community profile
The CARE for AIDS center in the Mtongwe community launched in July of 2017. Mtongwe is a slum community in the outskirts of Mombasa Town - the community has a high HIV infection rate which is largely caused by prostitution. The CARE for AIDS center in Mtongwe operates in partnership with Deliverance Church Mtongwe under the leadership of Bishop Michael Onyango and center counselors Gideon Mtuku and Elina Goho.
center staff
Medical CounseloR: Elina Goho
Elina grew up in Mombasa, in a family of 9 people who love to learn new things. She joined CFA in 2017. When asked what motivated her, Elina says, “I have a passion to work with the community, especially people living with HIV/AIDS since one of my family members was infected." She loves to see clients changing physically and to be able to support themselves through the skills that are being taught.
Spiritual Counselor: Gideon Mutuku
Gideon grew up in Mombasa in a Christian family. In 2017 he began serving with CFA. Gideon's favorite part of the job is one on one counseling. "I love when I get to impart God’s love and bring healing to the broken, hope to the discouraged and add value to the clients by uplifting them up in faith. Praying with them also melts my heart.”
center history
Year graduates Faith-Decisions Orphans prevented
2017-2018 77 7 589
2018-2019 78 11 416
2019-2020* 79 38 234
2020-2021 78 13 296
2021- 2022 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
Mwanajuma, 2021 CLIENT
Mwanajuma is 49 years old and has five children (2 boys and 3 girls). Mwanajuma first learned of her HIV status in 2005 and the news was shocking to her. Her husband was HIV-negative and because they lacked the necessary information to help them live together, they later separated. This led to more devastation and Mwanajuma’s health deteriorated.
Mwanajuma was lonely, felt abandoned, and had no finances to take care of her children. She was always absent from work and the cost of treatment was a challenge for her. She had begun to have frequent visits to the hospital because of opportunistic infections. Mwanajuma eventually lost her job because of the stigma even though she had not disclosed her status to her employer.
When Mwanajuma joined the program, she felt rejected and downtrodden. But Mwanajuma shared that since joining the program, her life has changed. She has a place of belonging, is progressively growing, and is even encouraging others. Currently, she is earning money through the skills she learned in the program, such as making key-holders, bead bags, and cake.
Diana, 2020 Graduate
Diana is a 36 year old single mother of two daughters aged 12 and 10. She joined the program in 2019. When she first came to the center in Mtongwe, she was weak physically and felt very alone. full of stigma. Her viral load was extremely high, and opportunistic infections had affected her liver.
In the course of the program she learned how to adhere to her ARV medication and her health has drastically improved. She is no longer ashamed of her status and feels comfortable talking openly about it in the community. Diana has taken a number of the skills she learned through the economic empowerment seminars at the center and has started a small business in the community. She is now able to provide for herself and her family. We are excited to see how Diana continues to grow and thrive in the coming months and years.
“Glory, glory, glory to God. We were in the dark and now we see the light. We came here poor, tired… but now we are all rich, active, and ready to start a new life. We are now the fishers and the teachers who will find those suffering out there and bring them to see. I shall not die. I shall live and declare what the lord has done.”
- Peter Abdullah, 2019 Mtongwe Graduate
