wfn.org | ACNS - Swaziland diocese cries out for prayer

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ACNS 3823     |     SOUTHERN AFRICA	 |     4 MAY 2004

Swaziland diocese cries out for prayer

By Michael Craske

Twenty thousand people are dying of AIDS-related illnesses every year in
Swaziland. National life-expectancy is to drop to just 27 from 62 by
2010. The most productive section of society (around 30 years old) has
effectively been wiped out, wrecking the country, which has already been
crippled by drought and economic disintegration.

The statistics were given by a representative from the single-diocese
country last month in Nairobi during an interview with ACNS. Mrs
Veronica Maziya spoke of the devastation, "grief and agony" that
HIV/AIDS was causing in Swaziland, how the Anglican Church was
attempting to relieve its suffering, and called for worldwide Communion
prayer to support Church efforts and bring the crisis to an end. "The
situation is a disaster for Swaziland," said Mrs Maziya. "HIV has
destroyed our youth and the future. We have been left with an orphaned
country. We face a tragedy beyond comprehension."

Of the country's one million population, 500,000 are under 15 years of
age. Of the remaining half million, 200,000 are infected. The chance of
a 15-year-old reaching the age of 35 is only 10 percent. More than 5,500
homes are now headed by orphans (with an average of age of 11). "The
situation is amplified by the fact that there are only 2,000 hospital
beds in the country," she continued. "And as there is no social welfare
system, very few can afford treatment." More than 50 percent of
Swaziland lives below the poverty-line, currently set at $8.50 per
month.

She said that the Church of Swaziland - a diocese of the Church of the
Province of Southern Africa - had a programme to combat HIV/AIDS but
that it desperately needed support. "The basis of our programme is
Biblical authority to teach sexual morality, and from that we have a
strategy to promote education and counselling," she said. "Because of
the lack of hospital beds, we also need to encourage a large support
network that cares for the sick in their homes. In this way we also pray
that it will have a positive impact on people's attitudes to the
disease, so there is understanding of how it is transmitted and how
people can prevent its spread."

In recent years the Church's work has been challenged by continuing
droughts - which have affected a large part of Southern Africa - and as
the disease claims more lives people have become poorer. "The country is
so destitute that any money people have is swallowed up on treatment.
Also, as the productive capacity of the population has plummeted the
cost of living has soared. There is now no investment in Swaziland."

The Diocese of Swaziland recently issued a mission statement on its
strategy against the disease, which highlights that poverty and the
spread of HIV/AIDS are inseparable issues, and that the care of the sick
and their families must be implemented within a much wider task of
pastoral care. "We...care for, support, and treat with dignity those who
are infected or affected and their families, and to equip with
information those uninfected to remain uninfected," it states,
emphasising that through pastoral care - including the ministering to
the dying - it will encourage a fuller appreciation of the Christian
spirit in Swaziland's communities, acting as a form of mission and
evangelism to its population.

"In order to relieve the HIV/AIDS situation, we must get people out of
poverty, and that means giving them back hope," said Mrs Maziya, adding
that the diocese needed the prayers of everyone in the Anglican
Communion. "I call for everyone worldwide throughout the Communion to
pray for Swaziland, for its people, and the work of its church."

The diocese has 21 parishes, 30 clergy, and 82 congregations. The
Anglican Church in Swaziland was founded in 1871 and until 1986 was
incorporated as the Diocese of Zululand and Swaziland. It is an integral
part of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa. The current
Bishop is the Rt Revd Meshack Mabuza.

For more information and contact details:
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/diocese.cfm?Idind=528&view=alpha

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