aug 15 2006 bullentin ecumenical advocacy alliance faith in action

8/9/2019 Aug 15 2006 Bullentin Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance Faith in Action

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While faith-based organizations have made

some progress since the last International

AIDS Conference held in Bangkok in 2004,

much more needs to be done if they are to

meet the goals they set for themselves two

years ago, say religious leaders meeting on

the second day of the International AIDSConference in Toronto. High on their agenda:

reaching out to people living with HIV and

AIDS and public testing of religious leaders.

In the Dominican Republic, many churches

are meeting the commitments made in Bang-

kok, says Dulce Alejo Espinal of the Indepen-

dent Evangelical Baptist Mission. They now

have ministries to accompany people living

with HIV and AIDS and to support AIDS or-

phans. A minority of churches, however, still

nd it difcult to overcome the stigmatiza-

tion of those affected by the pandemic.

In Nepal, attitudes changed for the better since

Bangkok, Bishnu Ghimire reports on behalf

of the South Asia Interfaith Council. Hindus,

Christians and Muslims have become more

aware of the impact of HIV and AIDS in their

faith communities and religious leaders are

starting to speak out, to preach and to assign

resources in order to respond to the pandemic.

But HIV is still connected to sin and there is a

preference for preaching over teaching.

Phramaha Boonchuay Doojai, director of

the Chiang Mai Buddhist College, points to

education initiatives in Thailand led by Bud-

dhist monks which include educating novicemonks about HIV and AIDS and offering

pastoral counseling both in hospitals and

homes. He acknowledges, though, that there

are still difculties in changing traditional at-

titudes to people living with HIV and AIDS.

The Rev. Mark Hanson, bishop of the Evan-

gelical Lutheran Church in America and

president of the Lutheran World Federation,

reports that Christians are beginning to have

the courage to follow Jesus Christ and reach

out to people who they would not normally

meet. But he calls on churches to repent and

confess their complicity in allowing

stigma and discrimi-

nation to persist and

their failure to lis-

ten to and follow

the leadership

of people living

with HIV and AIDS.

(continued on page 3)

Faith-based response to HIV and AIDS:Some progress but more needed

by Juan Michel

INSIDE: Question of

the day

Page 2

Stlsett callsfor honestyabout HIV

Page 3

Ethiopiancoffeeceremony

Page 4

AIDS 200

Issue no. 3Aug. 15, 2006

Daily news and views on re

responses to HIV and

at the 16th International

Conference, Toronto, Cana

more information and articl

www.e-alliance.ch/iac_200

FAITH

inACTIO

We have becomplicit byour silence.Bishop Mark S. Hanson

Lutheran World Federat


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A joint faith-based exhibit at the Inter-

national AIDS Conference encourages

conference participants to engage repre-

sentatives of pharmaceutical companies

about their roles in the response to HIV

and AIDS.

Ask Pharma cards offer a question-

of-the-day that conference participants

are encouraged to ask any of the phar-

maceutical company representatives in

the hall. Each card includes an explan-

atory note about its question.

One card posed: Tell me about child-

friendly versions of your HIV and

AIDS drug(s). How much does your

company charge for these child-friend-

ly formulations?

The exhibit was created by more than40 faith-based organizations want-

ing to share how various faiths are re-

sponding to HIV and AIDS. There are

lms and different activities, in addi-

tion to an array of materials from the

organizations.

The idea for Ask Pharma was sparked

when the organizations were assigned a

space in Exhibit Area A, an area domi-

nated by pharmaceutical companies.

We took advantage of our location

here to come up with this process

of involving the pharmaceutica

companies, said Mary Craig, the

exhibit coordinator.

Initiative poses questions for pharmaceutical companiesby Elly Wamari

Page 2

Why Are We Here?by Greg Atkinson

A light-hearted look at some very serious reasons that faith-based participants

have for wanting to eradicate HIV and AIDS.Youth: Our Point of View

by lokaalmondiaal

Many of the young people, who attended the ecumenical and interfaith pre-con-

ferences and are now at the International AIDS Conference, talk about their

response to HIV and AIDS.

Where Do We Go From Here?by Shane Chadder

We leave this place more aware of the links between broken promises and

broken lives. The Rev. Canon Gideon Byamugisha, an Anglican priest from

Uganda who is HIV positive and founder of the African Network of Religious

Leaders Living With or Personally Affected by HIV and AIDS (ANERELA+).

Videos Online http://iac.e-alliance.ch (visit the site for more videos)


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Interfaith prayer room

Daily

Pentecostal Worship; 9:00

Islamic prayers (Salat); 13:20 and 17:15Buddhist meditation; 10:15

Roman Catholic mass; 12:15

Protestant worship; 15:45

Tuesday only

Holy Qurbana of the Indian Orthodox

Church to Celebrate the Feast of the

Dormition of St. Mary; 7:30-8:45

Roman Catholic mass celebrated by

Archbishop Bernard Moras, Bishop of

Bangalore; 12:15

North Building, Room 103A

Joint faith-based exhibit

Tues. Aug. 15 - Thurs. Aug. 18; 10:15-1

Exhibit area A, Booth number 475

Keep the Promise Letters to the

World

Launch of childrens letters with HRH

Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norwa

Tues. Aug. 15; 14:30-14:50

Exhibit area A, Booth number 475

Multifaith prayer service

Tues. Aug. 15; 20:00

St. James Cathedral, 65 Church Street

Faith-based caucuses

Time for prayer, reection on the day a

sharing

Wed. Aug. 16 - Thurs. Aug. 17; 21:00

Room 100, International Living andLearning Centre, Ryerson University;

Sixth foor common room, New College

How to support people disclosing the

status by identifying support structu

(ANERELA+)

Tues. Aug. 15; 16:45-17:45

Global Village,

Community Dialogue Space

Growing acceptance of the work of

faith-based organizations in response

to the AIDS pandemic is raising ex-

pectations of their representatives at

the International AIDS Conference.

