wfn.org | All Africa News Agency Dec 1 2003 Features

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

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AANA BULLETIN No. 47/03 December 1, 2003 Features

Malawi's Visually Impaired Want AIDS Messages In Braille

LILONGWE (AANA) December 1 - Members of the visually impaired community in 
Malawi have decried discrimination against them in the fight against 
HIV/AIDS, and have called for access to information on matters concerning 
the pandemic.

Executive Director for Malawi Union of the Blind (MUB), Kassim Gama, said 
here recently that the union recommends that HIV/AIDS awareness campaign 
messages be printed in Braille, for the blind to follow.

He was speaking during the launch of Malawi youth wing of the Southern 
Africa Federation of the Disabled (SAFORD).

"Besides being sidelined by their counterparts, blind young people are also 
marginalised on education, health and sport, which does not auger well for 
their future," Gama complained.

His concerns were echoed by SAFORD President, Rachel Kachaje, who, in 
commending the formation of the youth wing within her organisation, said: 
"Most of the youth organisations have a wrong perception that the blind 
cannot contribute due to their disability, an attitude we are geared to
fight."

Earlier, the minister responsible for persons with disabilities docket, 
Susan Chitimbe, condemned men who culturally believe that having sex with 
disabled females can save them from HIV infection.

"There is no single scientific proof of that, and I warn any men violating 
the rights of the disabled by taking advantage of their vulnerability," 
said Chitimbe.

Reported by Hobbs Gama

Let Kiswahili Spread Out As A Uniting Language, Say Scholars

NAIROBI (AANA) December 1 - Institutes of higher learning in countries 
where Kiswahili is widely spoken - East and Central Africa - should 
centralise its teaching, scholars who participated at a recent (November 
21) panel discussion on the role of national languages in national 
development have recommended.

The discussion, hosted by the German Cultural Centre here,  was part of 
events marking the 40th anniversary of Radio German (Deutsche Welle).

Dr Clara Momanyi, senior lecturer of Kiswahili and other African Languages 
at Kenyatta University, observed that "despite its expansion in spoken, 
among the inhabitants of East and Central African regions, its teaching 
faced many problems in the institutes of higher learning".

"Many institutes of higher learning are ill-equipped in terms of books, 
personnel and finance to pursue its development," she pointed out, while 
calling on governments to step in and save the situation.

Dr Momanyi noted the pressing need for the standardisation of the teaching 
of the language in all the countries where it is spoken.

Said she:  "Even within the East African countries of Kenya, Uganda and 
Tanzania, there is a lot of disparity in the teaching and speaking of the 
language..."

Kiswahili is currently spoken in East and Central African countries of 
Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo Brazzaville and the 
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Dr Kithaka wa Mberia, chairman of the linguistics department at the 
University of Nairobi, was of the view that "as long as trade exists 
between and among inhabitants, where Kiswahili is spoken, its expansion 
will always be there".

Other panellists included Mr James Kangwana, Chairman, Kenya Broadcasting 
Co-operation, Mr Amir Ben-Wazir, Head of the Kiswahili Department, 
Deustsche Welle, and his colleague, Miraji Othman, a Senior Editor in the 
same department.

Dr Mberia was in praise of the fact that several universities in Europe 
were currently involved in the teaching and development of Kiswahili.

"And who knows, in the near future, countries such as South Africa, 
Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho, might for example, start teaching it in 
their universities," he said.

Mr Kangwana, observed that Kiswahili stood a better chance of uniting 
Africans, for it has already been accepted as a national language in a 
number of African countries.

The pane discussion was chaired by Dr Reinhold Meyer, Director of Deutsche 
Welle, for Africa and Near East regions.

Reported by Osman Njuguna

SPECIAL REPORT

It's A Mood For Solid Commitment As World Marks AIDS Day

NAIROBI (AANA) December 1 - As the world marks this year's World AIDS Day 
today (December 1), one thing stands out - that sub-Saharan Africa remains 
by far the worst-affected region by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

In its 2003 report titled, AIDS Epidemic Update, United Nations Joint 
programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), reports that an estimated 26.6 million 
people in the region are living with HIV.

The figure includes the 3.2 million people that became infected during 
2003. The report further says that "AIDS killed approximately 2.3 million 
people during the same year".

According to the UN report, HIV prevalence varies considerably across 
Africa, ranging from less than one percent in Mauritania, to almost 40 
percent in Botswana.

More than one in every five pregnant women are HIV-infected in most 
countries in southern Africa. Elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, median HIV 
prevalence in antenatal clinics exceed 10 percent in a few countries, says 
the 40-page report, which also presents HIV/AIDS statistics in other 
regions in the world.

