Religious Leaders Join Hands to Act On HIV/Aids

Prominent religious leaders from all over Africa gathered in Nairobi last week under the auspices of the World Conference on Religion, and Peace and Hope for African Children Initiative to reflect on their role in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Our Correspondent Joyce Mulama joined them and in her report, projects their concern and their bold interfaith declaration.

The silence in the room was chilling and tension filled the air as they all listened keenly to Salim Yasin's story of how he was orphaned at a tender age by AIDS. It was such a heart-rending tale that moved some of the participants of an inter-religious meeting to tears.

Yasin, a seven year old orphan from Isiolo, north of Kenya, narrated how he lost both his parents to AIDS and how he was coping with the sense of loss with grief while facing a very uncertain future. He went on to say how he had been shunned by members of his community and left to fend for himself.

Salim is now in the hands of 'Pepo la Tumaini Jangwani', a project for people living with AIDS in Isiolo. But he is determined to live and educate society on HIV/AIDS. "I have a vision and will go miles to achieve it. A dream to fight this disease in every way and if possible wipe it from the face of this earth," he affirmed in a shrill voice.

Salim is part of the estimated 14 million children in Africa orphaned by AIDS, and for this reason, more than 120 senior African religious leaders convened in Nairobi, Kenya for a three day assembly focusing on the role of religious communities in addressing the impact of AIDS on children.

The meeting was attended by among others the General Secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed churches (WARC) Rev Dr Setri Nyomi, President of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) Rev Prof Kwesi Dickson, AACC Secretary General Rev Canon Clement Janda and Executive Secretary in charge of Christian Family Life (AACC) Rev Dr Kasonga wa Kasonga.

Others were the Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church His Holiness Abune Paulos, Deputy Mufti of Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, Sheikh Twaib Mukuye and Swami Saradananda, President of the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa.

Presenting a theological reflection on children and HIV/AIDS in Africa, Rev Kasonga wa Kasonga said there was need to set up inter-religious study groups to tackle the pandemic and combat poverty and which would also teach children about the value of work. He described AIDS as an 'equalizer' saying, "AIDS does not choose religion, race, age and profession."

He further said it was a shame in Africa today to have a 'parent-less' child who is not cared for, adding that this was not the case in the African traditional societies where an orphan enjoyed the care of other members of the community who played the role of parents to the point that the child would forget he was an orphan.

He said everyone should share the burden of orphans, just as in Christian teachings "God suffered in the suffering of Jesus, died on Christ's cross and rose with Christ so that humans in their sympatheia might die, rise and live again in the glory of the Lord."

The issue of stigmatisation came out so clearly with the religious leaders admitting that through their silence and denial, they had contributed to the consolidation of stigma and exclusion of people living with HIV/AIDS and their families.

In a special interview, Rev Canon Clement Janda said to win the war against the pandemic, stigma has first to be eliminated.

He regretted that statements from press and concerned authorities had played a big role in promotion of stigma. "Reports such as 'Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest number of HIV/AIDS patients' create the impression worldwide that all of us from the region are HIV positive and are carriers.

Someone reading such information will perceive that sub-Saharan Africans are so idle that all they do all day long is have sex, since this is the most sure way of contacting AIDS," he said.

Speaking on addressing the plight of orphans, Rev Janda said, "you cannot help orphans without helping the larger community. Orphans are part of this community. If we improve the standards of the larger group then obviously orphans' status shall improve."

He noted that taking orphans to orphanages and raising money for them was not enough if religious communities are serious about caring for AIDS orphans.

Acknowledging past shortcomings with regards to stigma, ignorance and denial, the senior spiritual leaders from across Africa adopted a progressive declaration, which called for concerted efforts to end stigma and expand programmes to protect children affected by AIDS.

"We must lead efforts to change attitudes, adopt policies and devote resources to protect our children, in particular girls," proclaimed Cardinal Emmanuel Wamala, Archbishop of Kampala, Uganda.

The leaders agreed to urge their governments and the international community to urgently respond to AIDS programmes as an emergency.

"We call on our governments to abolish school fees and immediately withhold debt servicing payments to the World bank, IMF and wealthy G8 governments, and to commit these resources to eradicate poverty and implement HIV/AIDS intervention. We call on the G8 to release US$ seven to ten billion proposed for the Global Fund on AIDS," said Hajia Katoumi Mahama, President of the Women Muslim Association of Ghana.

The Declaration of Action called on religious leaders to creatively re-examine their traditions to allow all believers fight the disease in ways respectful of their conscience.

The Declaration of Action sites information as a key tool in curbing spread of AIDS and religious groups with conviction, concern and compassion, committed to distributing information on AIDS to their believers.

Pat Youri, Executive Director of Hope for African Children Initiative (HACI) said religious leaders had tremendous influence particularly at the community level where they have the moral authority to advocate for compassionate care and support for those who are HIV positive and for all vulnerable children. "They have the moral leadership to reverse negative attitudes towards AIDS and promote an enabling and caring environments especially for orphaned children," he added.

Source