wfn.org | South Africa bishop seeks to help AIDS orphans

[NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG]

Jan. 19, 2001	News media contact: Linda Bloom·(212) 870-3803·New York
10-31-71B{022}

NEW YORK (UMNS) - Horrified by the number of AIDS orphans begging in the
streets, a Methodist bishop from South Africa is meeting with U.S. church
members to seek advice and support.

Bishop Purity Malinga, leader of the Kwazulu-Natal Coastal District for the
Methodist Church of Southern Africa, met Jan. 17 with staff of the United
Methodist Committee on Relief and United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries in New York. She also was to meet with church members in
California before heading home.

At 43, Malinga is the first woman to be elected a bishop by the South
African church, which has bishops presiding over 12 districts. Taking office
in January 2000, she succeeded Bishop George Irvine. A graduate of Federal
Theological Seminary in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, she has a master's
degree in theology from Harvard University.  

The HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa is well documented, with an estimated 50
million people infected on the continent. According to the United Nations,
Africa has six infected women for every five infected men. In South Africa,
it is estimated that one in every four women between the ages of 20 and 29
is HIV positive.

"At that age, many girls have fatherless children," Malinga said. As the
mothers get sick or die, many of the children are abandoned.

The children themselves fall into two categories - those who were infected
by their mothers and are HIV positive themselves and those who are not.
According to the bishop, a total of 400,000 children have become AIDS
orphans in the Natal province alone.

Some of the children from the area surrounding Durban, where Malinga has her
episcopal office, fall prey to prostitution and abuse. The idea of helping
the orphans, particularly those ages 6 to 12 years, "really started as a
response to an immediate need," she explained.

The first response was to open up a room in a church in the city's center,
which already had a men's shelter. About 30 children, up from 12 at the
beginning, are given a place to sleep overnight, fed one meal and returned
to the streets in the morning.

But the effort hardly meets the children's needs, and Malinga dreams of
being able to rent or buy a larger space for the children, as well as
providing various social services for them. With the help of government
grants already in place for families taking in orphans, she hopes to place
some of the children in homes.

Although there have been collaborations on AIDS education in Durban in the
past few years, the ecumenical community has not yet addressed the issue of
the orphans, Malinga said.

The bishop added that she is continuing to shape a comprehensive project and
is seeking supporters. Malinga can be reached via e-mail at
ntlcoast@mweb.co.za or by writing to the Methodist Church, Kwazulu-Natal
Coastal District, P.O. Box 50452, Musgrave 4062, South Africa. 

A U.S. contact person for Malinga is the Rev. Kelvin Sauls of Downs Memorial
United Methodist Church in Oakland, Calif. His telephone number is (510)
667-0078.
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United Methodist News Service
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