Speaking at a press conference here last week during the launching of the 
report, UNAIDS Country (Kenya) Co-ordinator, Dr Kristen Schoultz, 
advised:  "We must all join hands in tackling this unspeakable inequity by 
assuring the success of initiatives such as WHO's new 3 x 5, which is a 
comprehensive global strategy to bring antiretroviral treatment to 3 
million people by 2005."

At the same time, the vast majority of people living in sub-Saharan Africa 
are still uninfected, stressed Dr Schoultz, noting that, "massive scaling 
up of our prevention efforts is vital in order to make sure that these 
millions of uninfected Africans will never become infected with HIV."

Even though HIV prevalence among pregnant women visiting antenatal clinics 
has been relatively stable in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, the 
stabilisation, warned Dr Schoultz, should be interpreted with caution.

"While HIV prevalence may appear to be stable, it hides a persistent high 
number of new infections and an equally high number of deaths," she 
explained, stressing: "Therefore, we cannot claim to be witnessing a 
decline in the region's epidemic."

Observing that the worst impact of the AIDS epidemic still lies ahead of 
us, Dr. Schoultz emphasised that "dramatic and sustainable increase in both 
resources and high-level political commitment will be required to reach the 
new treatment access goal of WHO and its partners".

Saying that stigma and discrimination interfere with efforts to reach those 
who are most vulnerable to infection and that it prevents those who are 
already infected from gaining access to the care and support that they 
need, Dr Schoultz remarked: "We, every each one of us, have an important 
role to play in the battle against stigma and discrimination."

Turning to members of the press, she went on: "As members of the media, 
each one of you has a particularly (important) role to play in this regard."

Dr Schoultz was flanked by Dr Peter Eriki, World Health Organisation (WH0) 
Kenya representative, and Dr Patrick Orege, the Acting Director of National 
AIDS Control Council (Kenya).

One encouraging factor in the war against the HIV/AIDS menace is that 
churches are now more vigorously involved.

In a message to mark this year's World AIDS Day, Catholic Bishops in Africa 
have reaffirmed their commitment to this mission, declaring "support for 
the infected and care for the ill, and elimination of the damaging myths of 
stigma and discrimination".

In a press release issued last week, the General Secretary of the 
Ghana-based Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar 
(SECAM), Fr Peter Lwaminda, affirmed that Catholics in Africa have 
expressed "solidarity with those who have been moved to join in the fight 
against the scourge of AIDS", and have committed "the Church's resources to 
combating HIV/AIDS".

The Catholics message, titled Our Prayer is Always Full of Hope, expresses 
particular concern for children and women "on whom the impact of HIV/AIDS 
is most severe".

It contains a two-page action plan that "outlines over 20 
carefully-prepared objectives and strategies of the Church in its straggle 
against the HIV/AIDS", according to Fr Lwaminda.

The action plan was developed at a two-day seminar in Dakar, Senegal, 
during the 13th Plenary Assembly of SECAM, which took place from September 
30 to October 13.

Reported by Osman Njuguna

FEATURES  SECTION

AIDS: New Frictions Emerge Over Virgin Brides

The controversial issue of virginity is again under debate in Uganda. The 
friction notwithstanding, the country's combined strategies to contain the 
HIV/AIDS pandemic, including abstinence from sex, have won it accolades as 
one of the world's HIV/AIDS success stories. Oscar Obonyo takes a critical 
look at the gains in Uganda, as the world marks this year's AIDS Day 
(December 1).

T
he "resurrection" of Baganda's cherished custom of virgin brides as a means 
of restoring moral values and curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS is generating 
new frictions in Uganda.

Although the age-old custom has all along been observed by young women in 
Buganda, the largest of Uganda's kingdoms, it is not until mid October this 
year that the kingdom's Health Minister, Mr Nelson Kawalya, officially 
proclaimed its strict adherence.

"The revival of customs like virgin brides is in line with the original 
norms and values of Baganda people. And what a better time to revive it 
than now when HIV/AIDS pandemic is ravaging the world," declared Kawalya.

However, the Buganda Kingdom traditionalists have run into problems with 
modern day gender activists and human rights organisations in the country.

The custom, they argue, undermines the constitutional principles of 
equality and freedom by institutionalising the control of women's 
sexuality. Essentially, it violates women's rights to sexual pleasure and 
bodily integrity, not to mention their right to privacy.

"I wish to strongly challenge this latest representation of 'cultural 
fundamentalism' on human rights grounds. It is an unfair and archaic 
practice," states Ms Sylvia Tamale, a lecturer at Makerere University Law 
School.

