Community profile
Langata Kijiji is a community located in Nairobi near Wilson Airport. There is an estimated population of 66,000 and many of the residents work in the industrial areas of Nairobi. The population has been growing rapidly over recent years due to rural urban migration and this has caused an increase in HIV infection rate.
The CARE for AIDS center in Langata Kijiji operates in partnership with Langata P.E.F.A. (Pentecostal Evangelistic Fellowship of Africa) Church. Center counselors David and Mercy are pictured below.
Center staff
HEALTH Counselor: Mercy Gacheri Kithinji
Mercy joined CFA as a medical counselor in 2017. She and her husband Stephan have two children. She joined CFA to be a light, and help clients transcend their HIV status. "AIDS is not a death sentence," she says. Mercy prays that God will give her the strength and faith to serve her clients.
Spiritual Counselor: David Kutukai Tirike
“I grew up in rural Masai land in Kajiadu county. A family with polygamy foundation, my father had four wives and I had very many step-sisters and step-brothers, totaling up to around 27. Our family was very poor." Davy has been working with CFA for one year and says, "My favorite part of the job is when I find myself counseling and praying with the clients, and trusting God for the miracle.”
center history
Year graduates Faith-Decisions Orphans prevented
2017-2018 83 42 226
2018-2019 80 33 239
2019-2020* 79 38 234
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
Joseph, 2021 client
Joseph has been very enthusiastic about being in the CARE for AIDS program, but he had a specific issue that was hurting him inside. Joseph lost his job due to an eye sickness that made him unable to see. He has been involved in several road accidents as a result of the same eye problem. He was only able to see at close range and still not clearly. Reading was an impossibility.
During one of our home visits, we realized that he was unable to do anything by himself. We communicated his situation and condition to the administration and as a team, we arranged for a second deliberate home visit. This was so that we could assess the depth of the issue for Joseph and find the best, permanent solution.
We immediately connected his medical issues with our health department, which acted fast and booked for him an operation that was done at one of our public Nairobi county hospitals. By God’s grace and prayer, it was successful. To ensure that his eyes remain stable forever, the doctors requested that we get him glasses, which CFA was able to purchase for him.
Our health counselor, Mercy, noticed that Joseph would need frequent medical checkups as doctors observed his healing progress. She requested that we support him with payments for the outpatients as he goes for his medical checkups and this request was supported by our health department.
Joseph testified that God has come through for him even though, at one point, he lost the hope to live. The lack of sight has been a very deep issue that really affected all of his life. He is getting better day by day and is now able to see again. The best part is that he has just shared that now he can read the Bible and study it comfortably and he blesses the Lord for CFA.
Evaline, 2020 Graduate
Evaline moved to Nairobi in search of a better life. She grew up and was married in Homa Bay, near Lake Victoria. After her husband died, she struggled to care for herself and her child. Years after her husband passed, Evaline began to experience the same mysterious symptoms he had experienced before his death. She was afraid, and didn’t know what to expect when she visited the doctor. Her worst fears were confirmed when her HIV test came back positive.
Evaline began her ARV treatment immediately after learning of her status, but she struggled to find work, so she moved to Nairobi. The only home she could afford was in Kibera, the largest informal settlement in the country. Kibera is densely packed and lacks formal infrastructures like sewage and electricity. Many homes wire their own electricity from nearby sources, so fires are common and many areas in the community are dangerous. Unfortunately, Evaline’s dream of a better life in Nairobi went up in flames one night during a large fire that destroyed hundreds of homes, including hers.
She and her children escaped, but they were left with nothing. The church she had been attending rejected her in her greatest time of need after the fire, and bitterness grew in her heart. She was angry at her husband for infecting her with HIV and leaving her to care for the children alone, she was angry at the church for abandoning her, and she was angry at herself for the way her life had turned out.
In this season when Evaline was losing hope, she found out about the CARE for AIDS program in Langata. She joined in 2019 and was amazed to find that the church accepted her despite her HIV status. She began to open up about her struggles with the spiritual counselor at the center, and he helped her work through her anger and bitterness. She has now reconnected with her faith and has learned how to manage her health well. She is physically and spiritually thriving. Even throughout the months of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, Evaline continued to participate in counseling via the telemedicine platform. She graduated in December of 2020 and she truly embodies what it means to live a life beyond AIDS.