As spring dawned on the western hemisphere and concerns about COVID-19 were beginning to bear down on the United States, communities in East Africa were beginning to make plans. To that point, East Africa had largely been spared from the destruction that had been ravaging the East and was quickly making its way through Europe and towards the U.S. But the relentless spread of the virus was showing itself to be nearly unstoppable, and community leaders were tasked with finding the best ways in which to respond to one of the worst public health crises in a generation.
CARE for AIDS was busy planning too. On March 16th, the first confirmed case of COVID-19 arrived in Kenya. That day, the CARE for AIDS East African Core Team enacted their sweeping coronavirus plan. All in-person meetings between clients and staff would cease and would be replaced with 100% telephone-based counseling. Unfortunately, all graduation ceremonies and home visits would pause as well, as the safety of an already vulnerable population needed to take precedent.
With a robust plan set in place, the CARE for AIDS team was able to move quickly and efficiently. Ultimately, counselors at the 68 CARE for AIDS centers in East Africa were able to reach a weekly average of 92% of clients who were then able to continue their program via telecounseling. 176 of those clients were able to use telemedicine services to cover prescriptions, maternal support, transportation to and from medical appointments, and other health-related needs above and beyond the normal scope of the CARE for AIDS program.
In addition to their continuing support of thousands of current clients, CARE for AIDS staff have gone above and beyond to care for other vulnerable populations in their own communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In April, CARE for AIDS Co-Founders Cornel Onyango and Duncan Kimani began to organize large scale food distributions beyond the typical CARE for AIDS nutrition supplements. This side project, funded personally by the team in East Africa, has provided crucial food support to people in several of the communities that house CARE for AIDS centers. The families who have benefited from this initiative are not involved in the CARE for AIDS program, but were identified by CARE for AIDS staff and clients as being food-insecure. With lockdowns in Kenya affecting the ability to both work and travel, food in some of these communities became increasingly more difficult to obtain, but because of the work and generosity of our staff, many communities that might have gone hungry continue to be fed.
As we enter the sixth month of COVID-19-induced shutdowns, several of our CARE for AIDS centers have completed their programs without the joyous tradition of an in-person graduation ceremony. We look forward to the day when we can safely gather to celebrate the accomplishments of our hardworking clients and staff in person, but until then, we can count on our incredible East African team to lift up our clients and their communities in every way they can.