Break the cycle of poverty and disease in Kenya

October 2021- Update from SOTENI Leadership

From SOTENI Co-Founder and Vice Chair, Victoria Wells Wulsin, MD DPH

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged us as individuals and as an organization. SOTENI has been able to adapt our lessons from fighting HIV to COVID-19. Our impact is shown through the continued low rate of COVID-19 in SOTENI’s target areas.

•  Adapting methodologies for providing access to potable water for persons living with HIV/AIDS to minimize possible exposure to COVID-19.
• Focusing on prevention by providing appropriate equipment. For HIV/AIDS, this meant condoms; for COVID-19, it means masks, gloves, gowns, soap, and sanitizer.
• Improving communications through greater access to smart phones and wi-fi. Virtual meetings have led to increased connections among our three rural sites, Nairobi, and the USA. In-person gatherings were replaced with on-line group discussions to continue psycho-social support and education without the risk of exposure to COVID-19.
• Generosity from donors, enabling us to upgrade our infrastructure, provide equipment, and train our 40 workers in COVID-19, which they in turn share with their communities.
• Reducing the stigma of COVID-19, as we fought the stigma of HIV, with increased access to equipment, vaccines, grassroots leaders’ examples, and the science informing policy.

SOTENI leveraged our HIV infrastructure and resources to minimize the negative impact of COVID-19 during the first year of the global pandemic. As we enter the second year, we will build on our successes and expand our impact, thanks to your support.

From Hema Krishnan, Ph.D. Chair & SOTENI International Board of Trustees

SOTENI International has had another year of great success despite Covid-19’s tight grip on the world. First, our dedicated and committed staff, volunteers, and other supporters of SOTENI have helped us to stay true to our mission of preventing the effects of diseases through community based programs, and through online training programs related to infectious disease prevention, including Covid-19. SOTENI International (SI) and SOTENI Kenya (SK) are in excellent alignment and have executed several activities jointly. Board members from both SI and SK and staff from SK toured our Villages of Hope in June 2021 which will help to nurture our relationship with our beneficiaries. Technology integration in the villages will be accelerated following the grant award received from the International Foundation. Our programs are in good shape including Swazi SHEROES, a program in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) designed to combat HIV/AIDS through the economic empowerment of women. We seek your support as we continue to grow in Africa, to bring the best quality health services and support to people living with HIV/AIDS.

From Swazi SHEROES Founder and Board Chair, Steve Driehaus

FY 2020-2021 saw the launch of Swazi SHEROES, a new program of SOTENI International.  Formally adopted as a program under the SOTENI banner, SHEROES strives to build the economic capacity of young women in Eswatini (Swaziland) as a way to help them make healthy choices and reduce the spread of HIV.

In September 2021, SHEROES held an online kick-off event with the screening of Liyana, raising $25,000 toward the start-up in Eswatini.  This was accompanied by the establishment of an advisory board in the United States and partnership with the Imbeleko foundation in Eswatini.  In 2021, SHEROES officially launched programming in Eswatini, opening a workshop in Manzini and training it’s first cohort of young women.

In addition to training the young women in the skills of sewing and craft design, SHEROES staff have been working with advisory board members and local professionals to design and delivery wrap around programming for the participants that includes psycho-social support and life skills training.

Despite COVID restrictions and political unrest, SHEROES has managed emerged as a safe haven for the young women of Eswatini and looks forward to growing rapidly in the coming year.

From Noreen Obilo, SOTENI Kenya Program Director

This year ushered hope as the Government of Kenya eased COVID-19 related restrictions which had paralyzed most organization operations. As the African proverb states “When the roots are deep there is no need to fear the wind,” despite the effects of the pandemic the purpose and resilience of the support groups prevailed and are slowly resuming project activities. This has allowed convening of monthly support group meetings which are instrumental in providing psychosocial support which in turn instill hope among members. SOTENI was also fortunate to have won the US Embassy Self-help grant, which was used to upgrade the maternity and laboratory in the SOTENI Village of Hope Mbakalo Health Clinic. We are also happy to announce that SOTENI vision of adopting technology in its field operations was realized through the a grant won from The International Foundation. The pandemic forced the organization to reevaluate new moods of engagement which strengthened relationships of SOTENI autonomous bodies via adoption of virtual engagements which reduced distances to only a phone call away.

