The Matibabu Foundation, founded in 2004 by doctors from Kaiser Permanente in Oakland and Hayward, was recently designated a new partner by President Bush's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The foundation, which works in the rural Ugenya district of Kenya, will be awarded $1.5 million to continue its work. It is one of 14 small organizations that received a grant to fight HIV/AIDS in PEPFAR's 15 target countries.

Dr. Gail Wagner started Matibabu with eight physician friends after visiting Kenya at the request of her daughter's Kenyan friend. Now, the Matibabu Foundation Clinic operates year-round with a Kenyan staff of one doctor, four nurses, a lab technician, a pharmacist, an office worker, HIV counselors, and visiting US doctors.

The clinic provides an ongoing HIV prevention and treatment clinic and a deworming program in 20 Ugenya schools. Teams of doctors from the United States go to Ugenya twice a year to run daily medical clinics for two to three weeks.

"I was born in India and I'd seen poverty, but this was unimaginable even for me," said Kaiser surgeon Dr. Srinivas Ramachandra.

For more information, visit www.matibabu.org.

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