The verbal friction over the issue of virgin brides notwithstanding, 
Uganda's combined strategies to contain the spread of HIV and accommodate 
AIDS patients, have won accolades internationally, and to date the East 
African nation's effort is recognised as one of the world's HIV/AIDS 
success stories.

According to the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), 38 million 
people live with the HIV/AIDS condition worldwide.

More than 8,000 people die of the disease every day. Africa is worst hit, 
for although it is home to only 10 percent of the world's population, 70 
percent of the people infected with HIV worldwide live in the continent.

In Uganda, argues Ms Dorothy Kweyu, abstinence is definitely one of the 
successful strategies credited for the sharp decline in HIV/AIDS infections 
among youth.

Kweyu, the Executive Director of Interlink Rural Information Service 
(IRIS), a Kenya-based regional media and research agency, profiles recent 
studies in Uganda, that show a close link between abstinence and low 
incidence of HIV/AIDS.	 "Indeed, there is growing evidence that virginity 
may be the best strategy against HIV/AIDS," observes Kweyu.

Kenya's Chairperson of the National AIDS Control Council, Professor Miriam 
Were, concurs.	"Previously, by 14 years, most young girls in Uganda had 
had their first sexual exposure. But there were very intensive campaigns 
asking girls to delay sex because one of the vulnerability factors is the 
age of maturity," she says.

Over the time, there has been a shift from 14 to 16 years, in girls' first 
sexual encounter, and 17 years for boys since 1986.  However, condom use 
has equally been embraced suggesting a combination of strategies.

Currently, Baganda elders are promoting virginity among unmarried girls by 
offering virgin brides electrical appliances, including television sets, or 
money. Before, a he-goat was slaughtered in honour of women who remained 
virgins until marriage.

Traditionally, the bride's paternal aunt, or Ssenga, as locally known, 
would be stationed in the bridal chamber on the wedding night, to ensure 
that the young bride passed the virginity test.

The litmus test for virginity would be a blood-stained sheet after the 
bride has been "deflowered". Ssenga would then display this "proof" to the 
family elders the following morning.

But Tamale questions whether it makes sense to subject the test only to the 
bride and not the groom.

"A cultural practice that endorses male promiscuity, while emphasising 
female sexual purity and chastity, executes unjustifiable double standards 
that are unacceptable in this day and age," agues the law lecturer.

The virginity test itself, says Tamale, is erroneous as it is based on 
penile virginal penetration.

She notes that some hymens are so elastic that they can withstand penile 
penetration without bleeding, others are so delicate that they can rupture 
when a girl exercises, uses a tampon or climbs a tree. Yet others are so 
thick and resilient that no amount of pushing can draw blood from them.

"The so-called virginity tests, therefore, proves nothing, least of all, 
that the woman is a virgin," argues Tamale.

However, Mr Morris Ndaula, dismisses her as a mere gender activist, who is 
more at war with the tests subjected to women rather than the "healthy 
trend" of practising virginity itself.

"It appears to me that the don is only keen on human rights concerns. 
Nevertheless, her advocacy for 'sexual freedom and pleasure' is dangerous 
and counter-productive to the battle against HIV/AIDS," says Ndaula, a 
Ugandan national teaching in a Kenyan private school.

The disagreements have heightened ahead of this year's World AIDS Day, 
officially marked on December 1.  A series of weeklong activities is slated 
for the period thereafter.

"Live and let live" is the slogan of the two-year World AIDS Campaign 
2002-2003, which continues to focus on eliminating stigma and 
discrimination related to the pandemic. The campaign is co-ordinated by the 
UNAIDS.

With its focus on stigma and discrimination, this year the World AIDS 
Campaign is encouraging people to break the silence and the barriers to 
effective HIV/AIDS prevention and care.

The combination of stigma and discrimination is regarded as one of the 
greatest enemies of efforts to contain the scourge.

In addition to stressing the relevance of talking openly about HIV/AIDS, 
Tamale and Ndaula concur on the need for an effective sex education 
programme, that also enlightens youngsters about safe sex.

An  Alternative Staple Crop That Can Also Kill

Countries of the Southern Africa Development Community are faced with a 
dilemma.  A number of them, faced with famine, are considering empowering 
communities to adopt cassava as a staple crop due to its resilience to 
adverse weather conditions. But, as AANA Correspondent, Hobbs Gama, 
reports, experts have issued a reminder that the crop has poisonous 
substances, which can only be minimised through a series of procedures that 
many communities are not very familiar with.

M
ember countries of southern Africa are becoming wary on the issue of famine 
and food insecurity, having learnt the hard way from acute droughts and 
food shortages that hit the region in recent years.

