Community Profile
Thigio is a slum community in the Limuru area of Nairobi. CARE for AIDS began working in the Thigio community in January of 2019. Thigio is one of five “Emergency Villages” established in the Ndeiya region during British colonial rule in the 1950s. Residents of the village are typically landless and opportunities for employment are scarce.
Center Staff
Spiritual Counselor: Tom Wekesa
Tom joined the CARE for AIDS team in January of 2019 as the Spiritual Counselor in the Thigio community. Tom is passionate about serving the HIV+ community and loves having the opportunity to meet clients’ physical needs while sharing the good news of the Gospel.
Health Counselor: Virginia Wairimu
Virginia serves as the Health Counselor for the Thigio center in the Nairobi West region. She is caring for her clients’ physical health through medical intervention and adherence and educating clients on proper nutrition as a way of managing their disease.
Center History
Year graduates Faith-Decisions Orphans prevented
2018-2019 77 2 231
2019-2020* 79 0 272
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
Caroline, 2020 client
Caroline is a 43 year old widow. She enrolled in the CARE for AIDS program in January 2020 at the Thigio center. When she was recruited into the program her health was at an all time low. At the time of launching the class, she was bedridden and unable to work. Through the CARE for AIDS medical endowment fund, Caroline received the treatment she needed to stabilize her health. When lockdowns during the COVID-19 surge prevented her from coming to the center, she participated in telecounseling and continued to fully engage in the program.
Seven months into the program, Caroline was able to get out of bed and walk on her own for the first time in over a year. We are so excited to see how she continued to progress over the coming months and years.