TABITHA CLINIC SERVICES

Laboratory Services
 
Tabitha Clinic began developing an in-house laboratory in 2003 when the U.S. Embassy in Kenya delivered laboratory equipment as a donation from the Ambassador's Self-Help Fund. The lab was officially opened later that year.  In early 2005, the lab became fully operational following the purchase of a binocular microscope.  The microscope not only tripled the number of tests done by Tabitha Clinic, but it also improved the quality of services offered to the Kibera community. The lab employs a trained technician, and performs, among others, Widal tests for typhoid, MPS for malaria, and free HIV testing, on-site in Kibera.

Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) Program

In an effort to better serve the Kibera community, CFK’s Tabitha Clinic runs a Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) program.  The program’s goals are to ensure that Tabitha Clinic is an active participant in HIV infection reduction in Kibera, as well as offers counseling support and other services for those patients that are already living with HIV.

Home-Based Care and the Power Women Group
 
Tabitha Clinic provides Home-Based Care (HBC) to twenty families living with HIV/AIDS with the help of ten trained community health workers. HBC provides free treatment of opportunistic infections, food, and clothing for these patients and their families.

Since implementing the HBC program, many women in Kibera with HIV/AIDS have regained so much strength and energy that they have literally come back to life.  These women have formed a small cooperative called the Power Women Group, in which they make traditional beaded jewelry.  Profits from the sale of their artwork are shared among the members of the group.