Organic Health Response Incorporated USA

Results: As of May 2011 the EK Center has enrolled over 4000 members, each receiving VCT services along with free access to the fully equipped computer and internet lab and library. We have established a network of over 100 microclinics across the island and run the regions only 24/7 emergency boat. In 2016 we will officially launch the Ekialo Kiona Community Radio, a for youth by youth station serving the rural shores of lake victoria.

Target demographics: OHR is based on Mfangano Island, Kenya. Mfangano Island, in the heart of Lake Victoria, is home to approximately 19,000 people of Suba and Luo descent. The small beach villages that line the shores of these islands are accessible from the mainland only by a 3-hour ride on wooden outboard canoes. Fishing and subsistence farming are primary occupations for the majority of residents. People here speak English, Swahili, Luo, and Suba—a language spoken nowhere in the world other than the shores of Lake Victoria. Currently, Mfangano Island has no electricity and only one road that circles the base of the island. Mfangano is a place of stunning beauty and generous people. The warm communities of Mfangano face many serious and immediate health challenges. With local HIV prevalence estimated at over 30%, Mfangano Island is struggling to address the impact of one of the most critical concentrations of HIV/AIDS anywhere in the world. At the same time, poverty and disease has forced these vulnerable communities to make dangerous changes to their local environment in order to squeeze out enough to survive. Deforestation on the mountain and over-fishing in the lake have taken a huge toll, threatening annual rainfall and draining the local economy. This is a decisive time to address the serious environmental and health threats facing people living along Lake Victoria. With out immediate and effective action, the indigenous Suba language and way of life may disappear within in a single generation.

Geographic areas served: Mfangano Island, Kenya and surrounding shores of Lake Victoria

Programs: Ekialo Kiona Center Cyber-VCT Pilot Micro-Clinic Island Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS Ekialo Kiona Radio Station Health Navigation and Emergency Response