wfn.org | Malawian Youth Disseminate Messages about HIV/AIDS through Drama

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

"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 70 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 Eliamony Meena says the
ELDP has integrated HIV/AIDS components in all its projects. Some
60,000 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 and improving the
community's hygiene.

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 Mebo 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 focusing 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.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 136 member churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7
million of the 65.4 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical and interfaith relations, theology, humanitarian
assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in
Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is LWF's information service.
Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent
positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where
the dateline of an article contains the notation (LWI), the
material may be freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

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