Damaris Wanjiku, 63, is not only a widow but also a victim of heartless property grabbers. Her husband died in 1999 and her-in-laws chased her and her five children from her husband's land.

As if that was not enough, Wanjiku is facing the challenges of taking care of one of her sons who is confined in bed and on Tuberculosis and ante-retroviral treatment (ART).

Just when she thought she would rest and wait to be spoiled with her children's care and love, Wanjiku has not only continued to take care of her children but their children as well.

For her, caring for her sick son and providing for her other children and her grand children is like starting life all over again but sadly this time with little strength and no income at all.

Like any other older person living in abject poverty, Wanjiku's economic and social capabilities go unrecognised and unsupported. Her world is a forgotten one.

Her tale is not different from the five other older care givers I met recently in Dandora, Kenya's third largest slam compound situated 15 kilometres from the capital, Nairobi.

Dandora borders Huruma on the South, Korogocho on the West, Kariobangi on the North and Kayole on the Eastern side.

Though Dandora, a former biggest dumping site for Nairobi is a mixture of shanty and decent houses, its over 600,000 habitants are mainly jobless and of low education.

Houses built using mad and card boards, plastic papers and rough iron sheets is what catches one's eye in this compound which according to Lawrence Elias, a volunteer with Hope Worldwide Kenya, is a hive of hidden illegal activities ranging from prostitution to drug abuse.

Sadly, the area is also prone to high health problems among them the high HIV prevalence rate which has prompted Hope Worldwide to provide support to over 2,000 orphans and vulnerable children living under 300 households.

"Care givers here are 50 years old and above but we have some who are 25 years old. We concentrate more on orphans and those at risk such as those living with grandparents and at risk of getting into prostitution. Hence Hope World Wide concentrates on total abstinence," explained Elias.

He further explained that Hope World Wide educates families on good family planning so that even if parents died, those who took over the responsibility of looking after the children would have a lighter burden.

Elias further explained that some orphaned children who are looked after by grandparents get out of control due to high poverty levels saying the girls get involved in prostitution while the boys involve themselves in drug abuse.

"Because the grandparents are old and weak, some orphaned grandchildren tend to live without directions; they control their own movements and activities, hence getting themselves in the trap of HIV/AIDS. Really the cycle needs serious address," said Elias.

Wanjiru narrated how the HIV/AIDS pandemic has unsheltered her dreams to lead a decent life with full support from her children in her old age. She is now the primary carer for her sick son and of the large number of orphaned children.

"When my in laws grabbed the little that belonged to us, we came here, to rent this one room. One of my sons was working but stopped when he got sick. The other four children have never been in employment," she narrated.

Apart from her two ailing sons, Wanjiru has to take care of six grandchildren from her five children on an income less than KSH500 (less than a dollar).

It is also from the sale of table clothes that she raises KSH2,000 for rentals for the one small room under difficult conditions but with determination for her family's survival.

"When I look at my children and the ten orphaned grandchildren I look after, it hurts me. I am afraid of what their future will be if I died today," Mary Wanjiku, 61, like Wanjiru told her tale of misery, pain and endless suffering that many other older persons left with the huge HIV/AIDS burden of caring for their children and grandchildren are going through.

Unlike Wanjiru, Wanjiku is a victim of divorce. She was sent away by her husband five years ago to live with her four children in the slams of Dandora.

Her neat room accommodates more than six people. The same room is a kitchen, sitting room and bedroom.

"Two of my children are dead and they left orphans. I looked after my sick daughter without any support or information on safe care practices and I care for some of these children without knowing if they are infected," narrated Wanjiku.

Despite the night mares and problems Wanjiku is facing, she notes that HIV/AIDS has been kept a secret in that area.

She finds hope and strength for the next day through selling vegetables which she grows using sewer water while her only daughter goes round the slams of Dandora washing clothes to raise a few Kenyan Shillings for the family.

Another widow, Christabel Nerima, 45, narrated how she nursed her late husband who she said might have died from HIV/AIDS.

Nerima was left in the cold after her in laws grabbed every thing that her husband left.

"I was born alone in our family. My parents are both dead and my husband was my pillar but when he died leaving me with these two children, his relatives chased me and I found myself here," she narrates with a bright short lived smile.

Despite looking after her ailing husband, Nerima is now enduring the pain of taking care of the children through selling assorted items ranging from tomatoes to herbs in front of her one roomed house.

Hope World Wide has promised to renovate her room in addition to taking her only daughter to school.

71-year-old Faisal Wautherero wakes up as early as 04:00 hours to go to the dumpsite to collect plastic bags which she cleans and walks 15 kilometres to sell them.

Wautherero lost her husband a long time ago and was left to take care of six children. She revealed that she sadly lost one to HIV/AIDS while two others are bedridden and on ART.

"I am also looking after four grandchildren after their parents died. None of them are in employment. I am the sore breadwinner and I am scared that everybody now depends on me. My daughter is the only one who helps me collect plastic bags," she told the writer.

Wautherero who rents a room at KSH 800 per month advises other older care givers to work hard and not to rely on other people.

"Caring for sick children and HIV/AIDS orphans is not easy especially when one is old. Let us give care to the orphans until they reach their full potential even if we might not be able to see that," she advises.

'Ageing in Africa', a document prepared for the World Health Organisation by Dr Nana Apt of the Centre for Social Policy Studies in the Faculty of Social Studies at the University of Ghana pointed out that the single most important demographic fact about ageing is that the ageing society is a female society.

The document notes that women in most parts of the world are survivors of the century but quickly pointing out that extra years though can disadvantage women.

"The impoverishment of Africa means the deterioration of living conditions particularly of women who in major regions of the continent bear the triple responsibility of raising a family, working to bring home income and upholding community structures," notes the document.

On the same stratum, HIV/AIDS has a female face as it is evident that women have taken a leading role in not only caring for the sick but also HIV/AIDS orphaned children.

Even though older people seem to be excluded from HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support programmes as evidenced from the stories from Dandora, the pandemic has caused a shift in household responsibility as older women are now taking the caring roles for younger adults who are infected and for the orphans.

Help Age International notes in its 'Mind the Gap-HIV/AIDS and Older People in Africa' pamphlet that the new roles taken by older care givers is having an impact on them adding to the challenges they already face, including health problems, low income and discrimination.

It further notes that many older people affected by HIV have to meet extra expenses such as health care, school fees and burial costs despite having no regular income.

This is a situation typical of the older care givers in Dandora slams of Kenya, the pandemic has impacted negatively on their economic burden.

But despite the poverty and HIV/AIDS stress, one thing is clear, the older care givers who are women in most instances need to acquire knowledge of the pandemic and how to take care of their ailing children and grandchildren.

Older people too are at risk of HIV hence the need for them to learn about HIV and AIDS so that they can protect themselves and educate their grandchildren about the dangers of the pandemic.

Though the aging process is a biological reality which has its own dynamics, largely beyond human control, it depends on how each and every society makes sense of the old age.

During this era of HIV/AIDS, the onus is on governments, NGOs, civil society and all concerned, the media inclusive, to address the situation of older care givers.

There is further need for policy making for older citizens to actively involve them in identifying key problems and solutions such as in HIV/AIDS.

Their experiences on issues of HIV /AIDS need to be recognised as a major source in the development process of any country. For it is a well known fact that HIV/AIDS is a developmental problem

More Information on Rural Aging Issues in the World

More Information on Rural Aging Issues in the US