerable Children, Youths and Women living in Rusinga Island.
To create a long lasting solution for better living for the vulnerable Children, Youths and Women living in Rusinga Island.
Our Mission:
To fully utilize our knowledge, skills, opportunities and available resources to protect, save and improve lives of orphans and widows living in Rusinga Island.
To fully utilize our knowledge, skills, opportunities and available resources to protect, save and improve lives of orphans and widows living in Rusinga Island.
Our Aim and Focus:
Every day, the CAITHS Team works to provide a bright future for over 30,000 people leaving on Risinga Island. We offer life-changing support on Healthcare, WASH and Education services to the vulnerable population who need it most. Our programs focus on:
When We Come Together, Great Things Happen!
Every day, the CAITHS Team works to provide a bright future for over 30,000 people leaving on Risinga Island. We offer life-changing support on Healthcare, WASH and Education services to the vulnerable population who need it most. Our programs focus on:
- Advocacy, protection, care, and nutrition for orphans and vulnerable widows who are living with HIV/AIDS
- Education, prevention campaigns, and counseling/testing services to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS
- Education support to improve child development (with family support) and talent of vulnerable children
- Improved WASH and food security to the target population.
- A sustainable and healthy empowerment opportunities to the vulnerable youths and widows
- Sexual and Reproductive Health Education and Mother to Child Health services to vulnerable girls and women in the Island
- The Okoa Maisha ("Saving Lives" in English) center provides a clean, safe place for families to visit and get services
When We Come Together, Great Things Happen!
PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES
1.Healthcare Services and Education Programs:
We organize and conduct trainings, capacity building, facilitation and sensitization meetings for children, youths, women at the Center, schools and gatherings. We offer:
(i) HIV/AIDS EDUCATION COUNSELLING AND TESTING
The main drivers of HIV/AIDS in Rusinga Island and its environs are: poverty, cultural and sexual attitude/ behavior and stigma. The fishing industry is the major accelerator of the scourge . The women enter into sexual deals with particular fishermen for assurance of regular fish supply. A fisherman who engages women in sex for fish is called Jaboya. Because of this reason, the CAITHS has a clinic where HIV education, counselling and testing takes place.
II) SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES: Girl-Child Health and Education Program
Girls’ education goes beyond getting girls into school. It is also about ensuring that girls learn and feel safe and live in good health while in school; complete all levels of education with the skills and competencies to effectively compete in the labor market; learn the socio-emotional and life skills necessary to navigate and adapt to a changing world; make decisions about their own lives; and contribute to their communities and the world. In this Program, we aimed at providing and promoting sexual and reproductive health that includes accessible and convenient adolescent health services, social support from parents and others in the community, a safe healthy physical environment in the school, abstinence, access and management sanitary towels, etc. School-based sexual health education to meaningfully assist youth in protecting and enhancing their health. Sexual behavior and Self management.
CAITHS believes that when we empower girls, everybody benefits. Girls who are educated, healthy and free to make their own decisions can transform their communities and pass on the benefits to their children, and to their children’s children.
This Program, which started in March 2016 aims at providing sanitary towels, medication and uniforms to the needy girls, has reached out to over 50 vulnerable school girls and the drop-outs (between 10year and 24 years of age) who want to go back to school. We offer health education and counseling and provision of sanitary towels. So far we have reached out to a few schools, but the project targets to reach out to over 1,000 needy girls in the 17 primary schools in Rusinga Island.
We are looking for well wishers who may have interest in supporting this Program.
2. WATER SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) PROGRAMS:
When sanitation systems fail - or are inadequate - the impacts on the health of the community, on the health of others and on the environment can be extremely serious. This is evidenced in the annual 1.5 million cases of diarrhoea in children under the age of 5 and the recent outbreaks of cholera. This program aims at providing WASH services and facilities to eligible fishing beaches and household that are mostly in need. The Program majorly focus on two major activities:
(i) Community Sweep Clean and Hygiene Program
(ii) Household Clean Water and Sanitation Services
When sanitation systems fail - or are inadequate - the impacts on the health of the community, on the health of others and on the environment can be extremely serious. This is evidenced in the annual 1.5 million cases of diarrhoea in children under the age of 5 and the recent outbreaks of cholera. This program aims at providing WASH services and facilities to eligible fishing beaches and household that are mostly in need. The Program majorly focus on two major activities:
(i) Community Sweep Clean and Hygiene Program
(ii) Household Clean Water and Sanitation Services
I) Community Sweep Clean and Hygiene Services Program
We organize and voluntarily participate in a sweeping and awareness creation in the community. This Program target Shopping Centers, fishing villages and households where our target population live. We aim at keeping the environment and water bodies clean and creation of WASH awareness to the community.
So far, we have reached out several fishing villages and shopping centers within the Island.
