Kenyan Visitors Speak Out About HIV/AIDS

	Top Row (left to right): Mrs. Tabitha Kamau Nguyo (Nairobi) and Chip Baker (Nurse Practitioner at Broadway House) Bottom Row (left to right): Caroline Jacobus (Director of Community Outreach at Broadway House), Rev. Joseph Wakaba (Nairobi), Mrs. Nancy Steiner (Newton Presbytery, Newton Nairobi Partnership committee chair), Gloria Horton (Director of Social Services at Broadway House), and Rev. Joseph Gichinga (Nairobi).

On May 16, 2006, Broadway House for Continuing Care hosted three visitors from Nairobi Presbyteries. This is the third meeting between the two organizations, all of which have been opportunities for the Kenyan representatives to tour Broadway House, meet some of its residents, and pose questions to some of the medical and social services staff.

Nairobi Presbyteries comes to Broadway House via its ten-year partnership with Newton Presbytery-a relational mission partnership, which assists Kenyan children with their education through scholarships. Newton Presbytery has been instrumental in the development of a medical clinic in a rural area of Kenya known as Kibwezi. As this program has become more open to discussion about the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, Nairobi Presbyteries reached out to organizations that can help them develop a more comfortable approach to what is an overwhelming problem in Kenya.

The meeting was full of exceptionally constructive dialogue, concentrating largely on how to eliminate the social stigma that surrounds HIV/AIDS. Representatives from both the Nairobi Presbyteries and from Broadway House learned a great deal from the discussion, and would like to continue these forums far into the future. Jeanine Reilly, Executive Director of Broadway House, feels the meeting was a great success: “We are honored to host this continuing international relationship, and thank each of the delightful visitors for their honesty and eagerness to connect.”

An affiliate of the University of Medicine and Dentistry, Broadway House for Continuing Care in Newark, is the state’s only specialized residential care facility for individuals living with HIV/AIDS.

Broadway House For Continuing Care - 298 Broadway Newark, New Jersey 07104 - (973) 268-9797