July 8, 2002

by Nigel Marsh - Hope Communications

MONDAY, BARCELONA - World Vision's Gideon Byamugisha told a small but receptive crowd of reporters and FBO representatives here today that he personally is 'not dying of AIDS, but living through AIDS', and that the church in Africa has leaders showing courage and determination in the battle against HIV.

"Many church leaders have, contrary to popular opinion, mobilized themselves to take a part in the fight against AIDS in Africa," he said, at the launch of the book Journeys Of Faith which he has co-authored with Lucy Steinz, Glen Williams and Phumzile Zondi. Journeys Of Faith is the 16th book in a series called Strategies For Hope, printed by the UK-based Teaching Aids at Low Cost. Further collaboration between the World Vision Hope Initiative and this series is likely.

Journeys of Faith takes a look at innovative church-based programs that are demonstrably meeting the challenge of HIV in Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa, and makes a compelling and encouraging addition to the literature on FBO response to AIDS in Africa.

Byamugisha, who strongly emphasized his World Vision credentials as well as his history as the first priest in Africa to acknowledge his HIV-positive status, said it had been a joy to research the book and discover a lot is being done by little-known people of faith to show love and concern to the suffering.

"This doesn't get the recognition it deserves," he said. "The conclusion we come to in the book is that we are not powerless against this pandemic. Rather than AIDS impacting us, we can impact the pandemic."

He acknowledged also the incidents of stigma, rejection and condemnation that have marred the church's response, and called on church leaders at all levels to bring an end to such negative witnesses. Such love and attention as had been shown to him had enabled him to live a long and productive life, despite the virus, he added.

Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungone of Cape Town, head of the Provinces of the Anglican Communion in Southern Africa, a man known to his flock as 'God's activist' for his work on HIV and AIDS, welcomed the book.

After citing a litany of figures from recent UNAIDS and USAID reports, he noted: "Statistics can dazzle us like rabbits in the car headlights, but we are most concerned about people, about putting the human face on AIDS. It's people who matter. We hold as a cardinal principle the sanctity of life - all efforts at preservation of life are of utmost importance.

"And as faith communities we are guardians of moral and spiritual values. It's part of our task to be involved [in both aspects] in a way that seeks to address the pandemic."

When people are suffering or are joyful, it's the pastor they go to first, said the Archbishop. As the man with leadership responsibility for the Anglican church in the part of the world with the most people suffering from AIDS - 75% of PLWA are in Southern Africa - he urged his co-worshippers to indulge in the 'core business' of care and compassion, and not to stigmatise victims of AIDS or reject sufferers.

Sandra Anderson, of UNAIDS in Southern Africa, welcomed Journeys Of Faith as a step forward in promoting the work of the church and FBOs in Africa. "Faith based organizations are in many ways the leaders in the community response to HIV," she said. "It's very important to see a document like this come forward in the context of leadership accountability that we are all talking about in Barcelona. Church leaders must be made accountable for the choices they make.

"This small, humble book carries a real wallop in this conference. We all need to work harder to make the role of the church visible, and then these kinds of courageous stories will be contagious."

Co-author of the book Lucy Steinitz, a practicing Jew living and working in Namibia, said her observation of the church's work in southern Africa was that it was principled, strong and good.

"It's with much joy that I've heard quite a lot at Barcelona about the role of the church in combating HIV/AIDS, but with sadness that I realize there is not one prominent session that gives a voice to the church to talk about that work," she added.

Steinitz suggested 10 reasons why the church in Africa is a leader in the response to HIV, and should be incorporated in all plans to confront the pandemic:

• Spirituality is very important to the African people, especially in Southern Africa
• Churches are already providing much leadership on the issue of AIDS at the community level
• Churches reach farther and faster than any other institution in Africa (for example Namibia is 95% Christian, and 70% of the population attend, at least weekly, one of the four main denominations - two Lutheran, Anglican and Catholic)
• The church structure is ideally suited to long-term community based support for tens of thousands of people. It's sustainable, won't go out of business, and interventions started in churches tend to grow over a period rather than diminish
• The church has moral authority, and values of care and youth outreach. "People listen to church leaders, even if they don't always follow their advice."
• The church is a reservoir of volunteers, local leadership, existing groups and youth activities, and as such is ready-made for interventions
• Many African countries already have strong ecumenical movements and effective links to international organisations
• Most governments recognize the role of churches in the fight against AIDS and approve of their interventions
• Many government bureaucracies move much more slowly than most churches in responding
• FBOs fill a critical gap in civil society - we need to focus on that and help them to fill it