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by Pauline Karani
Mary Makokha
“Before the WiRED CHIC was set up in Butula, no young person had ever seen a computer, except for those who had traveled out of the village,” Mary Makokha told me when we met early this week. “In fact, because of the WiRED CHIC, many young people from Butula decided to go and study IT.”
Pauline Karani
Mary and I had met in Nairobi to catch up and reminisce about the journey of setting up the Community Health Information Center (CHIC) and the impact it may have had on the people of Butula. Mary is the Director of Rural Education Enhancement Program (REEP) in an administrative area called Butula District, which is within the western region of Kenya. REEP was one of the first of WiRED’s partners to be outfitted with a CHIC. Centers like these provide health information to grassroots people on topics such as HIV, TB, and other health issues.
From Knowledge to Action
According to Mary, the CHIC project had a great impact on the youth in the area. Compared to other districts in the same region, Butula now records the highest numbers of youth going for voluntary counseling and testing in Western Kenya. Butula is also the only district in the region with a support group of HIV-positive youth who have gone public with their status and are actively involved in HIV prevention activities. Mary attributes this to the early exposure of the young schoolchildren in the village to crucial HIV/AIDS information disseminated by the CHIC project.
 The center not only had an impact on the youth, but also on all age groups in the district. It was at this center that the traditional healers were able to access information to improve their service provision techniques. It was at this center that traditional birth attendants got to learn how to protect themselves and their clients from cross infecting each other with HIV. It was at this center that medical students flocked to get information that helped them in their studies. In fact, it was also at this center that one Dr. Wesonga did some of his research to earn his doctorate in medicine.
Ripple Effects of Education
Mary strongly believes that without the WiRED CHIC Butula would still be in the dark concerning credible and relevant information on HIV and other health issues. Many eyes in the area were opened because of the CHIC. People were able to make appropriate decisions on health-related issues, while others were presented with an opportunity to make career choices.
Earlier in the day, I had been to the Kajiado District CHIC, which is hosted by the Maa AIDS Awareness Project (MAAP), located in an area that is predominantly occupied by the Maasai. James Dikir, a program officer in the organization, says the impact of the CHIC is still being felt today. He says 250 peer educators use the information gained from the CHIC to undertake HIV prevention awareness campaigns in the area. Like Mary, he also said that many HIV-positive individuals, who had accessed information from the CHIC, were now living with the virus and influencing others to go for testing.
CHICs in Need of Updates
It is quite clear from the face-to-face conversations I had with Mary and James, and through several other telephone conversations with other partners, that the CHICs have had a profound impact on the communities where they are located. Sadly most of our partners told me the computers have broken down and the facilities badly need repair and updating, something they are not able to do due to lack of funds and expertise. This is a sad state of affairs, indeed, considering the number of lives that would be saved by this important information.
Editor’s note: WiRED is currently launching a fundraising campaign to revitalize and rebuild several CHICs in and around Nairobi, Kenya. Beginning in 2001, CHIC Program Manager Pauline Karani played a pivotal role in the administration of the Kenyan CHICs.
Editing by Annie Stuart and Kate Mayer, layout by Brian Colombe.
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