Harambee, a non-profit organization aimed at providing hope and economical support to families with HIV-positive women as the “head of household”

Dr. Kathleen Harrison Supports African Women
With Harambee

by Andrew Adelmann

Dr. Kathleen Harrison had left Kenya more than 8,000 miles behind, but as she landed in Chicago, she could not get what she had seen out of her mind.

In a country barely twice the size of Nevada, more than 1.2 million people live with HIV or AIDS, and infected children often sniff glue to kill their hunger pains.

Still, Harrison, a geneticist who runs a clinical cytogenetics lab and teaches pathology residents at Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine, had to get back to her daily job in Chicago.

Eight months after leaving Kenya, on a cold Sunday afternoon, she stirred a pot of chili and talked adoringly about the pictures of her grandchildren that hang next to the knickknacks of country décor.

“You cannot see the suffering and desperation there and not respond,” Harrison said, with the images of someone else’s grandchildren still fresh in her mind.

Her response was to start Harambee, a non-profit organization aimed at providing hope and economical support to families with HIV-positive women as the “head of household.”

Swahili for “all put together,” Harambee is a micro-economic project based in Chicago that provides safe workshops in Africa for women to make crafted items to market in the United States.

“This helps women keep their dignity while feeding their children,” Harrison said. “It also builds a sense of community for infected mothers.”

To get involved with Harrambe or purchase products, please contact Dr. Kathleen Harrison at kharrison@lumc.edu.

Harrison initiated the project last spring after a second trip to Kenya where she volunteered at Nyumbai, an orphanage located in Nairobi, which houses more than 200 HIV or AIDS infected children.

The experience triggered a recollection of Harrison’s own family life at home in Chicago and she grew determined to address the problem in any way she could.

“I raised three daughters in my life,” Harrison laughed. “I have become a very good problem solver.”

Friend and colleague, Dr. Stephen Kahn, describes Harrison’s work in the genetics lab similarly.

“Kathleen is an exemplary worker; very dedicated,” Kahn, associate director of the Clinical Pathology Division at Stritch said.

Still, it is her sense of family that guides her spirit and hope for Harambee.

Like a museum, the shelves in her dining room provide a testament to generations past. Black and white portraits of ancestors decorate the walls, while family artifacts sit neatly dusted on the shelves.

The interspersed pictures of thinly clothed Kenyan children and African artwork, which may seem out of place to a stranger, are necessary for Harrison.

“My children are grown and gone, but I still have a mom gene,” she said. “So now I am caring for other people’s children.”