wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Don*t mention it

[Deeanna Alford <dalford@CTR.PCUSA.ORG>]

03291July 18, 2003Dont mention itAfricans reticence makes AIDS ministry a
thankless taskby Alexa SmithLOUISVILLE  Although the HIV/AIDS epidemic in
Africa is hardly a secret, church leaders and members there have a hard
time talking about it.Helping them find the words is part of the job of
Janet Guyer and Caryl Weinberg, Presbyterian Church (USA) missionaries
serving as regional AIDS consultants in Africa through the denominations
International Health Ministries Office (IHMO).Were focusing (solely) on
our partner churches  helping them see what the needs are in their
churches and supporting them in what they see as the next step, said
Guyer, whose parents were PC(USA) missionaries in Thailand. So were
asking the challenging questions.Another part of the job they have taken
on is to persuade American Presbyterians to pitch in  with money,
short-term missionary enlistments and technical aid  to support
HIV/AIDS-related ministries in hard-hit countries like Congo, Kenya,
Malawi, Cameroon and Ethiopia.HIV/AIDS is challenging African churches in
two ways. It is draining their human resources, striking down many of their
leaders and members. At the same time, it is demanding that they develop
ways of reaching out to infected people and their families in virtually
every town and neighborhood  and overcoming widespread fear of the disease
and widespread reluctance to approach people who have it.The idea of
dispatching Guyer and Weinberg to Africa was the brainchild of Dorothy
Brewster-Lee, the physician who manages IHMO and who has been pushing the
PC(USA) for years to get more involved in campaigns against the diseases of
poverty: malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS.Theyre there to help Presbyterian
churches build their capacity to address the AIDS problem, Brewster-Lee
said, referring to Guyer and Weinberg.As a missionary doctor in Africa,
Brewster-Lee saw its healthcare systems struggle to adapt to the AIDS
crisis more than 15 years ago.In her current position, she has long been a
proponent of preventive care and, in rural Africa particularly, training to
teach at-home hospice care for dying AIDS patients  ideas that have been
frustratingly slow to catch on, partly because of patients fear of being
stigmatized.Brewster-Lee and many other health professionals concluded many
years ago that African churches would be ideal vehicles for reaching into
local communities, connecting with young people and families and people who
could be trained to provide pastoral, medical and hospice care to
home-bound patients with AIDS. They also have pressed for basic behavior
changes  abstinence from sex, for example, and using condoms
routinely.Although millions of people are infected, HIV/AIDS still carries
such a horrific stigma that patients tend to keep their diagnoses secret,
out of fear that they will be treated as lepers and wind up isolated and
alone  fears that are not unreasonable.Theres still a strong hesitancy
to talk about AIDS, or to be tested, Guyer said. Plenty of people go
through their entire life with HIV, and die  without being tested.When
people are unwilling to speak about AIDS, offering straightforward pastoral
care is complicated, and its hard to interest people in learning how to
care for patients without getting infected themselves.Weinberg, who is a
nurse, said she has been privy to umpteen conversations with church
members who say a congregant has been cast out of her village because she
has AIDS, and no one will visit her for fear of catching the virus.
Would-be care providers hesitate to call on sick people, she said, because
they are embarrassed to go empty-handed, but unable to afford medicines and
supplies that would be helpful.When people see the symptoms of AIDS,
theyre afraid, she said, adding that, because the diagnosis cant be
discussed, church people are forced to do a lot of guesswork.People will
tell you, We bury people with AIDS  but we dont know anybody who is
living with AIDS,
 she said.Weinberg added that church members who become
sick bear an additional burden  a suspicion of sexual sins such as
infidelity and soliciting prostitutes.Moreover, Some (Africans) think of
the sickness as the work of sorcery, some evil spirit ... (and believe) if
you are near it, you may be captured by the evil spirit too, Weinberg
said.She added that many Africans often are inclined to react to the AIDS
epidemic by wondering whether to build hospital wards or camps like those
once used for people with tuberculosis. People just think, Why not handle
it the same way?Putting care and visitation in the hands of the church
makes practical sense. Caring for the sick has always been part of the
churchs mission. And no other institution can reach as many people on a
continent where congregations often have thousands of members.The African
church is very credible, said Weinberg, who worked as a nurse in rural
Ethiopia in a previous appointment. It may be the only  infrastructure in
certain areas. In rural areas, theres not much else there. The leaders,
too, are often respected in communities; when they speak, people
listen.Guyer admitted that she and Weinberg are still trying to figure
out how best to do the work at hand.The PC(USA) is sponsoring an AIDS
workshop in Malawi in October, an event that will combine training with
networking among African churches. Participants are expected from the
Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Ethiopia and Malawi.Guyer said she
doesnt want to seem to be telling Africans what to do in responding to the
challenge of AIDS. She said she doesnt like that model of ministry, which
smacks of the old-style-missionary-mindset the PC(USA) has been trying hard
to shed.I see myself more as a cheerleader, an empowerer, she said. I
spend my time asking questions: What is it that people are struggling
with? and What does it mean to be the church in Africa in the midst of
the HIV/AIDS crisis?

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