For Michael, the decision to become a peer educator  for HelpAge was quite a natural one. He has taken part in community projects and many people seek him out for advice.

He also had personal reasons for getting involved. “My daughter, Wanjiru, died of AIDS. She was not married and left behind two children, one aged four and the other only three months old,” he explains.

Michael and his wife are now looking after their two orphaned grandchildren.

A grandfather reaching out to his peers

Michael takes his work as a peer educator seriously and sees five older people each month. “As peer educators, we go around teaching people about how HIV is contracted.”

Peer educators also teach older people about prevention, and how to care for a person living with HIV and AIDS.

Michael continues: “We also reach out to persons living with HIV and AIDS, and ensure that they take their medication and eat well. The result is that the person lives a longer, healthier life.”

Reaching out to people, though, can be difficult, particularly when it’s about an illness like AIDS. Sometimes people do not want to discuss AIDS because of the stigma attached.

Michael says that on some visits, he meets people whom he suspects may be ill and have not been tested. “You have to build their trust before they accept what you are saying,” he explains. “Then they can go for a test and seek medical attention if needed.”

Wishing for the best

Remarkably, Michael fits his peer education work around doing casual jobs to earn money for his family’s upkeep.  Apart from his two orphaned grandchildren, he has two adult children of his own who live in his compound – a married son with three children and an unmarried daughter who has one son.

“HelpAge has helped us a lot by giving us training on HIV and AIDS and how to look after orphaned children. I always teach these children about AIDS and its implications.”

Michael also got a cow through a loan from the BIG project. He sells the cow’s milk and uses the proceeds to pay for his grandchildren’s education. Michael proudly tells us that his grandson came top of the class last term. He says that he wishes the best for his grandchildren: a life without AIDS and poverty.