PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The Barchando Group is a community-based organization in Kenya, started in June 2001. Its mission is to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS, and empower the Barchando community towards economic sustainability and to provide support to the many vulnerable children in the community. Because HIV/AIDS mostly affects women, the Barchando Group is largely comprised of women and works primarily with women and children.

BARCHANDO GOALS 

• To increase awareness of HIV/AIDS and its effect on the individual and community, and to educate on the prevention of the disease.

• To support those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, especially orphans, vulnerable children, women, and widows.

• To develop working models of sustainable work and income through activities and projects within the community.

• To facilitate the development of sustainable infrastructure and social facilities within the community. 

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES AT BARCHANDO

Education/Children:

• Tutor orphans, teach at the nearby primary and secondary schools, and assist in public health community education programs.

Public Health:

• Assist in community education programs on HIV/AIDS, micro-finance, nutrition, etc.
• Work in the clinic, located within the host family’s compound. Doctors and registered nurses preferred.

Agriculture/Water Purification:

• Share expertise in improving agricultural output or water harvesting and purification methods.

Building & Construction:

• Assist in the building and construction of local community huts.

General:

• Partake in weaving, pottery work, and other cultural arts.

ACCOMMODATIONS AT BARCHANDO

Housing

Volunteers are hosted in the compound of the host family’s home in a guesthouse that can house up to six. An extra room is available in the host family’s house. The guesthouse has a flush toilet and bathroom inside. Bathing water is heated and provided with basins and water is provided for the toilets.

Meals

Balanced meals are provided for the volunteers who are welcome to eat with the host family.

Drinking Water

Volunteers are provided with purified water.

Electricity

There is electricity at the dispensary provided by a generator, which runs till approximately 9:30 pm. Plans are underway to get electricity connected to the area in the near future.

Internet Access

Volunteers can access the internet at an internet café; a 5-minute walk from the compound.

Laundry

Laundry is done for volunteers at minimal cost. All volunteers are asked to launder their own undergarments.

INTERVIEW WITH BARCHANDO PROGRAM DIRECTOR:
NATHANIEL GAYA

Reflections on Nathaniel’s childhood and family

I was brought up in a rural area, the eldest of three children – 2 boys and 1 girl. The elementary school (then referred to as sector school) was 5 miles away from home so I had to join class one (substandard A) at 10 years of age. We had to walk to school, which ran from 8 am to 3 pm. Three year after joining school, my father who was a church lay leader started another school 50 yards from our house. Six months later however he was down with diabetes and I was forced to quit school and look after livestock because I did not like the idea of my mother being the one with the animals. My father would not have it and made arrangements for me to attend the school closer to home. I had class until noon when I went to look after the animals. This went on for four years when I complete and passed the Kenya Competitive Common Entrance Examination and joined a missionary boarding school.

The challenges Nathaniel faced getting an education.

My father passed away one year after I joined boarding school. Life became considerably difficult. Ksh 120 was needed each year, an amount out of reach for a peasant farmer. Mother had to support all three of us. Once again I passed my exams and was accepted at the secondary school in the same institution. The local government paid for my four years in secondary school. After completing this level, I found work for one and a half years before deciding to leave for India to pursue a university education.

I left Kenya with Ksh 3400, my entire savings. This was to get me through one academic year. I traveled on the deck of a ship from Mombasa to Bombay for nine days as I could not afford second class. While in India I got used to a cup of tea in the morning, lunch and supper during the semester. During the holidays, however, I had only one meal a day. I was fortunate to meet two Kenyan students who willingly shared the stipends they received from the Indian government with me. That got me through university.

What inspired Nathaniel to do the work and how did he get started?

Empathy for the sick and suffering around us moved my wife and I to start an organization to fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS in 2001. We felt that poverty and ignorance were the underlying root cause for the rampant spread of the disease. We started by training people to educate the community in public places including the neighboring schools.

