HIV/AIDS Initiative

The Partnership Project became involved in this work in 2004 when Gerry Garvey, then director of the Yavapai County Health Department’s HIV/AIDS program, visited Maasailand with a team from Prescott College to determine whether services were available and/or needed there.

HIV Education

Participants in the 2004 HIV/AIDS training led by Gerry Garvey, Ngong’u Narok, Amboseli Kenya

 Findings on HIV/AIDS resources:

  • After meeting with health care experts within and outside of Maasai communities, the team determined that Maasai people are most likely being infected by HIV and AIDS in large numbers, but that little or no testing was available to them, so their infection rates were not known.
  • Prevention and testing are in great demand among Maasai people who are very aware of the danger of AIDS but who lack the resources to protect themselves.

We also discovered in 2004 that Maasai communities are especially eager for 1) detailed and up-to-date information about HIV/AIDS, and 2) testing services. Regarding the first, we saw evidence that Maasai communities make great use of information when it is available. For example, the Maasai Environmental Resource Coalition (MERC) received a $10,000 grant to conduct AIDS education in the Amboseli area in 2002, through which a network of AIDS educators was created to disseminate information. We visited a village there during our 2004 trip and, after discovering that Gerry was an HIV/AIDS educator, community members walked through the bush through the night, while we slept, to gather these educators, living in villages throughout the region. They arrived for an early morning meeting, and asked intelligent, thoughtful questions about new scientific discoveries about how the disease is spread and lives in the cells of the body. We were impressed that this community, largely denied education and literacy, had such a grasp on the issue. Regarding testing, we found many people who seek knowledge of their own status, even if treatment is not available to them, so that they can protect their families.

Since that time, doctors working on the borders of Maasailand, in both Kajiado and Narok areas, have reported high rates of infection in the Maasai community, but as far as we know, no official reports have been compiled presenting these statistics. These doctors tell us that reaching rural communities is an overwhelming challenge, since most Maasai people have no access to any kind of health care, and so systems are not in place that could be expanded to provide testing and treatment for HIV/AIDS. Also, while the Kenyan government has expanded HIV/AIDS services in general, very little funding is provided per person, and most treatment must be paid for by people seeking care.

A clinic has been established in Narok that provides HIV/AIDS services to the community, and we are looking for partners for that clinic to help them expand their services. The clinic is run by Maasai clinicians; it has a pediatrics AIDS program and serves hundreds of people in the Narok area. However, the clinic does not have resources to reach the rural communities, which means that most Maasai people do not have access to its services. The clinic would like to expand its home health services program in both the urban are rural areas, and would benefit greatly from financial contributions and other resources.

To explore partnership possibilities with the Narok VCT, please contact Mary Poole or Meitamei Olol Dapash.