We also suffered loss, as has everyone around the world. SOTENI lost a dear friend and a founder board member, Mr. Katheru Muthee to CODIV19. This loss was devasting for the SOTENI family and all who had an opportunity to work with him. He will be dearly missed.

Thank you again to all of you, our supporters, friends and partners. We are because you are.

In gratitude,

• Victoria Wells Wulsin, MD DPH, Founder & Vice Chair, SOTENI International and SOTENI Kenya
• Hema Krishnan, Ph.D. Chair, SOTENI International Board of Trustees
• Jenny Brady, MPA Executive Director
• Noreen Obilo, SOTENI Kenya Program Director
• Steve Driehaus, Board Chair, Swazi SHEROES

SOTENI One-Year COVID Report - April 2021

Despite the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, SOTENI’s outreach to rural Kenya in the fight against HIV/AIDS has remained steady over the past year, thanks to supporters like you and GlobalGiving. SOTENI remains resilient and committed to its mission of preventing the effects of infectious diseases, especially HIV/AIDS, and now COVID-19 through community-driven solutions in Kenya. 

AIDS Barefoot Doctors outreach to 2,535 people living with HIV/AIDS

Over the past year, SOTENI's core program “AIDS Barefoot Doctors” -which serves 2,535 people living with HIV/AIDS every month - has complied to the regulations set by the Kenyan Ministry of Health to ensure the safety of both field staff and support group members.  Effective April 1, 2020 all AIDS Barefoot Doctors’ support group sessions for people living with HIV/AIDS were suspended in order to adhere to the ban on meetings of 10 or more people in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. It was critical that all members of these support groups continued to receive P&G water purification packets to provide enough safe drinking water to them and their families every month. Therefore an emergency alternative mode of safe, compliant distribution was devised by SOTENI’s COVID-19 taskforce in partnership with SOTENI AIDS Barefoot Doctors on the ground. Furthermore, SOTENI procured and distributed personal protective equipment to each group community leader to keep them safe and protected as they received and distributed packets. And, SOTENI’s emergency COVID-19 relief campaign in April 2020 provided the immediate necessary PPE- thanks again to donors like you! We are grateful to share that Minerva Health Solutions donated additional PPE in November 2020; and has committed to continue to supply PPE to SOTENI Kenya.

Strengthening SOTENI's ongoing response to COVID-19

With donor support, SOTENI implemented four in-house virtual COVID trainings between June 2020 and January 2021. After the first COVID training session, SOTENI staff was able to streamline direct communication between AIDS Barefoot Doctors (ABDs) and SOTENI’s resident volunteer doctors and community health experts. We accomplished this by setting up group chats for real-time communication linking ABDs with our subject matter experts to answer questions about COVID-19, safety protocols and nutrition as our ABDs fielded questions from their group members and ensured their group members were receiving P&G water purification packets. Overall, the trainings equipped our staff, ABDs and personnel with the necessary knowledge and skills of COVID identification, prevention, protective equipment, and care. SOTENI thanks its founder, Dr. Victoria Wells Wulsin for leading these trainings.

 COVID in Kenya today

As of March 28th, 2021 Kenya is experiencing another surge of COVID-19 in Nairobi and four nearby counties around Nairobi. These counties are currently under lockdown with curfews and travel restrictions in place for approximately 30 days, if needed. Kenya has started its first phase of the vaccine rollout targeting high-priority groups, including frontline health workers, between now and June 2021.

Thank you for your continued support of SOTENI’s efforts to ensure some of the world's most vulnerable people - those living with HIV/AIDS in rural sub-Saharan Africa continue to receive quality care and access to safe drinking water as COVID continues to exacerbate the need for such services in Kenya.