wfn.org | Lesotho: Sewing Teaches Women with HIV/AIDS

[Christian B. Schäffler (APD Schweiz)]

May 15, 2005

Adventist Press Service (APD)

Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief APD

Fax +41-61-261 61 18

APD@stanet.ch

http://www.stanet.ch/APD

CH-4003 Basel, Schweiz

 

 

Lesotho: Sewing Teaches Women with HIV/AIDS Self-Sufficiency 

 

Maseru/Lesotho.    In a region where poverty and HIV/AIDS are 

inextricably linked, a recent workshop in Lesotho taught women 

sewing skills as a means of income generation. The "Workshop on 

Sewing for HIV Positive Women" is a small but significant step 

towards self-sufficiency where a third of the tiny country's 

adult population is living with HIV/AIDS. 

 

Twenty-four women attended the six-day workshop organized by 

Dr. Eugenia Giordano, associate director of Adventist - AIDS 

International Ministry (AAIM) and Harilala Andriamahefa a 

trainer from Madagascar, in association with the Seventh-day 

Adventist Church in Lesotho. 

 

The participants were a mix of Adventist and non-Adventist 

women who not only learned sewing skills but learned more 

about HIV and AIDS Awareness. 

 

"Poverty is very much related with the HIV epidemic and the 

progression of AIDS. Many people infected with HIV die faster 

because of lack of food and basic care," Dr. Oscar Giordano, 

executive director of AAIM said. 

 

"If people are trained in skills that will help in income 

generation, they will then eat better and live better, hence 

their lives will be prolonged," added Pastor Mainoane, 

president of the Adventist church in Lesotho. "The trainees 

here have been trained in order to be able to generate income 

for themselves, and above all, to be empowered to train others." 

 

Income generation is difficult in Lesotho, where a large part of 

its economy is based on subsistence agriculture, according to the 

United Nations. This makes AIDS--which the government has 

declared a national disaster --an even more dangerous threat to 

the country's approximately 1.8 million residents. 

 

This workshop was made possible because of a joint initiative of 

AAIM and a group of students from the Loma Linda University School 

of Public Health in California, United States. The students raised 

funds to purchase the sewing machines. The funds will also go to 

starting another "Poverty Alleviation Program" in the Northwestern 

part of the country. 

 

Over several days the participants ... "shared with me their 

concerns and sufferings, their fear for the future, and the 

uncertainty on how they will feed their children and themselves. 

Most of the participants are HIV Positive women in a desperate 

situation, and have lost their husbands." said Dr. Eugenia Giordano. 

 

One 27-year-old participant wrote the following testimony: "My 

usband died recently of AIDS, and I am also HIV positive. I have 

two children of four and two years old. I was frustrated and 

desperate about my future. I believe that because of this workshop 

my dreams will come true. I will be like other women. I will have my 

own business, and will be able to feed my children and secure their 

future." 

 

The first lady of Lesotho, Mrs. Mathato S. Mosisili attended the 

closing ceremony of the workshop. 

 

"You have made a difference in [these women's] lives. Now, they 

are able to focus their attention on their daily lives. They are able 

to see very clearly and to sleep peacefully and say 'tomorrow I will 

be able to do this...' Now, these women have something new to think 

about, and when they wake-up in the morning something important to 

do," said Mrs. Mosisili. 

 

AAIM was started about a year ago as a joint project of the Adventist 

church's world headquarters, the Adventist church in Africa, the 

Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), and Loma Linda 

University and Medical Center to find resources for programs 

like this. 

 

"Our dream is to see each of the churches transformed in a support 

center for the community through church-based support groups. 

We can make a difference in the lives of each of the people we 

reach on a one to one basis using Jesus' method and practicing His 

love and compassion. Given the magnitude of this tragedy of HIV and 

AIDS, we would like to hear fewer words and see more action. We 

would like to see this kind of programs multiplied all over Africa" 

said Dr. Oscar Giordano.