Our vision
Transforming communities through home based care
2 Corinthians 5:17
Through weekly visits, to those who are severely weakened because of HIV AIDS or other chronic conditions, Light to Shine Foundation has the opportunity to look after the least of these (Matthew 25:40). Everyone is unique and created in God’s image, regardless of origin, religion or nationality. That is exactly why Light to Shine Foundation wants to reach out to everyone who needs care. Through this, Light to Shine wants to bring the life-changing message of Jesus Christ.
Our mission
We excist to improve the health and wellbeing of persons living with HIV-aids related conditions and chronic illnesses, through home based care.
3 John 1:2
Light to Shine Foundation focuses on caring for people who are suffering from HIV-AIDS, other related problems or a chronic illness. Our principle is to give the best care to those who are sick by taking care of them and by sharing the love of our Lord Jesus. Our goal is to bring hope to those who are sick and care for them as Christ has taught us. We want to stand next to the patient by providing care, monitoring their mental, physical and spiritual health and guiding them in building a social network or safety net.
- We share God’s word
- We provide food and medical care
- We break stigma in communities
Background and approach
Issues in Kisumu, Kenya
Light to Shine operates in Kisumu, western Kenya. Kisumu is a city bordering Lake Victoria. Fish trade is the main income for many families, but fish trade is a very big part of the problem of high percentages of AIDS infections (Kisumu; 20%). Women are forced into buying fish from fishermen not only with money, but also with sex. Since this is their only source of income, they actually have no other choice. Besides this, in Kenya it is still the law allows men to marry multiple wives. In the Luo culture, the tribe that mainly lives in and around Kisumu, this is no exception. This also applies to the traditional ‘women’s inheritance’: if a man dies, his brother can take over his wife. However, this is not his official wife and therefore he will look for another. All of this creates a major problem in HIV-AIDS infections. In addition, there are also many marital problems, like infidelity. Also, youth receive little or no sex education, with all its consequences.
People who are HIV-infected often wait too long before they seek help and they share it with almost no one. In Kenya there is no social safety net, if you are sick and cannot work, you have no income. As a result, people get into a negative spiral, they are sick, cannot work, have no income, cannot buy enough food, become even sicker… Light to Shine breaks that downward spiral.
Home visits
The patients will be visited weekly. During this visit we offer a listening ear. Often people have very few others around them to talk their heart out or to ask questions. We ar there to encourage and advise. We also try to involve the family in taking care of the patient. There is still a lot of stigma about AIDS, and people are often rejected by family. We try to prevent this by providing information and advice.
In principle, people will be in the program for an average of three months. This is to prevent them from becoming completely dependent on. Also, with a correct intake of the ARV’s, the average patient is stable again within 2-3 months. There will always be exceptions and that is taken into account.
View our projects for more information about our approach.