|
|
|
The Lutheran World Federation
Lutheran World Information |
|
| 09.05.2003 |
|
| FEATURE: Malawian Youth Disseminate Messages about HIV/AIDS through Drama |
| |
"We Were Not Ready to Accept it As Our Problem, We are Slowly Breaking the Silence"
LILONGWE, Malawi/GENEVA, 9 May 2003 (LWI) - It was the much-awaited day for this family of four, whose source of income was the tobacco grown on their two-hectare piece of land.
A celebratory mood reigned throughout the evening as the couple, their teenage daughter and son perused the list of things they would buy from the money that the head of the family would take out at the city bank the following day.
But the big town had something else in store for the 'rich' farmer. His return to the village three days later - no presents to show, obviously ashamed, and worst of all: penniless. The family was not convinced that he had lost his wealth to crooks. Then word slipped out - he had spent the money entertaining friends. Events then followed fast, recurring illness, especially incessant coughing, sores and diarrhea, desertion by friends, talk that he had "the disease" and would soon die.
It came as no surprise that his wife and children were no longer interested in growing tobacco, Malawi's main cash crop. What with the tragedy it had brought on the family. Would the mother and children also fall sick?
The spectators applaud. The stage is set for another show. And 23-year-old Frank Lemusani is ready to talk about his involvement in HIV/AIDS awareness raising in Malawi.
The 23-year-old small-scale farmer is a member of a drama group trained by the Evangelical Lutheran Development Program (ELDP) to spread HIV/AIDS awareness-raising messages. ELDP, the country program of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Department for World Service (DWS), has over 75 such groups throughout Malawi. Lemusani was one of the architects of the Kabwazi village group, having witnessed HIV/AIDS-related deaths of many young people in his village in the southeastern part of the country. "I was lucky to have been in touch with friends in groups doing awareness raising, and had access to useful information. I therefore felt the need to have a drama group in our area. People that I knew were sick and dying of a disease that can be prevented, I had to do something," is how the father of two summed up his involvement. Started in 2001, the 24-member group, receives training and other support from the ELDP.
Communities' Agents of Change
The LWF/DWS representative in Malawi, Dr Eliawony Meena says the ELDP has integrated HIV/AIDS components in all its projects. Some 100,000 people are benefiting directly or indirectly from activities that include creating awareness and increasing knowledge among staff and volunteers like Lemusani, who influence opinion making in their communities. Relevant messages advocating for behavioral change, abstinence before marriage and faithfulness to one sexual partner, are disseminated through drama, songs, poems, public debate, games and participation in community activities where the HIV/AIDS issue is introduced. Meena particularly stresses the need to also involve community leaders such as traditional chiefs who are the custodians of customs and cultural practices that may significantly contribute to spreading the HIV virus. He singles out "the need for information on HIV/AIDS particularly in situations that deal with initiation rites among girls at puberty in some communities, polygamy and wife inheritance."
Established in 1989 in response to a request from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malawi (ELCM) and the Government to primarily provide assistance to Mozambican refugees at the time, the LWF/DWS country program currently focuses its activities in three major areas - rural community motivation and development, environmental rehabilitation and food security. Cross cutting issues include HIV/AIDS, functional adult literacy, human rights advocacy including the issue of violence against women, improving the community's hygiene and intervening during disasters.
The program is in a transitional process toward a national organization in partnership with the ELCM. The head of the church, Bishop Joseph P. Bvumbwe commends the ELDP for its overall work and collaboration with the church especially in addressing the issue of HIV/AIDS. "When this disease was officially recognized as a killer in Malawi, we in the church were not ready to accept this reality as our problem also," he says. But the church is openly confronting the situation together with the government and other organizations working to reduce HIV infection in a country with a prevalence rate of 15 percent among its 11.5 million people. "We are now slowly breaking the silence with awareness raising including at the pulpit, and specific church projects dealing with the issue," Bvumbwe says. The church and government continue to struggle with the daily concerns of providing education, reducing poverty and disease in a country with a per capita income of less than USD 200.
LWF Assembly Theme Calls for Care, Love toward Those Affected by HIV/AIDS
The church is developing a handbook to help pastors respond effectively to HIV/AIDS, which Bvumbwe describes as "a disease that touches each one of us." He sees response to the disease also in the global context of the LWF especially with focus on the July 2003 Tenth Assembly theme, "For the Healing of the World." Incorporating messages and acts of encouragement in HIV/AIDS activities is crucial for the ELCM. "The [LWF] Assembly theme calls us to encourage love and care toward those who are affected so that no one is neglected, but all are embraced as part and parcel of the church and community." The 25,000-member ELCM joined the LWF in 1988.
Caring for HIV/AIDS orphans is a major focus of the ELCM's social service department. Malawi has some 400,000 AIDS orphans, and the church tries to accommodate a very limited number through its 68 feeding centers countrywide. A group of 50 under-five year-olds receive a high-protein porridge meal thrice-a-week in each center. "A significant percentage of the beneficiaries have parents living with HIV/AIDS," says Ms Mabel Madinga, the department coordinator. "The porridge is the only regular meal for many of them," she adds.
(By LWI English editor Pauline Mumia, following a recent visit to Malawi.)
*This is the ninth article in an LWI features' series focussing on the LWF Tenth Assembly theme, "For the Healing of the World." The aim is to highlight the theme in the different contexts of the worldwide Lutheran communion.
|
If you want to edit this article yourself and adapt it to a given format, follow our editing information
|
|
|
|
|
|
