STARS Foundation

Meet Irene

Irene was diagnosed with HIV in 2005, and soon after married a man who was also HIV positive; both have accepted their status and are very open about it within their community. Irene has managed to combine passions for gardening and community work with her personal experiences, through providing nutritional support and advice to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWAs).

Irene washing her hands from a simple device
she has made at her home

ACE Africa first met Irene when she was volunteering at the Bar Achuth Resource Centre, a local health facility. Having regained her strength through antiretroviral therapy and good nutrition, she understands the importance of a healthy diet for people with HIV. She volunteers as Area Gardener at the Resource Centre, and her demonstration garden at the Centre has been one of the most active: she has educated community members on the need to grow locally available crops; provided vegetables to people living with HIV and AIDS, as well as orphans and vulnerable children; and given training on how households could establish their own kitchen gardens, even when families have limited space. Due to her enthusiasm, 80% of community members who have been linked with Irene have embraced the concept of kitchen gardening.

ACE Africa has since trained Irene on organic farming and through this she has been able to establish a very active kitchen garden at her home. Through the sale of surplus crops, she has been able to move from a one-roomed grass thatched house to three-roomed iron sheet house. She has also donated a piece of land to act as a Bar Achuth Moyle support group garden to help more people who are malnourished or infected with HIV.

Irene has also been playing a very active role in the distribution of both soya and nutritious flour, making follow ups at household level to establish progress, and referring newly identified PLWAs at the resource centre. She is one of the outstanding volunteers in the area: partnering organizations like Kenya Red Cross Society, Nyanza Reproductive Health Society, and Matibabu Foundation have trained Irene on community Home Based Care. She has since used this knowledge to nurture bedridden clients and through her efforts many have been able to walk again and are hopeful about the future.

Irene actively taking part during jiggers campaign the area.