Our Mission

African Community Health Inititiave (ACHI)

Provide basic health care services to those lacking access to such care in both rural Nigeria and urban Namibia.

These services include:

*Overall Physicals (including Fasting Glucose levels, Vitals, HIV/AIDS testing etc..)

*Medication Management and Maintenance programs *Disease Management

*Health Education that addresses disease prevention, hygiene and nutrition

*Consultations and referrals

Mount Sinai

A program started by Katutura State Hospital Nurse Christa Biart-Vega, who works in the ARV (antiretroviral) pediatric clinic, Mount Sinai provides HIV counseling, health education, well baby checks, formula, water and sippy cups for 105 babies and their HIV+ mothers. If the child is tested HIV- after 6 weeks of being breastfed, the hospital or clinic refers them to Christa. At this point it is important to discontinue breastfeeding: replacing breast milk with formula means that the baby will remain HIV-. Unfortunately, due to the lack of funds Christa has to limit the number of mothers and babies in her program because it is a commitment to feed each child for six months. Christa did receive land in Katutura for the clinic, but lacks the funds to begin building. Not only will this building be used to continue the program that Christa has started, she also envisions it as a safe place for moms and their children, as well as a hospice for children with AIDS to peacefully die in instead of out on the streets. Your donations will go towards formula, sippy cups, water and overall costs. More money means more women can enroll in the program and with your help Nurse Christa will finally be able to have a building to go along with her amazing, life saving program!

Family Hope Sanctuary

FHS is a community based program run by Abigail Maposa located in the extremely poor settlements of Hakahana. FHS’s program helps in two ways: first, to empower women, most of whom are HIV+, TB, single mothers who are raising orphans; and second, through its school readiness program. This program reaches children who are not in the school system and provides them with an education and a safe place to stay. More importantly, the heart of FHS is its kitchen: it feeds hundreds of children each day, which for most is the only meal they will get that day. Lacking the most basic necessities of life, all of these kids are grateful for such a meal, and are in dire need of a formal education before it is too late. Your donations will go towards education, food, clothes, shoes, water and other necessities. Amazingly, $20 sends a child to school for a whole year (books and uniforms included)!

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Yummmmmy meeeeeat?!?!
-Norma
-We are trying to figure out the diagnosis here.....He was extremely depressed and while all the little ones wanted to look at their pictures after we took them. he just looked away and walked back into his house... he also when in and changed before the photo...

-Boys Playing Soccer without shoes on the Road that was filled with rocks/glass.....
-The menu at FHS for Lunch









Two Girls that wanted me to take their pic...-Christine and Annie







-Playing games in the Yard at FHS...
-Meeting under a tree in New Havana
-Kuku (she takes care of three children, one is her daughter's that passed away and the other two are from another woman that passed away as well from "pulmonary tuberculosis") and Pinky the dog.
-Meeting with another family- Anna and new born baby.
-School in session at FHS. One of three sections..




A lot of the times when young people are dying, they won't put the cause of death as AIDS or HIV.. They will instead put something to
the effect of tuberculsis, or cardiac arrest or pneomonia. We got to actually see the death certificates of the two mothers children that the Kuku was taking care of and they had not listed it as HIV... Many reasons is the stigma or even trying to keep one's status confidential. But this in fact produces many problems because for one it is then hard to actually gain sufficient and accurate information and statistics on such matters....

A day in the life of the settlements….

I can’t even imagine what it would be like to live a life that the people here do. Not having electricity and running water in your home. Having to travel over hills and down long path ways to fetch a bucket of water under a hot sun so that you can bath, cook and drink, assuming it is clean, consumes a major part of the day. Sometimes the taps are not working so many people have to travel very far, carrying the heavy weight of the water on their heads as they return home walking up and down the hills of “Hollywood”.
Or is it because generations are being born here, they don’t know any different? Many children have never been to the city, let alone have seen a white person in the neighborhoods. So they stare in awe, not knowing what to do, how to act.. Should they smile? Most sit there struck by this alien person they have never seen before in their lives. Adults being programmed on how to act, teach their children to waive, say hi and smile.

The smells of this place burn my nostrils. Its of urine, feces, dirt…. Today I smelled the animal fat that was being hung up on a clothes line outside someone house.

And the kids, they are what get me. That they can run around in this stuff, with no shoes. That they are being born into a life that they didn’t choose and have to be subject to such suffering, never given a chance to succeed and never having the opportunity to make something better because many of them will die before they are 25.



Its a completely different world over here. It is easy to separate yourself from it..
Yesterday (tuesday) I got extremely sun burned (again).... but when i cam eback i told this guy frmo the UK after her asked me how my burn was that i had been out in the settlements all day, and he said "oh in the bush??" like with the bushman and i said no.. the informal settlements and annie asked him if he had ever seen them.. he said no. So- do you think he will make the effort to see such thigns. or just take a glance, say poor them and move on to his safaris??

Finally we are getting things rolling by getting some money to abigail for food.
we met with families both monday and tuesday in the settlements and still have a good 5 more to talk to.
its hard. its so ery hard to pick and choose. who do we invest in. but we are onlt going to pick 12-20 and then the rest of the $ goes to abigail for her programs-- food, school supplies etc...

Christa- we have been in contact with Ivan- who got the plans approved by muncipality and now todayu he is going to get esitmates on how much it is to level the land adn the date we can do it..
after that the rest goes to formula, water, food as well as a printer for her computer..

out of time!

love and peace to all

please email me with any quetions or comment on here I love to hear from whoever is reading this!

mmishek1@hotmail.com

my number 0813287251
figure out the country code,,
byeeee
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