The community members who had gone public about their HIV+ status have followed through with their own counsel by taking up ARV treatment. They have since been spearheading the campaign against the spread of HIV and they created a model of people living positively with HIV and AIDS. Fear and stigma have reduced considerably and the rate of infection has gone down from about 30% to less than 10%.

What obstacles did Nathaniel face?

In the beginning of the campaigns there were many support group members most of them young but sadly over time most of them migrated to urban centers in search of work. With intermittent drought and crop failure rural people have been getting poorer and poorer. Increasing poverty results in their defaulting on their ARV treatment since they are unable to afford the $1.5 for bus fare to the nearest government hospital. Their condition is exacerbated by undernourishment.

The clinic at Barchando is currently operating from an old house that is not large enough for a laboratory. Patients who need to be put on drip for more than 8 hours or have frequent injections are difficult to treat due to the limited space. Since there is no ambulance or van, a car has to be hired in case of any medical emergency. The clinic is currently open intermittently during the year, as we cannot afford to pay a medical practitioner. With a bigger facility, the government is willing to assign a qualified nurse and helper all year round.

The two key areas that efforts are being directed are: pooling of community resources and embracing modern farming methods that would increase farm yields and therefore food within the community.

What are the hopes for the future of Barchando’s program?

Our hopes for the programs in Barchando include:

• Clinic – to expand the current clinic and put in place infrastructure that will enable it to run all year around. In the long term, we would love to build a larger clinic that can provide inpatient care in addition to basic outpatient care. This would ensure that healthcare is available and easily accessible to the community
• Education – well stocked libraries for the primary and secondary school, improved literacy for adults in the community, and opportunities for secondary school students to further their education, with some hopefully returning to strengthen and serve the community
• Weaving programs- to learn modern design techniques that will attract the current market and ensure the program is sustainable and generates enough income to support the families of the community members that work there
• HIV & AIDS – we pray that through education and other community efforts, the rate will continue to lower until such a time when there will be a negligible infection rate. It is also our prayer that those already infected will find the education and constant support they need to keep them alive and productive
• Orphan care – many of the orphans in the village are so due to the ravage of HIV & AIDS. The community has in various instances taken care of these orphans. Our hope is that there will be sufficient resources to absorb all orphans into families within their community so that they can be cared for and loved as part of a family
• Farming – our greatest hope is that we will find and utilize farming techniques that will ensure a steady food supply to the village. That none will be ill from malnutrition

Sustainable development requires sustained effort and commitment and we’re thankful that Village Volunteers has demonstrated the same over the years. We hope for greater partnerships in the future and our doors remain open to welcome volunteers into our community.

How has your partnership with Village Volunteers affected Barchando’s work?

The partnership with VV has not only created friendships and camaraderie with volunteers but also between programs. After the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) workshops that Common Ground program conducted at Barchando, the community purchased hybrid maize that resulted in a good yield. Some of the programs have purchased the weaving products made by the Barchando community.

Through partnering with Village Volunteers we have been able to foster hope among community members that our programs work and that a better life is attainable. Many members have acquired new knowledge and skills that they have used to improve their lives and that of their children. Seeing volunteers coming in to play a part in development has roused the desire of and moved the community into action.

How does your community benefit from having volunteers?

Partnership with Village Volunteers has given our community an opportunity to interact with people from different disciplines and with varied experiences. Our schools have benefited from school donations that have included stationery, books, sports kits as well as learning from volunteers who have filled in the shortage of teaching staff. The volunteer medical personnel have also played a great role in the community by providing much-needed health care and education to the village.  It is worth noting that some families have even been assisted by volunteers to put up better housing for them.

But one of the greatest benefits for the community has been to expand their knowledge of the world and realize that there are more similarities than differences between them and volunteers who come from a different culture. The relationships formed have been deepened through not just service but fun and bonding. Music and dance have bridged the gap where verbal language could not reach.