Scientists and researchers have joined hands to identify alternative food 
crops for diversification.

Cassava, which can be consumed in various forms - as a raw snack, boiled, 
or processed into flour for baking of confectionaries and also taken as 
hard porridge, has for a long time been promoted as an optional food, 
particularly during such hard times.  The crop is also drought resistant.

For the several weeks, the Southern Africa Root Research Network (SARRNET) 
and the Initiative for Development and Equity Agriculture (IDEAA), have 
been carrying out programmes to utilise simple technology and popularise 
cassava as a cash crop and an alternative to maize, which is widely 
consumed as the staple food across the region.

The organisations are keen on encouraging communities to adopt good methods 
of processing cassava, in order to limit a wide variety of side effects 
associated with the root crop.

Indeed, experts have in the past exposed that cassava possesses poisonous 
substances that present an enormous challenge to its promotion as an 
alternative staple crop, particularly  to communities that do not have much 
exposure to it .

It is said that continuous consumption of cassava may have adverse effects 
on people's health, that could result in death in extreme cases.

Studies have shown that monotonous ingestion of some species of cassava 
could lead to chronic health problems such as "nutritional neuropathies, 
endemic goitre, and upper motor neuron disease".

Further, the studies indicate that raw or insufficiently processed cassava 
may cause headaches, nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting and collapse, among 
other symptoms.

According to Prof Emmanuel Maduagwu, a biochemical and environmental 
toxicologist, who is the head of biochemistry at the College of Medicine of 
the University of Malawi, cassava contains toxic elements, such as cyanide, 
"one of the most lethal poisons ever known to man".

There are two main cyanide species of cassava - the sweet variety, said to 
have low cyanide content, and the bitter variety, which contains high 
levels of the substance.  Interestingly, the bitter variety is usually the 
most preferred by producers of the crop. "Most growers prefer the bitter 
variety as it is high yielding and has higher amount of carbohydrates," 
says Maduagwu.

Accordingly, he warns that eating raw cassava, particularly of this 
variety, as many people do, particularly women, exposes the consumer to 
great health risk.

"Cassava cyanide is minimised by processing the crop before consumption, as 
such, eating raw cassava means eating cyanide," he says.

He explains that people who do not suffer immediate effects of eating raw 
cassava are those who either have high nutritional levels or who do not 
consume the food on continuous basis.

"An acute attack of cyanide can be avoided by taking high protein diets, 
which detoxify the cyanide. Lack of protein foods makes the body vulnerable 
to the toxin," he adds.

The experienced biochemists warns that a wide variation of cyanide has been 
found even among the "so-called" sweet varieties.  Cyanide in cassava has 
cumulative effects that can reach higher levels as the crop matures.

South African High Commissioner to Malawi, Nthutang Seleka expressed fears 
that the issue of cassava cyanide posed serious dilemma to all countries 
within the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region, coming at a 
time when the root crop was being espoused as an optional staple food, due 
to its characteristics of resilience, which makes it survive harsh climatic 
conditions.

"Surely, we are going to be affected in this part of Africa, although in 
the meantime, cassava has not reached a stage to cater as a substitute," 
said Seleka.

He observed that processing of cassava was a painstaking undertaking that 
made people unwilling to adopt it as an alternative staple crop.

"The public would have to be educated on the importance of not following 
shortcuts when processing it into an alternative food substance," he advised.

Turning cassava into flour involves peeling the fresh tubers, soaking them 
for at least three days, drying, and then grinding.

However, people have a tendency of soaking the crop for only a short time, 
and this contributes very little to the reduction of cyanide.

Communities familiar with the crop have traditional methods of boiling the 
crop for consumption, and have done so since time immemorial with little or 
no reported cases of serious poisoning.

An official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Jonathan Mkumbira, commended 
communities along the shores of Lake Malawi, who already take cassava as a 
staple food and yet no side-effects have ever been registered among them. 
"Because they are patient and process it well - there are no health 
problems despite their growing the high yielding bitter type," said Mkumbira.

As Malawi continues to figure out a way out of the dilemma, the World 
Health Organisation (WHO) was a few weeks ago busy investigating 60 cases 
of paralysis in Pemba islands near Zanzibar, which occurred in September as 
a result of wrong cassava consumption.

Reading The Bible Through The Eyes Of Women

Kidist Belete, a delegate at the just concluded 8th General Assembly of the 
All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), held in Cameroon last week, made 
an inspiring presentation at a Women's Pre-Assembly session, just before 
the main event.  Following are excerpts of her paper, which strongly 
challenges the Church to re-think the role of women in ministry:

A
cross the globe women read the Gospel through their own eyes, based on 
their own experience and life situations.

