October 13, 2016 5:30 am
Life 
These stories and pictures about the devastating impacts of HIV were created by school children in Kolunga Village.
These photos are from 2001, when Ingrid Ford worked in Kenya and met Alphonce Okuku. Together, they began educating the local people about HIV and AIDS. At the time, at least 30 percent of the villagers were infected.
Ford and Okuku reminisce about their days working together in Kenya during a fundraiser at Rushing Water Yoga Sunday.
This building serves as an HIV awareness and health center at Kolunga Village, a remote town in Kenya.
The Lake Victoria Youth Group was founded by Alphonce Okuku, center, front row. This 2001 photo was taken shortly after he met Ingrid Ford, a Camas woman who worked for Doctors Without Borders at the time. Today, many of the original group members still participate in the HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment work.
When Alphonce Okuku met Ingrid Ford in 2001, his village in Kenya was ravaged by HIV, with a high mortality rate.
“People were literally dying like dogs in the street,” Okuku said. “We had to do something about it. I didn’t know what we could do, other than talk about it and take the stigma away.”
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