KISUMU, Kenya — Today is World AIDS Day 2008, and although the disease continues to take American lives, the issue isn't as urgent as it is in Kenya, where 16% of the adult population is HIV positive.
George Musingo is a member of Mwalimu Savings and Credit Co-operative (SACCO), where he serves as a peer leader and educator who helps spearhead the credit union's HIV/AIDS awareness efforts. Mwalimu is one of Kenya's largest credit unions, and the program is supported by World Council of Credit Unions' (WOCCU) development efforts.
The peer education model is based on the idea that groups of members acting as change agents and opinion leaders can be trained to effectively disseminate information and influence their communities.
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"SACCOs are the hub of individuals' economic development and almost all professionals and employees have savings programs," Musingo said. "Life is about buying, selling, saving and saving well. SACCOs, therefore, become the best choice to disseminate this information because all people, including the poor, aspire to have formidable savings accounts."
At the end of 2007, an estimated 32.7 million people were infected by HIV/AIDS worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Joint Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). It is estimated that 68 percent of sufferers worldwide live in sub-Saharan African countries like Kenya.
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