Reports
Enabling Holistic and Family-Centered Care for Children Living with HIV in Kenya
This technical brief discusses the Nilinde project’s design of the Community Mentor Mother approach, and shares lessons from its initial implementation.
The Nilinde project began in August 2015 with the aim of improving the welfare and protection of nearly 150,000 children affected by HIV in six counties of Kenya. Recognizing that 60% of the orphans and vulnerable children population in Kenya is adolescent, the project aims to ensure a tailored package of services capable of meeting these children’s needs from infancy to adolescence.1 In 2016, the project saw an opportunity to enhance its coverage and support to children living with HIV and their caregivers by extending implementation of the Mentor Mother approach into community settings. Through creation of a “Community Mentor Mother” cadre, Nilinde aims to address the needs of children living with HIV holistically—supporting an enabling environment for their growth and stability by serving the entirety of their household and, thus, saturating their immediate interpersonal environment with support.
