wfn.org | WCC FEATURE: AIDS, courage and leadership

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>World Council of Churches - Feature

AIDS: "DO WE HAVE THE COURAGE TO STEP OUT AND TAKE THE LEAD?"

>For immediate release: 26 July 2010

>By Stephen Brown (*)

The experience of African women theologians has been a crucial element  in
helping faith communities respond to the challenge of HIV and AIDS  in
Africa, says the coordinator of an ecumenical network on the pandemic  on
the continent.

"Many of the issues we are addressing today, the key drivers of  HIV such as
violence, the cultural aspects, the misinterpretation of scriptures  have
all been part of the discussions of African women theologians,"  said the
Rev. Dr Nyambura Njoroge, coordinator of the Ecumenical HIV and  AIDS
Initiative in Africa (EHAIA).

Njoroge was interviewed in Vienna, where she was attending the 18th
International AIDS Conference. Njoroge has been EHAIA coordinator  for the
World Council of Churches (WCC) since 2007.

EHAIA also has five regional coordinators and two theological consultants
based throughout Africa. It was launched in 2002 to enable churches  in
Africa to access information, training, resources to help them deal  with
HIV and AIDS in their communities. In its first four years of operation  it
reached 9000 participants.

"Our goal is to have HIV-competent churches and theological institutions, "
said 53-year-old Njoroge, a Kenyan who is an ordained minister of  the
Presbyterian Church of East Africa.

Njoroge first joined the WCC in 1999 to coordinate its programme  on
theological education. In this role she quickly became aware of  the role
played by theological education in training HIV-competent theologians  and
pastors.

This led to a series of consultations that was followed by the creation  of
EHAIA.

"Looking back I see that my ministry has been shaped by the dynamics  of
HIV, especially in the African context," said Njoroge. "As an African  it
has a personal angle to it. I stopped counting the number of people  in the
extended family we have lost."

Njoroge, who has a PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary on "African
Theology and Christian Social Ethics", also brought to EHAIA her
experience in the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians,  a network
inaugurated in 1989 in Accra, Ghana.

"It was very obvious that the most affected on the continent were  women,
both as care providers and because we are on the receiving end,"  said
Njoroge. "The majority of those who are HIV-positive are women.  So we
couldn’t ignore asking why there is a gender imbalance."

As African women theologians, "We have wrestled with these issues,"  said
Njoroge, "and now we had to bring them to workshops with pastors  who have
not been socialised around these issues."

Still, she noted, advocacy on HIV is not always easy for church  leaders
because the dynamics and complexity of the pandemic, and the need,  "to
talk about sexuality with all of its diversity".

That is one reason, she said, why theological education is so important,
"so that when you come to the parish you are not scared of the issues."

>HIV, gender and homosexuality

In Vienna, Njoroge was a speaker at a multi-faith pre-conference  held in
advance of the AIDS conference. She also spoke at a workshop during  the
main conference on "Men having sex with men and their needs in low-  and
middle-income countries".

"We have gone through stages. When we started, it was the issue  of gender,"
she said. "We have come a long way. I think it is accepted that  this is an
issue we must deal with … Now homosexuality has become part  of the
issues, and this is not an area we can avoid."

In recent months, however, some church leaders in countries including
Uganda and Malawi have supported criminal penalties being applied  against
homosexuals. HIV campaigners warn this can mean people at risk from  the
disease being driven underground.

Njoroge acknowledged a "disconnect" with the fact that in many parts  of
Africa, it is churches that are at the forefront of providing health
services and care for people with HIV.

"This is an area where we will never agree, we will not have one
perspective," she said. "But how do we get someone to go for testing  if
they are in hiding because of what people are saying about them?"

Njoroge says "safe spaces" are needed to enable faith leaders to  discuss
such issues with those who are directly affected. "What we have  learned is
that we need to have people among us who are HIV-positive, and we  need to
have people among us who are men who have sex with men."

At the same time, Njoroge suggested more research on how traditional
African communities dealt with these issues. "Is there something  we can
learn?"

She said she takes inspiration from how the WCC first responded  to HIV in
the 1980s, becoming one of the first international organizations  to do
so.

Under the leadership of its then general secretary Emilio Castro,  the WCC
elaborated guidelines for responding to AIDS including the affirmation  of
"the right to medical and pastoral care regardless of socio-economic
status, race, sex, sexual orientation or sexual relationship".

Castro "knew it wasn’t going to be an easy ride. But he  didn’t run away
from it," said Njoroge. An attitude that is still needed: "Do we  have the
courage to step out and take the lead?"

>[844 words]

(*) Dr Stephen Brown, managing editor of Ecumenical News International
(Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=fe75062db9d3ff32d2ff  ), was 
part of the Ecumenical Media Team
at the International AIDS Conference.

Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=51de5878bf147998c666 )

More information about faith-based advocacy at the International  AIDS
Conference (Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=227f2cce61fd3 6d03b35 
)

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,  witness and 
service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship  of churches 
founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant,
Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560  million 
Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the  Roman 
Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse  Tveit, from 
the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.

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