Community treatment of 77 addicted Kenyan Clients

CHANGE IS POSSIBLE!
Overcoming addiction and substance abuse takes time, especially when living in neighbourhoods where brewing and abuse are everywhere. 
KAP's treatment process takes two years for Clients to gain enough strength and capacity to continue their recovery journey more independently.
However, right from the start changes are there. These are all important stepping stones. The human heart and psychological attention of helpers prove to be essential.
Your support through GlobalGiving makes this journey possible!

SHARON joined the new Steps Group in September 2023.
Initially it took her neighbourhood's Recovery Coaches much effort to convince her to attend. But once there, the topics touched her and the meals - however simple - did the rest. She was was malnourished and hungry and very sick. She had defaulted in her HIV Anti Retroviral Treatment (ART),  and her hands were covered with a painful infection.
The latter was due to her job in the brewing and drinking dens, where day and night she would wash very dirty plastic containers, collected from the town’s rubbish heaps for use by the drinking customers. She lived in these dens, and any little money she earned was spent on alcohol. 
In the sessions Sharon told her story: 
Now 44 years old, she is the first-born in her family. For reasons she does not know, when she was just a few years old her mother rejected her, and she moved to her grandmother. She loved her, but unfortunately when she was still a teenager her grandmother died. Her uncles at home were not caring, and Sharon went to live on the streets. There she soon got married to a man addicted to alcohol and drugs, and Sharon joined in. They constantly fought, and when she discovered not to be able to get children her addictions grew worse. Her next relationships also did not last and resulted in her HIV infection. Eventually the den became her home; and people shunned her. 
Not being able to cook due to the painful condition of her hands, KAP arranged for her to eat at a local small restaurant in the shanty neighbourhood. A supportive good doctor took care of her treatment and cured her hands. She is now adhering well to her HIV medication. Sharon was deeply touched by the care, the teachings and the food she received, became a loyal participant and vowed to stop her addiction.  She became the first in her group to do so.  
Gradually accepting her situation, and showing remarkable strength and courage she says "KAP is now my family", and has asked for help in rebuilding her life. She recently took the initiative to meet her mother, as she does not understand why she hates her so much - we accompany her emotionally in this painful process. To enable Sharon to climb out of her extreme poverty, KAP temporarily pays the modest rent of her very simple room, and has bought her a jiko (stove) to cook by herself. 
Your great support is making all this possible!  

EVERY START IS DIFFICULT - PATIENCE PAYS!
The beginning of the treatment process of every new group is not easy.
This was very true too for our new women/girls-only Steps group. Yes, the participants really wanted to attend, but KAP often had to collect them early in the morning from their drinking dens, literally taking them by the hand. Fortunately treatment venues are right in the community. 
Initially many participants were still drunk on arrival, and took their disagreements and issues with them, from the den to the classroom. At times serious quarrels and shouting matches were part of the day. Staff and Recovery Coaches had learned how to handle these and know how to remain patient, neutral - even pulling people apart - and mediative. That takes great heart and commitment!
Gradually however the violence subsided and participants came to the sessions when sober. Several even became friends, and are now going at great length to help each other. 

ANNET really wants to stop her chronic addiction to a vicious mixture of local gin (chang'aa), marihuana and other concoctions, but finds the journey very tough.
She tries to faithfully attend all treatment sessions, and became friends with some other participants. However she trusts few people; fortunately KAP Staffs are amongst these. She often presents herself as aggressive and 'emotional', and fights for her daily food on the table, whatever it takes.
Now 36 years old, she got married when about 14 years old and has two children: One staying with her very sickly mother, the other at a children's home. Main reasons for her early marriage were poverty, the death of her father, ever-sick mother and her dropping out of school. Upon leaving home, initially she really tried hard to fend for herself, but gradually became a drinker and hooked. 
One day neighbours called her to the scene of a lynching: It was her husband who had been caught in criminal activities, and she had to identify his burned and badly charred body. This traumatised her very deeply. She became seriously addicted and unable to take care of her children. 
Not having a house, she often moves elsewhere and gets lost, but the Recovery Coaches, who live in the area themselves, always manage to trace and engage her again.  She has now started to have sober periods, asks for talks with KAP Staffs (calling us 'Pastors' though we are not), whilst her commitment to the treatment sessions is clear.
Every step counts...

OVERVIEW OF ACTIVITIES
KAP uses the 'Steps to Healthy Living approach' for its community-based addiction treatment work. It currently has three Addiction Treatment Groups with a total of 120 regular Clients:
The Girls/Women Only) Group, and two mixed-gender groups: One started in November 2023 and the 'Completion Group', consisting of all old groups, now completing their intensive treatment stage. 
KAP has 4 addiction-trained Professional Counsellors/Field Facilitators and a team of 9 Recovery Coaches.

Clients participate in core-trainings, 'refresher workshops', group recovery sessions, home visits by Recovery Coaches, Family Days and one-on-one counselling sessions.
There are also Psycho-Education Sessions on abuse/addiction in the community and schools in the area.  

These activities are funded by three donors, including GlobalGiving, and individual well-wishers. 
FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS: THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

• Financial Report April 2024 (DOCX)