The campaign supports and inspires people from around the Island and beyond to take action towards achieving sanitation and hygiene for all by targeting the poorest and most vulnerable people. These actions has generated and will continue to generate substantial benefits, including: reduction of water and air borne diseases; increased economic growth and productivity, improved health, enhanced social equity, and a cleaner environment. Voluntarily sweeping, collecting and properly disposing rubbish and garbage in shopping center, beaches and households.
So far, we have only covered 20% of our target population in the Island and the target is to cover the whole Island and beyond.
(ii) Community Clean Water and Sanitation Program
Rusinga Island has a populartion of over 35,000 people living permanently in the Island and an additional of over 10,000 nomadic fishermen/women who live in the Island seasonally (they move in and out of the Island for a period of time depending on the fish catch). About 70% of this population experience extrem poverty. The two major water sources are : Lake Victoria and rain water (which is seasonal). Water from these sources is not safe for use and consumption by human being without treanment. Nowadays, communities face the threat of water pollution resulting from human activity. This is caused by one major problem of lack of better latrine and toilets in most of the parts of the Western Kenya especially in the fishing beaches. As a result, the human call for nature is done in the bushes and open places which is again being washed into the lake through rivers and streams that channel water into the lake. A very common culture in communities living around the lake is bathing, washing dishes and doing laundry inside the lake. Many women dispose things like sanitary towels and pampas in to the lake. This act does not only pollute the water but also has led to spread of waterborne diseases greatly in the community.
This Program focuses on providing water containers for treating and storing drinking water for the targeted households and has so far reached out 30 out of 2000 households in the Island. The thirty households were also provided water treatment chemical.
There is need to provide more containers and construction of better toilets to these vulnerable households to better their hygiene status.
We humbly ask and invite well wishers to join us for the support towards achieving objectives of this Program.
This Program focuses on providing water containers for treating and storing drinking water for the targeted households and has so far reached out 30 out of 2000 households in the Island. The thirty households were also provided water treatment chemical.
There is need to provide more containers and construction of better toilets to these vulnerable households to better their hygiene status.
We humbly ask and invite well wishers to join us for the support towards achieving objectives of this Program.
3. CHILD EDUCATION AND TALENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
KATHY AND MIKE McNULTY ACADEMY (KMMA)
Rusinga is an Island on Lake Victoria where fishing is the MAIN economic activity. Rusinga Island records the highest percentage of deaths caused by HIV/AIDS and STIs, and as a result many orphans and widows are left without means to survive and thrive. These vulnerable families (orphans and their widowed mothers/caretakers) move from beach to beach around the Island in search for fish to sell. Because of this movement, these vulnerable orphans drop out from schools with severely negative consequences: many resort to delinquent or criminal activities; for girls, the result is early marriage or premarital sex; both circumstances increases rates of ignorance, poverty and socio-economic insecurity. Worse, widows and young orphan girls moving through different fishing villages to buy and sell fish may need to use sex (unprotected) with fishermen in exchange for getting part of the daily catch.
The Centre therefore believes that children taught at an early age usually benefit in the following ways: improved social skills, less or no need for special education instruction during subsequent school years, better grades, and enhanced attention spans.
The major problem affecting education in this area is the movement of families from beach to beach and lack of affordable schools to accommodate their kids. The nearest school of such kind is 10kms away. Hiring of taxi every day and exposing children in the cold each morning to attend classes this far has both health and financial implications. There was need and request from the community to have a more favorable, affordable and meaningful learning environment for their kids who are in need of better and affordable learning institution.To solve this problems, the CAITHS, through the support of Friends of KMMA-CAITHS created an Academy - Kathy and Mike McNulty Academy (KMMA). It’s with much appreciation that we sincerely thank the McNulty's family for accepting to be part of the team in a unique way. Right now, the school Pre-School and Lower Primary with over 110 enrolled students who are either orphans or from extremely poor families in the Island.
ST. PATRICK CLINIC- KMMA CAITHS
Many care takers and parents of the KMMA students are either fishermen or fish mongers. Thus makes them not to attend to these young ones when they fall sick in school. For this reason, the CAITHS, in 2018, found it necessary to create a School Clinic (St. Patrick Clinic) at the Center to take care of these kids and their families.
The objectives of this clinic is:
1. Providing emergency care for students' illness or injury while at school;
2. Ensuring that all students get appropriate referrals to health care providers;
3. Monitoring and controlling the spread of communicable disease among the students and their families;
4. Providing education and counseling in a variety of health problems and
5. Serving as a medical resource in the development of policies and procedures in the school.
The objectives of this clinic is:
1. Providing emergency care for students' illness or injury while at school;
2. Ensuring that all students get appropriate referrals to health care providers;
3. Monitoring and controlling the spread of communicable disease among the students and their families;
4. Providing education and counseling in a variety of health problems and
5. Serving as a medical resource in the development of policies and procedures in the school.
PAST EVENTS / ACTIVITES AT KMMA-CAITHS
CAITHS KENYA- GENERAL NEWS AND EVENTS
