subscribe | advertise | about | contact | home

One Child at a Time
by Roberta Greenwood

It’s no surprise that Atieno Kombe’s Capitol Hill shop is named “Africa Mama.” The intimate store pulsates with her rhythm and spirit, its fantastic fabrics and baskets a testament to the intense beauty of her beloved Kenya. That beauty is inexorably disappearing as the AIDS pandemic ravages Africa.

“We’re a beautiful people; we’re more than sickness, more than death,” declares Kombe. “We’re great artists, legendary storytellers; we’ve much to give. This disease is destroying not only my village, but the world.”

Unfailingly soft-spoken and gracious, Kombe is fiercely determined in her fight against the disease. Refusing to remain complacent, she battles misunderstandings, myths and a staggering lack of funding in her fight against AIDS in Africa. She’s marched in Washington, D.C. with Danny Glover, joined AIDS activists to demand global treatment programs, attended the 13th AIDS Conference in Durbin, South Africa, and stood on Seattle streets in silent prayer vigils. She constantly stresses the need for education and prevention, the necessity of treatment, and the struggle to fund emerging programs.

“How can this be? How can we, a people of so much, give so little? For less than the price of a daily latté, a child can be saved. In saving one child, you save a village. There’s no time – my people are dying.”

Death is no stranger to Kombe; AIDS-related disease has claimed more than 25 percent of her family. Sisters, brothers, uncles – all suffering without hope of treatment. Families in her village were decimated as fathers fell ill and mothers followed soon after – leaving countless children to fend for themselves. Kombe estimates that more than 30 percent of the population of her small village of Majiwa, in Nyanza province, has died from the effects of HIV/AIDS.

“Can you imagine that? No – I’m certain you can’t. It’s too big for the mind, too hard for the heart. When I realized my sisters were dying, I knew I had to do something for the children. I needed to make a start somewhere.”

That start grew into Urgent Africa, a nonprofit organization based in Seattle that serves the neediest in Kenya. President and matriarch, Kombe battles to raise money and save her homeland, one child at a time. There are more than 14 million AIDS orphans suffering in Africa; Nyanza has the largest population of HIV mothers in Kenya. In nearby Bando district, 60 percent of the adult population is HIV positive. These statistics are staggering – but to Kombe, the statistics are much more than sickening numbers – they are children left to struggle without parents, family or an education.

Kombe knows the value of education. Schooled in Nairobi, she immigrated to the United States in the 1980s, attending college in Boston. The climate was cold and unwelcoming and the undercurrent of racism was everywhere.

“I never knew I was black until I arrived in Boston.” Her laugh is without rancor. “Everywhere we went, we felt the hate. Then I came to visit a friend in Seattle and I asked, ‘Will these people kill you?’ She shook her head and said – ‘Oh no, they smile and say hello to you.’ I went home, packed my things and never looked back.”

“She’s tireless.” Megan McLemore, Seattle attorney and human rights activist, shakes her head in amazement. “Atieno is focused on one goal: the kids.”

“I accompanied Atieno on a recent trip to Kenya,” she continues. “From the moment she stepped off the plane, it was all about the kids. Kenya is near collapse due to the AIDS epidemic as teachers, doctors, business leaders, and parents become infected and die. Atieno refuses to give up and won’t allow anyone to forget about the children who are left.”

McLemore relates the story of a caravan of vehicles, ferrying 10 orphans from Nairobi to their village with Kombe in the lead car. The trip lasts 12 hours by car; along the way, Kombe stops at roadside stalls, greeting the children selling fruits and vegetables.

“Tell me what you know about AIDS,” she shouts in Swahili. The stunned children turn away. “Tell me what you know about safe sex and I’ll buy your vegetables.” The boys push to the front of the growing crowd and laugh nervously, too embarrassed to answer. The girls hang back, eyes to the ground, whispering among themselves. Softly, a frail girl repeats what she’s heard from an elder, and Kombe beams. “That’s right! You mustn’t be ashamed – you must learn. You must fight!”

Her fight is defined by education and support. Urgent Africa’s strategic plan is to care for the youngest and most vulnerable victims of the AIDS pandemic. Soliciting donations throughout the Puget Sound, Kombe and her multi-national team established a comprehensive program of widow and orphan support, integrative health care, potable water projects, economic development and cultural preservation.

Her fervent crusade has one goal: to support the survivors with love. On her Web site, www.urgentafrica.org, Kombe writes, “If I am consumed with so much pain then how can we describe what the orphans must be feeling? After being so loved they are suddenly all alone, unloved, unwanted, destitute, without food or shelter and feeling totally hopeless. HIV does not infect all but all are affected.”

“Our emphasis is on the education of women and children; with education, there’s hope. They’ll contribute again to their community; they’ll remind the next generation that we are a great people. These women and children carry the world on their shoulders.”

James Muya, student at the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Affairs and Executive Director of Urgent Africa, speaks in quiet tones about his view for the future. “My mother walks five hours a day, searching for water. My uncle’s village is surrounded by the headstones of 11 children, all victims of AIDS. We must find a way to change the course of this disease, to offer hope and ongoing programs, to improve the quality of life – before it’s too late.”

Kombe has an answer for that. “I will never stop. The children depend on us – all of us. We can do no less.”

Interested in Helping?

Urgent Africa
www.urgentafrica.org
P.O. Box 12035
Seattle, WA 98102
206-853-4181

Africa Mama
618 Broadway Ave. E.
(corner of Broadway and Roy)
Seattle, WA
206-328-5408

©2005 Caliope Publishing Company