Volunteering gives life to Kenyan AIDS relief efforts

With a donated TV, VCR and generator, Rev. Reuben Lubanga and his brother set off into his Western Kenyan community wielding the message of HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. Lubanga piled the equipment into a wheel-barrow, destined for all the schools, churches and community centers he could reach in the impoverished county.\nSpeaking at a presentation for his organization, Volunteer Kenya, Tuesday in the Indiana Memorial Union, Lubanga said 600 people die each day in Kenya from HIV and AIDS. He said Volunteer Kenya is working with people from IU and around the world to deliver relief and education to a population, like so many others in Africa heavily burdened by the disease.\nVolunteer Kenya, a partner of the IU student organization Outreach Kenya Development Volunteers, has placed about 100 IU students in rural Kenya as teachers, health educators and medical workers since its inception in 1998. \nBeyond his call to become an Episcopalian priest, Lubanga said he heard another calling to fight AIDS, poverty and improving health care and education in Kenya, which became the four pillars of his organization. \n"I knew I didn't have the gifts but I new the gifts were amongst the people," Lubanga said.\nBarbara Bandera, IU graduate and teacher at the Lighthouse Christian Academy in Bloomington, previously made the 10,000 mile journey to Bungoma, Kenya to teach 48 first graders at the organization's school, the EPICO Jahns Academy. She said she was amazed by the welcoming spirit of all the people. \nw"You had to take it in your hands to go out and see the people," she said. "That was the most enriching part." \nShe anticipates her upcoming return to Africa for a year long post with Volunteer Kenya.\n"(The Kenyans) see you and know you are there to help," she said. \nWhen Bandera returns, she will find the school has grown along with the organization's outreach. Though the school started as a small mud house, one new classroom is added each year -- six have been added to date -- in order to expand the EPICO Jahns Academy. From its roots as a preschool, Lubanga said he envisions the completion of the grade school to soon offer classes through eighth grade, and eventually to serve as a high school and even a college. \nFor those dreams to come to fruition, he said Volunteer Kenya currently needs a great deal of support. He said every resource is greatly valued in a land where a small loan of just $600 can transform a community. \n"It is enough to get 60 women into a lifetime of business," Lubanga said of the success of the micro-enterprise development for women component of his organization. \nThs only funding the group recieves comes from IU's OKDV program and through the generosity of its volunteers and their families, he said.\n"One month of volunteering gives (Volunteer Kenya) six months of life," said Lubanga. \nAlong with personal transportation to and from Kenya, each volunteer pays a fee of $800 that directly supports Volunteer Kenya's programs. \nKatherine MacDonald, OKDV representative and former volunteer, said there are five positions reserved for OKDV members each year, often with a wait list. Through fund-raising events, OKDV offers $625 for each volunteer to help with Volunteer Kenya's participation fee. \nMore information can be found at www.volunteerkenya.org or by contacting OKDV@indiana.edu.