社区的影响

跨国护理:教授. Kutenplon成立艾滋病孤儿护理中心

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Little children sitting in chairs in classroom staring wide-eyed up at the camera

护理 faculty are reaching outside the community to help global communities.

作者:吉塔·布朗

“多年来, 我一直在想我能做些什么来帮助防治艾滋病毒/艾滋病,护理学副教授Deborah Kutenplon说. “2008年，我决定举家搬到莱索托.”

莱索托是非洲的一个国家 是世界上艾滋病感染率第二高的国家. 四分之一的成年人是艾滋病毒阳性. 

莱索托乡村被群山和旱地包围
Lesotho (pronounced “lah-soo-too”) is a mountainous, landlocked country surrounded by South Africa. 

整整一年, Kutenplon在莱索托的Tsepong HIV诊所工作, alongside other international volunteers – doctors and nurses – and local staff.

“那时候, Tsepong had been open for only four years and was one of only four HIV clinics in the country,她说。. “然而，在我任职期间，这家诊所接待了第1万名病人.”

HIV是一种通过感染血液传播的病毒, 母乳, 精液, 阴道或肛门的液体进入身体. The virus destroys white blood cells (CD4 T cells) that help the body fight off disease. HIV becomes full blown AIDS when the CD4 T cell count falls below 200 or the patient develops a serious infection or disease.

“莱索托整整一代父母都死于艾滋病毒/艾滋病, 留下100多个,000名孤儿,库滕普隆说.

教授. 库坦普隆在莱索托诊所治疗一名儿科病人
At the Tsepong clinic, Kutenplon treats patients ranging from newborns to the elderly.

回到美国后，她觉得自己需要做更多的事情.

“我以为, if I could funnel more resources to the people doing the work on the ground, 他们可以为更多的孩子做更多的事情. 艾滋病孤儿关怀就是这样开始的.”

成立于2010年, AIDS Orphan Care is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that “provides AIDS orphans and children who are HIV-positive with the same things we want for our own kids – food, 服装, 温暖的床, 一个教育, 医疗保健和有人关心的知识,库滕普隆说.

非洲莱索托的孤儿

She recounts the story of Mpho who, after her parents died of HIV/AIDS, went to live with her aunt. The aunt, knowing what killed Mpho’s parents, took the child to be tested for HIV. When Mpho tested HIV-positive, her aunt made her sleep in a shed outside. 她不让她和家人一起吃饭. Mpho三岁了. 最后在她的村子里有一位老奶奶, 与Mpho无关, 收留了她，从那以后他们就住在一起了. However, the granny was too old to work and they often struggled with lack of food. 艾滋病孤儿护理中心的成立是为了帮助像姆福这样的孤儿.

The nonprofit has two projects: 花生酱计划 and The Mamello Primary School.

花生酱计划 是为了喂养营养不良的艾滋病毒阳性儿童. “花生酱是一种高蛋白的当地食品. 它是Plumpynut的主要成分, the medical supplement given to acutely malnourished children all over Africa,她说。.

Kutenplon wires money to five Baylor Pediatric HIV Clinics in Lesotho to purchase and distribute jars of peanut butter to malnourished HIV-positive children during their doctor’s visits.

“一公斤花生酱可以提供一个月的蛋白质，”她说. “它不需要冷藏. 它不需要烹饪.”

Mamello小学 她还有别的项目吗?.

“I met the founder, the school’s namesake, while I was there," Kutenplon says. “Mamello had polio as a child and had started a school where physically disabled children could come and live and get physical therapy and 一个教育. 当艾滋病袭击这个国家时, she saw that AIDS orphans and HIV-positive children were being stigmatized at regular schools. 所以，她扩大了她的学校，招收了他们.”

虽然Mamello小学是对公众开放的, 它对残疾人特别敏感, 艾滋病毒阳性和艾滋病孤儿人口统计. 来自18个村庄的500多名学生在这里学习. 其中200多人是孤儿，其中许多是艾滋病毒阳性. 

课间休息时，孩子们在学校操场上玩耍
Mamello小学课间休息

艾滋病孤儿关爱会帮助满足这些儿童的基本需求, 无论是服装, 毛毯或艾滋病药物. 尽管莱索托政府提供免费的艾滋病毒医疗护理, it does not pay for certain medicines or chest x-rays needed to diagnose tuberculosis, 艾滋病毒感染者的常见杀手. (Approximately 73% of Lesotho patients with tuberculosis are co-infected with HIV.)

在过去的十年里, AIDS Orphan Care has expanded to fund a free breakfast and lunch program for Mamello students throughout the school year. 最近, 该基金支付了一个菜园和购买母鸡的费用, 奶牛和猪帮助学校变得更加自给自足. 粮食作物, 鸡蛋和肉帮助孩子们吃饭, 而猪的后代可以被出售来支付教师的工资.

两个女人在巨大的黑色大锅上为孩子们做午餐
当库滕普隆得知孩子们饿着肚子来上学时, she expanded AIDS Orphan Care’s support to cover the cost of breakfast and lunch for all children at Mamello Primary School. 在这里，妇女们在外面准备午餐.

作为一个全志愿者组织, donations to AIDS Orphan Care go directly to the clinic administrators and to Mamello for the children. 筹集资金, Kutenplon hosts a walkathon each year whose participants include RIC nursing faculty, 学生及其家庭.

“在COVID, I was afraid that the donations would drop off because we couldn’t hold the yearly walkathon,她说。. “我们实际上筹集了更多的资金. 我认为人们开始意识到生命是多么脆弱, 看到这么多人死于COVID, 我们都是一个社区的一部分. 我认为这激励了他们付出更多.”

护理 faculty gathered for a walkathon to raise money for AIDS Orphan Care
RIC faculty members from the Zvart Onanian School of 护理 hold a Walk-a-thon to raise money for AIDS Orphan Care. (从左, 护理学副教授Deborah Kutenplon, 护理学院副院长贝瑟尼·佩特罗尼奥·德凡蒂, Associate 教授essor of 护理 and Chair Sharon Galloway and Interim Provost Carolynn Masters)

When asked what drives her to volunteer and give of her services, Kutenplon says, “My religion. 我是犹太人, and we 的地方 a great deal of emphasis on everyone using whatever resources you have – whether it’s money, 知识或能量——来修复世界. 这就是我们在这里的原因. 这就是我们活着的原因.”

还有艾滋病孤儿护理, Kutenplon是妇女难民关怀组织的志愿者, an advocacy agency in Providence; she is faculty advisor for the Zvart Onanian School of 护理’s Multicultural Student Nurse Organization; and chair of the Zvart Onanian School of 护理’s Diversity, 公平及共融委员会.

“I think it’s important that nursing students recognize that being a nurse is not just about doing your job well, 虽然这显然很重要,她说。. “It’s also about looking around you to see what else you can do with your skills and your resources.

“Maybe we can’t solve the problem of world hunger, or poverty or AIDS in Africa. 但是我们今天可以帮助一个孤儿获得足够的食物. 我们可以确保它们在冬天是温暖的. 我们可以支付他们的学习用品. 我们可以让他们去看医生治疗艾滋病毒. We can let an orphan know that they’re not alone, that on the other side of the world someone cares.”

For more information on AIDS Orphan Care, or to donate, visit the nonprofit’s website at aidsorphancare.org.