Keep a Child Alive

AIDS Research and Family Care Clinics Trust of Kenya (The Trust), which includes the Family Care Clinic and Youth Zone began in 2001 as a pilot program at Coast General Hospital, led by renowned pediatric HIV expert, Dr. Shaffiq Essajee. This was at a time when most experts thought HIV treatment would not work for kids in Africa. The Trust provides clinical and support services to children and youth living with HIV and their families. The Trust became the inspiration for Keep a Child Alive’s work and the early success of the "Mombasa Model,” as it’s known, proved that "keeping a child alive” was not only a moral imperative, but an ideal that was entirely possible. The Trust continues to be a model pediatric, and now youth - as children kept alive over the years grow into adolescents - HIV care and treatment program in Kenya and around the world.

Women’s Equity in Access to Care and Treatment (WE-ACTx) was founded in the wake of the 1994 genocide, where an estimated 250,000 women experienced rape, torture, and numerous forms of violence. During this time, many women contracted HIV. In 2003, as HIV treatment started becoming available in Rwanda, female genocide survivors living with HIV were outraged to know that their perpetrators were able to access ART in prisons, but that they were not. WE-ACTx was created in 2004 to mobilize resources to help women living with HIV exercise their right to access ART. A decade since its founding, WE-ACTx has grown to support clients at 2 comprehensive clinics in Kigali. WE-ACTx for HOPE is now a locally registered NGO in Rwanda, providing clients with comprehensive HIV care and treatment, psychosocial and mental health services, nutritional support, and skills training. WE-ACTx for HOPE is committed to providing youth-friendly HIV services and engaging young people in the program as peer educators and clinic staff.

Situated in Amanzimtoti, just outside of Durban, Operation Bobbi Bear is led by Jackie and Eureka, both deeply passionate and committed women who were outraged by the alarmingly high rates of sexual violence and abuse targeted at children in their community. Bobbi Bear works on behalf of children who have been sexually abused, violated, and neglected to ensure their health and wellbeing, minimize their risk of HIV infection, and, the organization fights relentlessly to see that their perpetrators are brought to justice. Bobbi Bear serves vulnerable and abused children through its rescue, outreach, and awareness raising programs, including education and sensitization on sexual abuse in local schools, with police, and community groups. Their signature "Bobbi Bear,” a stuffed Bear on which children can draw and use to describe their abuse, has been court-approved across South Africa and has helped thousands of children to tell their stories.

The Alive Medical Services clinic is located in Namuwongo, one of the poorest and most crowded urban areas in Kampala. The clinic’s humble beginnings with 6 clients a decade ago, to its current work serving nearly 12,000 clients, is proof that the need for quality HIV care continues in Uganda. Operating 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, the clinic stands as a beacon of hope for residents of Namuwongo - and far beyond. Alive is deeply rooted in the community and has gained their trust because of the respect and love the staff show to each and every person that comes through the clinic’s doors. Alive offers a range of holistic services to its clients: HIV counseling and testing, HIV care and ART, prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections, prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, general medical care, psychosocial support and counseling, family planning, early infant HIV diagnosis and other lab tests, and support groups, including the increasingly popular Victor’s Club for young people.

Ikageng Itireleng AIDS Ministry, under the leadership of "Mum Carol,” a fierce advocate for children’s rights in South Africa, provides services and support to vulnerable children and young people in Soweto. Many of Ikageng’s clients have been orphaned by, or are otherwise affected by AIDS; many live in child-headed households, where they are forced at an early age to take on the role of parent and look after their younger siblings. Some of Ikageng’s children play caregiver to a terminally ill parent, or live with a grandparent who struggles to get by on the small pension provided by the government. Ikageng’s holistic approach connects children to the food, clothing, schooling, health care, life-skills training, and psychosocial support services to keep them in their community and give them the boost they need to not only survive, but to thrive.

The Blue Roof Wellness Centre in Wentworth, Durban, is a warm space built by KCA co-founder Alicia Keys, with generous support from the Stephen Lewis Foundation. The clinic is situated in Kwa-Zulu Natal, the province with the highest HIV prevalence in the world (37.4%), to ensure that people living with HIV have access to comprehensive, dignified care and treatment. Blue Roof provides high-quality HIV care and treatment to children and families, HIV testing and counseling at the clinic and via community outreach, tuberculosis and cervical cancer screening, psychosocial and adherence support, and delicious, hot meals to each client.