Gunnar Stlsett, former Bishop of Oslo

and IAC co-chair, says faith-based or-

ganizations are now widely recognized

for delivering the majority of services

to local communities. But he warns that

religious leaders must overcome theirawkwardness and be honest about the

driving forces of the pandemic. We

need to say it is about sexuality, it is

about drugs. People representing faith

organizations need to use these words

in order to be heard and be connected

to the real issue.

Noting that the AIDS pandemic has led

to cooperation among people of different

faiths in responding to community needs,

Stlsett cautiously calls it a blessing.

I dont see that we as members of dif-

ferent faiths would have come together

on poverty, on disarmament, devel-

opment or human rights in general. I

wish we would have, but we didnt. So

in that sense, something from which

many people are suffering has created

this engagement and commitment andmobilization. In that sense it can be

seen as a blessing.

Stlsett hopes this International AIDS

Conference, convened under the theme

Time to Deliver, will lead to more ac-

tion in response to HIV and AIDS. But

he acknowledges it wont be an easy

process. To nd the mechanisms by

which you move from words to action

is not simple. It has to do with commit-ment to stand up and be counted and to

say, enough words!

CHECK

OUT

IAC co-chair Gunnar Stlsett: Faith-basedgroups called to be honest about HIVby Julia E. Heyde

Faith-based response

(continued from page 1)

Professor Farid Esack, founder of the

South African organization Positive Mus-

lims, speaks of changing attitudes within

the global Muslim community, citingprogress in Egypt, Malaysia and Moroc-

co. But he notes that Muslims are still at

the stage of feeling pity for those affected

and are not yet moving toward empower-

ing them, nor are they dealing with issues

of injustice which require transformation

of structures and communities.

More teaching and more preaching alone

will not help, if it is not the right preaching

and teaching, says the Rev. Jap Heath,

general secretary of the African Network

of Religious Leaders Living with or Per-

sonally Affected by HIV or AIDS (AN-

ERELA+). People of faith must come to

terms with the fact that people living with

HIV and AIDS are part of their commu-nities and fully include them.

Hanson is calling on religious leaders to

confront stigma and discrimination by

taking HIV tests and publicly disclos-

ing the results. And he afrms his be-

lief that religious communities can be

places for moral formation even while

teaching safe sex practices and welcom-

ing people living with HIV and AIDS.


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+ 41 22 791 6723 + 41 22 710 2387

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Alliance

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PO Box 2100

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Switzerland

Although the seated circle of people may be similar, the

Global Village in Torontos convention centre is a far cry

from a coffee ceremony in central Ethiopia. Still, the topic of

conversation is the same HIV, AIDS and related stigma.

The Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church has found an innovative

way to talk about HIV. The Bunna Tettu coffee drinking

ceremony, which involves friends and neighbors getting to-

gether to discuss local issues, has been updated to include

talk of HIV and AIDS. Coffee ceremonies are organized at

the home of a person living with AIDS. Volunteers preparethe coffee and invite the community to converse with the

chronically ill or bedridden patient.

Awassa city Project Coordinator Sr. Tenabech Tesfalegh

says, HIV is one of the main issues in Ethiopia. There is a

high level of infection rates, including in the churches.

She estimates HIV prevalence in urban areas to be between

10 and 12 percent. The Kale Heywet Churchs potential

reach is great: After 78 years in Ethiopia, it counts six mil-

lion members in 6,000 local churches.

Tesfaleghs Awassa project, like sister ones in seven other

cities, trains different members of the community, includ-

ing church leaders, idirs (traditional local funeral coopera-

tives) and area youth. Young people are involved in drama

productions that serve in peer education.

UNAIDS and the United Nations Development Programme

have recognized this success in church community mo-

bilization. Kale Heywet is one of 25 nalist communities

nominated for a Red Ribbon Award at the Internationa

AIDS Conference. Inaugurated this year, the award aimsto support creative and sustainable ways to provide care

treatment and support to people living with HIV and AIDS

through recognition of outstanding community leadership.

When we started the project there was high stigma in

the community. We try to teach the community through

the church and other community structures. The HIV

problem is my problem. It affects every family in Ethiopia,

Tesfalegh says.

Views expressed in this bulletin are not necessarily those of theEcumenical Advocacy Alliance.

Produced by t he Ecumenical Media Team, [email protected], Mobile: 1.416.825.2256

Photos, stories, audio and video available for free use with at tribution atwww.e-alliance.ch/iac_2006.jsp.

The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance is a broad international net work of churches andChristian organizations cooperating in advocacy on global trade and HIV and AIDS.

Photos Melissa Engle/EAAInterfaith AIDS ribbon logo donated by Andy Marino / Marinodesign LLC

Traditional coffee drinking ceremony in Ethiopia offers innovativeway to talk about HIV

by Diana Gee-Silverman

aug 15 2006 bullentin ecumenical advocacy alliance faith in action

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