Kenya - Grandmothers in Nyumbani Village Excited to Receive Lifeline Radios

May 2007

Nyumbani Village, located three hours east of Nairobi, in the poorest division of Kitui district and with the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases, is a self-sustaining community designed to support children orphaned by the AIDS pandemic and their families with food, shelter, clothing, education and medical services. Set up with homes and community institutions to create a family-like setting for children under the stewardship of their grandmothers, the Village seeks to channel the energy of the youth and the maturity of the elders to create new, blended families to foster healing, hope and opportunity amongst HIV/AIDS affected people.

To provide this community sustainable access to HIV/AIDS information, news and weather forecasts, Lifeline Energy in partnership with the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) in Kenya distributed 40 wind-up and solar-powered Lifeline radios to granny-headed households of Nyumbani Village in May 2007. The grandmothers, all over 60, were delighted to receive a radio for each of their families of 7-10 children, and they performed a song and dance piece individually to celebrate the occasion. The radios, according to the people of the village, will connect them to the outside world, with which they have little or no contact, and help them lead safe and comfortable lives.