Owing to their experience of subjugation, exploitation and oppression, they 
have come to a new way of witnessing and understanding the liberating 
message of the Gospel.

Thus, women's perspectives on the Gospel make a distinctive contribution to 
the Christian community and the witness of the Church. For this reason, it 
is crucial that women have the same opportunities and freedom of expression 
as men in the Church, so that the entire community may benefit from their 
contribution.

When God wanted to create human beings he said to himself: "Let us make man 
in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish 
of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over 
the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the land and over 
the earth".

So God created man in his own image, male and female. And He blessed them, 
and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it; 
have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and 
over every living thing that moves upon the earth" (Gen.1: 26-28).

It is noteworthy that, when God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and 
multiply, He did not talk to Adam alone. He addressed the two of them 
together as two equals, to whom He gave a common task. And that is exactly 
what partners are: two people who are equal and have a common task.

  If man and woman are created in the image and likeness of God, they too 
should be equal in dignity and in power.  Even though the tasks they 
perform within the family is different, they are partners, with each having 
different gifts and talents.

Many people have hailed Jesus as being a feminist in a first-century, 
male-chauvinist society. That Jesus considered women on an equal plane with 
men, is clear, we are told, from the manner in which He taught women.

Consider His visit to the home of Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42): Martha 
took the typical woman's role.	"Martha was distracted with much serving". 
Mary, however, took the supposedly "male" role.  She "sat at the Lord's 
feet and listened to his teaching".

Martha apparently thought Mary was out of place in choosing the role of the 
"intellectual", for she complained to Jesus. But Jesus' response was a 
refusal to force all women into the stereotype.  He treated Mary first of 
all as a person who was allowed to set her own priorities, and in this 
instance had "chosen the better part".

Feminists also cast Jesus in the role of a feminist in His first 
resurrection appearance. It is noted that "women were considered too 
frivolous and untrustworthy to be witnesses in a court of law, or to teach 
children - let alone men, yet Jesus commissioned women to be the first 
witnesses of His resurrection and sent them to teach the male disciples 
that He was risen", according to Virginia Mollenkott, in her 1977 book, 
What is True Biblical Feminism?

The theme verse for evangelical feminism is Galatians 3:28: "There is 
neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one 
in Christ Jesus."

Evangelical feminists argue that Paul is not speaking in this verse about 
the equality of men and women in their spiritual standing before God, but 
of the practical outworking of that standing in society.

Richard and Joyce Boldrey, in their 1976 book, Chauvinist of Feminist? 
Paul's View of Women, assert that "Galatians 3:28 does not say 'God loves 
each of you, but stay in your places'; it says that there are no longer 
places, no longer categories, no longer differences in rights and 
privileges, codes and values."

Letha Scanzoni and Nancy Hardesty, in All We're Meant to Be,  suggest that 
in view of Galatians 3:28, "all social distinctions between men and women 
should [be] erased in the Church."

Ephesians 5:21-24 instructs men and women: "Submit to one another out of 
reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For 
the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church, 
his body, of which he is the Saviour. Now as the Church submits to Christ, 
so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything."

How can this passage be interpreted to fit the feminist ideal? Feminists 
generally make verse 21 - which calls for husbands and wives to "submit to 
one another" - the governing verse of the entire passage.

Because of what Christ accomplished at the Cross, the male domination 
brought about by the Fall has been done away with, and now there is to be 
mutual submission between husbands and wives in Christ.

Within that authority structure, both men and women are given the privilege 
of serving Him - but in different ways.

Simply because Scripture says women can't teach men in a position of 
authority does not mean that their ministries are unimportant.

To Paul, all ministries were significant: "The eye cannot say to the hand, 
'I don't need you.' And the head cannot say to the feet, 'I don't need 
you.' On the contrary, parts of the body that seem to be weaker are 
indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honourable, we treat 
with special honour" (1 Cor. 12:21-23a).

So, should women be involved in ministry in the church? Absolutely! This is 
a moment of urgent witness for the Church. It is a moment when we must see 
beyond the ruins to the hope that still lives.

We have to plan new ideas that address the traumas of war, advance peace 
and reconciliation, and bring all God's people back into the caring 
community of the Church.

We are called to stand in steadfast, vigorous solidarity with the people in 
Africa as we take our Christian witness for justice, compassion, and mercy 
to the cities, the towns, the villages, and the corridors of power.

Like Deborah in the Bible, we women have to be peace makers, judges, and be 
courageous to build partnership to build peace.

We have to hold hands to prevent HIV/AIDS, violence against women, 
discrimination and harmful traditional practices. Churches have to promote 
gender equalities to accomplish this.