Combating Infection With Information
The AIDS epidemic in Africa is primarily a heterosexual phenomenon. Ninety percent of AIDS cases occur through heterosexual transmission. Forty percent of cases occur between husbands and wives. Cultural community problems such as promiscuity and prostitution facilitate the spread of HIV. Tree of Lives is dedicated to promoting positive cultural changes in the community through educational programs for men and women.
Nursing School and Student Scholarships
The Tree of Lives Nursing Scholarship Program was established to provide scholarships for students at Nazareth Hospital’s nursing school. Most of the nursing students cannot afford to pay for all of their educational costs at the school. The Tree of Lives scholarship initiative advances the fight against HIV/AIDS by supporting students who will serve on the front line treating AIDS patients and educating members of the community about the disease.
Scholarships are granted to assist the nursing students with housing, books, fees, uniforms, tuition and emergency needs. Many of the students come to Nazareth Hospital’s nursing school with no support from their families. Possessing a strong desire to succeed in their chosen profession, these students are bettering their own lives and improving the lives of the people they help.
The Nazareth Hospital Nursing School opened in the fall of 2007 with a class of 30 nursing students from several different tribes and backgrounds. The students reside on campus and, after four years of study, each student receives certification as a registered nurse.
Tree of Lives also supports children through the awarding of scholastic scholarships to continue their education beyond village primary schools. Tree of Lives members underwrite their tuition, which costs about $1,000.00 per year, per student. Our kids receive a quality education that gives them the opportunity to pursue their dreams in spite of overwhelming poverty and family dysfunction.
Mentorship for Men
Kenyan males traditionally are circumcised when they are adolescents by a family elder. This rite of passage holds great significance for young Kenyan men, but it also exposes them to an increased risk of infection. The Tree of Lives initiation and mentorship program combines a sterile surgical procedure performed by doctors at Nazareth Hospital and a faith-based instructional program that addresses sexuality and the dangers of HIV/AIDS. Circumcised males have a 60% lower chance of contracting HIV through sexual contact. Following their surgery, the young men stay in the hospital several days and attend classes that teach them to practice abstinence until marriage and to honor their wives after marriage.
Mentorship for Women
According to UNICEF, every year an estimated one to two million girls worldwide are at risk of being subjected to female genital mutilation (“female circumcision”) as a rite of passage into adulthood. The government of Kenya estimates that 32 percent of all females age 15 to 49 have undergone the procedure. Traditionally, the rite included teaching by older women about sexuality, relationships and other issues. However, as many communities have rightly abandoned the practice of female genital mutilation, they have also dropped the initiation and mentorship into womanhood that.
Tree of Lives supports a program that teaches teenage girls how to grow into women of spiritual depth and moral character. The Women of Worth program brings adolescent girls to a three-day seminar at Nazareth Hospital where they learn factual information about female circumcision and discuss the hazards of the practice. They are taught faith-based principles for sexuality and they learn to develop a positive self-image, including skills for resisting ridicule from girls who have undergone the procedure. Each girl is assigned a mentor who helps apply these principles to her life and her role in her community.
