Providing care for patients with chronic disease and eliminating the stigma of AIDS since 2002
   Download our 2011 Spring Newsletter   
Due to recent activities against St. Lucia we have generated the following documents to clarify St. Lucia's position with regard to funding and donations received in the past and legal activities currently in process (updated May 2011);
Letter to Karama Connection Board of Directors
Letter from an enthusiastic Donor to St. Lucia
Home How You Can Help Mission/History Events Programs Annual Reports Contact Us
Project Reports: Rights & Economic Justice Most Vulnerable Children New Projects 2010

Welcome to St. Lucia and Arusha Tanzania
     St. lucia Nursing Home is located in the village of Moshono Chekereni, within the Arumeru district of the Arusha region. Arusha is the second largest city - the tourist capitol of East Africa - with a population of about 300.000. The area served by St Lucia is predominately inhabited by people from the Maasai and Waarusha tribes. The population is divided between Christian, Muslim and indigenous religious beliefs.

Tanzania is unique in all of Africa in that people are not segregated by tribe or religion but live together peacefully united by the country's official spoken language of Kiswahili. The climate is termperate with traditionally two rainy seasons though in recent years people have suffered from draught. The elevation is 1,500 meters(5000 feet) which makes it pleasantly cool at night.

Current Economy in Tanzania

      St Lucia is striving to develop its reputation as the premier center for quality care for adults and children with HIV/AIDS - to help them improve and be able to return to their home or to help them have quality of life during their end of life.

Dramatic economic realities challenge St Lucia. Tanzania is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world. The Government is not able to fund most health care costs nor can it fund Nursing Homes and other development activities . Personal income is less than a dolar per day and with that they are unable to pay for health care and to cover hospice care making it an enormous challenge to help those suffering and discriminated against HIV during the end of their lives as well as children who are orphaned by AIDS and who themselves are HIV+.

Additionally, there is poor accessibility and availability of antiretroviral HIV/AIDS medication and the fear and stigma associated with this disease causes many people to avoid accessing available care and treatment services for HIV/AIDS.

The intermittent draught of the past years has caused many rural residents to seek employment in the city. Unemployment rates are shockingly high. All these factors taken together have caused a change in the traditional way of life for most people.

For instructions and guidelines on visiting at St. Lucia please download and read this document. - Our Volunteers Handbook can be downloaded here.


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