Sr. Geraldine Henry DC
Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent De Paul
Kubwa, Nigeria
Sr. Geraldine is involved in the DREAM (Drug Resource Enhancement against AIDS and Malnutrition) project. This is a comprehensive programme for the diagnosis, counselling, treatment, nutrition and home-based care of people living with HIV/AIDS.
Sr Geraldine works in
Kubwa, and is Project Co-ordinator Daughters of Charity Services for
the province of Nigeria.
During 2007, I continued to co-ordinate and develop the DREAM
programme in Kubwa and work towards the development of DREAM in four
other sites in Nigeria. During this time, preparation has been made
to hand over the day-to-day running of the DREAM programme in Kubwa.
Many of the difficulties that we came across during the year were
related to providing free services for the increasing number of
people living with HIV/AIDs who are part of the DREAM programme.
Many need food and other social needs such as housing.
While we receive PEPFAR funds from Aids Relief, this only covers the
basics of diagnosis and treatment and does not cover many of the
other expenses. We spend a lot of time fundraising for these and
other necessities. It is very important to work with different
agencies. There is also a need to help the patients become more
self-sufficient. We have formed a very active support group for
people living with HIV/AIDS and we managed to get assistance from
some other organisations including misean cara to help with training
in management and setting up of small businesses.
The evaluation of other Daughters of Charity services in Nigeria and
Ghana continued, with the result of an improvement of the quality of
the services. Assessments were made regarding the development of new
services, including the management of a new clinic in the Vicariate
of Kontogoro.