community profile
Kia-ndutu is an informal settlement located in Nairobi known for its high rates of economic poverty and violence. CARE for AIDS began operations in the Kia-ndutu community in 2010 and it is one of our longest operating centers.
The center in Kia-ndutu operates in partnership with Full Gospel Church under the leadership of Pastor Jerald Muritu.
center staff
HEALTH Counselor: Loise Mary Gathoni Maina
Lois Mary has been with CARE for AIDS since 2013. Louis joined CFA as an opportunity to live out her calling to serve others.
"It is exciting when I recruit a bedridden client and start working with them. When I see them transformed and walking up again I know the my calling is effective.”
Spiritual Counselor: Bernard Gichuki Gakuru
Bernard joined the CARE for AIDS team in 2014 after a career in sales. He enjoys serving in his community through being a CARE for AIDS counselor. Bernard loves to give clients hope that they can make and achieve their dream even though they are HIV+.
“From my young age, I have had a big burden to give hope to people who are hopeless. I love working with CFA because am able to work in the line of my calling.”
center history
Year graduates Faith-Decisions Orphans prevented
2010-2011 79 11 263
2011-2012 76 25 267
2012-2013 79 7 252
2013-2014 79 8 230
2014-2015 67 6 120
2015-2016 59 7 187
2016-2017 65 6 146
2018-2019 69 6 197
2019-2020* 65 6 193
2020-2021 TBD TBD TBD
*The cohort in the 2019-2020 class was impacted by delays in the CARE for AIDS program caused by COVID-19 lockdowns and health precautions. To learn more about how we responded to the pandemic, visit this page.
graduate profiles
Ann, 2019 Kia-ndutu Graduate:
Ann joined the CARE for AIDS program in Kia-ndutu in the fall of 2018 when she was referred to the church through the local hospital. She has 3 children, 2 boys and one girl. Ann made many friends in the course of the nine-month program and she plans on continuing to meet together with them after graduation so they can encourage one another. Ann learned soap making, yogurt making, beadwork, and candle making in the economic empowerment seminars at Kia-ndutu, and she is already implementing those new skills in her small business so she can make more money to provide for her family. Join us in praying for Ann and her friends as they continue to grow in the Lord after graduation.
Grace, 2014 Graduate:
Grace joined the program in 2014 after bearing years of depression and deteriorating health alone. In 2010, Grace’s husband discovered that he was HIV+. His response to his diagnosis was to take his own life by driving the family car into oncoming traffic. Grace’s oldest son was in the car with his father during the accident and survived, but is permanently disabled from the physical trauma. Grace began to care for him and her two other children as a widow and quickly fell into a deep depression.
In 2012 Grace grew very ill and was tested for HIV. When she learned her status and disclosed it to her extended family, they abandoned her and her children to live alone. Because of her deteriorated physical health and inability to work, her children dropped out of school and began to beg and work odd jobs in order to pay for Grace’s medication and to support the family. By the beginning of 2014, Grace was completely bedridden. Early in the year Grace had been assigned a newly employed home care nurse from local health organization. During the nurse’s first house call to Grace’s home, she confided to Grace that she, too, was HIV positive, but that she had recently gone through a program called CARE for AIDS that helped her manage her disease and connected her with her new nursing job.
Grace joined the Kia-ndutu center that month and quickly succeeded in the program. Her health drastically improved thanks to the food rations she received at her counseling visits and she was able to quickly start a small business with the skills she learned in the empowerment seminars. Grace earns enough now to keep her children in school and her oldest son recently received a scholarship to attend a specialized high school in Nairobi.
Grace reconciled with her mother and re-dedicated her life to Christ. She and her mother and children now attend Full Gospel Church regularly.