Biden’s wife visits Aids patients

By Cyrus Ombati

Jill, the wife of US Vice-President Joe Biden, visited Kibera slums where she heard testimonies of two women living with HIV.

Accompanied by her daughter Ashley, 29, and granddaughter Maisy, nine, she took a 20-minute walk as residents made efforts to catch a glimpse of her.

In their boots, the Bidens trudged through a maze of alleyways in ankle-deep mud.

She visited the home of Aaliyah Wanjira, a member of the Binti Pamoja Project, which empowers girls to cope with slum life. The project is part of the Carolina for Kibera, an NGO funded by among others, the Bill and Melinda Gates and the Nike foundations.

They then visited the Binti Pamoja headquarters, where the Second Lady was presented with a handbag woven by some of the girls.

"Well, obviously I think there are some challenges here, but I have seen really positive programmes. You can hear the joy here with the girls," Jill said.

The two women who gave their testimonials were part of a group from the Women Empowerment Equality project run by the Health Education Africa Resource Team, an NGO funded by the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids.

Heart founder and Executive Director Vicky Winkler told Jill the project helps 1,782 mothers and grandmothers who have custody of grandchildren whose parents died from HIV and Aids-related illnesses.

"This (the visit) is a big boost of hope to them. Before they came to the programme they could not look you in the eye because stigma was very high."