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The Lutheran World Federation
Lutheran World Information |
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| 25.02.2003 |
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| FEATURE: Networking and Holistic Approaches to HIV/AIDS in Namibia |
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"Healing Influence of Church Community Can Bring about Transformation”
WINDHOEK, Namibia/GENEVA, 25 February 2003 (LWI) - “I am urging every Lutheran congregation in Namibia to form its own HIV/AIDS committee during the year 2003. This is the only way we can implement our program to combat the AIDS pandemic,” said Bishop Dr Zephania Kameeta of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia (ELCRN). This was his call to the more than 880,000 members of the three Namibian Lutheran churches, which make up almost 50 per cent of the country’s population.
With an HIV prevalence rate of 22.3 percent among its population, and over 80,000 orphaned children, Namibia is one of the countries worst affected by the AIDS pandemic, along with Botswana, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. In some regions, one out of three pregnant women is HIV-positive. Average life expectancy is expected to fall from 61 to 40 years by 2005.
“Ignorance, stigmatization and discrimination have long characterized the attitude of both church and government toward HIV-positive persons and AIDS patients,” says Rev. Angela Veii, Coordinator for Lutheran Unity in Namibia, who also organizes the Lutheran churches’ AIDS program.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) with 580,000 members has been running its ELCIN Aids Action Program since December 2000, and the ELCRN with 300,000 members began its Evangelical Lutheran Church AIDS Program (ELCAP) in July 2001. The 7,000-member German-speaking Lutheran Church in Namibia, does not have its own program but participates in those of other churches including taking part in their training seminars.
The current emphasis of the churches' AIDS program is training in home-based and pastoral care - 130 laypersons have completed the basic training course. Only by recruiting laypersons and volunteers can the program be sustainable and remain independent of outside help, says Veii.
Namibia's Lutheran AIDS programs have a goal to build a network of village AIDS committees among the 165 congregations in 2003. Using a holistic approach, the AIDS groups will work in three areas: patients' home-based care, youth education and practical and spiritual care for the increasing number of orphaned children. Veii stresses that "HIV/AIDS work only makes sense when you tackle the problem from all sides.” It is only in this way that congregations can become effective as ‘healing communities’ at the local level - even if we have to do it without money and medicines.”
The holistic approach is also important, one learns, because HIV/AIDS education has to go together with developing new morals about sexual relationships. “Sexuality is still taboo as a topic,” says the Rev. Hosea Iyambo, Coordinator of the ELCIN's AIDS Action for the Western Diocese. He explained that women are still in an inferior position in families and are often exposed to domestic violence from their husbands, who refuse to use [effective methods of prevention]. Also, providing active care for AIDS patients and orphans requires new social networks to be created which are no longer based exclusively on the traditional African extended family. The state, church and NGOs, he added, still have not found a key to bringing about far-reaching behavioral change in tradition-conscious rural areas.
“Programs which work directly, holistically and locally to combat the AIDS pandemic,” says Veii, “through personal involvement, immediate experience with AIDS patients and the healing influence of the church community, can bring about transformation.”
A significantly important factor in the success of AIDS work is ecumenical cooperation. All three Lutheran churches are founding members of the Church Alliance for Orphans (CAFO), launched in November 2002. CAFO unites 11 church organizations in promoting practical care and trauma healing for orphaned children. “We would like to create a society in Namibia in which orphans, too, feel lifted up and supported,” said Rev. Dr Henry Platt, CAFO National Coordinator, at the opening event. Since the traditional African extended family cannot accommodate all the orphans in its social welfare network, he said, there are more and more children living alone, caring for younger siblings, hungry and unable to go to school.
The difficulties in combating HIV/AIDS are immense. Despite generous material support from the United Evangelical Mission and the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission, there are not enough funds or trained personnel, and there is no administrative infrastructure. In rural areas there is still a great lack of awareness about the dangers of infection, and there are neither television nor newspapers to use in education campaigns, only the radio.
However, there is “good news and bad news,” says the Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Libertine Amathila. After the release last December of the 2002 AIDS Report for Namibia, she pointed out some regions in which the rate of new infections has stabilized or even decreased. Six of the larger towns in Namibia reported decreases of 3 to 4 per cent for the last 12 months. This shows, she notes, “that our work is bearing fruit.” She believes this has been made possible by the successful education campaign carried out in the towns by the government and civil society together in the past few years.
Along with the schools, the minister considers churches to be the most important actors in the civil society. Veii adds, “In Africa, participation from the churches and religious leaders strengthens the credibility and success of government campaigns. More than 90 percent of Namibians are church members. Even in the most remote parts of the country, you can find a church and worship services. So we take our work seriously and work together at all levels.”*
(By LWI correspondent Erika von Wietersheim, Namibia)
* This contribution is the seventh in a Lutheran World Information (LWI) features’ series on the 2003 LWF Tenth Assembly theme, “For the Healing of the World.” The aim is to highlight the understanding of the assembly theme in the different regional and local contexts of the worldwide Lutheran communion. Focus is on projects dealing with reconciliation and healing. The 21-31 July Assembly will take place in Winnipeg, Canada, hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.
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