**In honor of World AIDS Day 2010, Safari Professionals would like to highlight The Nyanya Project and our “Safari Celebrating Hope”**
Nyanya is Swahili for grandmother. This project originated in 2006 when its founder, Mary Martin Niepold visited Kenya and saw the unfathomable tragedy brought about by the AIDS epidemic. Time and again, she encountered older women who were raising their grandchildren; children who were orphaned due to the AIDS epidemic. The Nyanya Project’s work began in Kenya and thus will be the destination for our safari next summer. In Kenya alone, it is estimated that there are one million children who have been orphaned as a result of the AIDS epidemic. This figure is mind boggling. While in Kenya, I saw children who were not with their grandmothers (or with any caretaker for that matter) and I felt frustrated because I didn’t know how to help.
There are other weighty factors that further complicate the grandmother’s situation. Many of these elderly women are widows living in dire poverty, on less than $1 a day. They have lost not only their spouse, but also a child. Their own health may be poor. Since education in Kenya has not been available to the vast majority of females, these women are uneducated and have had no way to help themselves. There is no government assistance and no way out.
The Nyanya Project has established two working initiatives in Kenya. The first initiative is located in Kibera – the poorest area of Nairobi. Here, grandmothers are taught the necessary skills to run a small business. Some are now running successful businesses in their neighborhoods and are able to support themselves and their grandchildren.
The second initiative is in the small village of Ndathi. In Ndathi, grandmothers participating in the project are given 9 sheep and other livestock. They are being taught how to properly shear the wool, in anticipation of learning how to weave products that will supplement their income. In addition, a day care center has been built and adults are able to visit the center with the option to pay to learn English. All of these projects bring hope, life and dreams back to people who want to help themselves.
During my years as a mental health social worker I learned that no one suffers alone – suffering has a ripple effect. Even though the grandmothers and their orphaned grandchildren live outside our neighborhood, suffering is suffering. It is just as deeply painful in the USA as it is in the Kenya. There are basic traits we all share, no matter where we live. Life is precious.
We at Safari Professionals feel deeply about The Nyanya Project’s focus and are grateful that we can be a small part of the effort to make a difference in the lives of grandmothers and their orphaned grandchildren. We also are grateful for the awareness that World AIDS Day raises. Through events like this, people become more educated about the disease and in time, the number of people affected by it will be greatly reduced.
If you would like more information about The Safari Celebrating Hope, please call me at 800.779.2146 or email me at: Elaine@SafariProfessionals.com
For a short video on The Nyanya Project’s important work, please go to:
The Nyanya Project: Helping Grandparents Help Nairobis AIDS Orphans