"About 140 Circle members from 25 countries met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from August 4th to August 8th 2002. This publication is one of a series of books that were generated by the research papers presented at that conference. The Conference theme was`Sex: Stigma and HIV/AIDS: African Women Challenging Religion, Culture and Social Practices'."-- Preface, p. xi.
"This book is the beginning of a series of Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians books published by Cluster Publications. The series is on HIV/AIDS and African Women". -- verso of half title-page.
Contents: Preface : Breaking the Silence on HIV/AIDS : The Lament of Women of Africa / Musimbi Kanyoro -- African Women of Faith Speak Out in an HIV/AIDS Era / Isabel Apawo Phiri -- Lessons on Healing from Naaman (2 Kings 5:1-27): An African-American Perspective / Cheryl Barbara Anderson -- "The Mother's Cow" : A Study of Old Testament References to Virginity in the Context of HIV/AIDS in South Africa / Patricia Frances Bruce -- Talitha Cum ! Calling the Girl-Child and Women to Life in the HIV/AIDS and Globalization Era / Musa Dube -- The Attitude of Jesus to the `Anointing Prostitute' : A Model for Contemporary Churches in the Face of HIV/AIDS in Africa / Dorcas Olubanke Akintunde -- Trapped Between Two `Canons' : African-South African Christian Women in the HIV/AIDS Era / Madipoane Masenya (ngwana' Mphahlele) -- Theological Challenges and Ecclesiological Responses to Women Experiencing HIV/AIDS : A South Eastern Zimbabwe Context / Elesinah Chauke -- Choosing to Remain Silent : Links Between Gender Violence, HIV/AIDS and the South African Church / Beverley Haddad -- South African Jewish Women and HIV/AIDS / Azila Talit Reisenberger -- Spiritual Care-giving to Women Affected by HIV/AIDS / Christina Landman -- HIV and AIDS Curriculum for Theological Institutions in Africa / Musa Dube -- Utilization of Distance Learning Methods on Combating HIV/AIDS among Rural Christian Women in Africa / Lucy Kasyoka Kithome -- "This is My Body Broken for You" : Liturgical Resources for Dealing with HIV/AIDS / Devarakshanam Betty Govinden.
Anglican contributors include Devarakshanam Betty Govinden and Beverley Haddad.
"`AIDS is not God's punishment for the wicked ... AIDS is a disease'. This quote from the primate of Southern Africa, the Most Rev. Njongonkulu Ndungane, is what scrolls across the home page of the new Anglican Church HIV and AIDS web site that was launched on 10 February [2005]. Consultant, Wendy Lewin, who helped set up the web site, said that the purpose was twofold. It would highlight what the Anglican Church was doing to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic and also support people running the Anglican Church HIV/AIDS projects across Southern Africa. It also doubles as a means of communication for funders and the HIV and AIDS office and also between people who are working on the ground, for whom it will be useful to compare notes and swap stories around their work. The website address is www.anglicanaids.org".
Twenty-two members of the Commission from every corner of the Anglican Communion gathered at the Kempton Park Conference Centre in South Africa for the first meeting of the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Mission and Even. The group heard presentations about the reality of AIDS in South Africa and heard that "last year 250,000 South Africans died from AIDS. This number will double in six years". The group published a document entitled "A Call" and invited all dioceses, parishes and local churches, to consider the document and send their responses to the Mission Department of the Anglican Communion Office. [Full text of document reproduced here.]
Also includes an "HIV/AIDS -Factfile" and brief reports from USPG supported health projects in Malawi, South Africa and Zambia.
The Advent 1996 issue of the International Anglican Family Network "tells of just a few of the projects, linked with churches, which are trying to alleviate the suffering and halt the spread of the disease. In this terrible situation there are signs of hope." Article includes reports from 12 different countries.
Issue of IAFN Newsletter included as part of the Anglican World for Trinitytide 2004. An editorial and series of short reports from different agencies and countries assessing and looking back on "changes to family life over the decade" since the 1994 launch conference of the International Year of the Family in Malta. "The articles tell of the increasing number of single parent families and of projects to help them. Another development is the changing role of parents. In Africa, Myanmar and Sri Lanka, as well as in Western countries, some men are becoming more involved with the care of their children and more women are becoming breadwinners -- modifying the traditional demarcation of roles. The global nature of change is again highlighted in the article from Myanmar/Burma, which notes the pressures of modern technology on children, with videos and Superman replacing the transmission of values through storytelling. In Papua New Guinea, the influence of cultural change has resulted in improvements in education and literacy but also noted is an increase in violence within the family. In some countries, changes affecting families reflect the aftermath of civil violence. An article tells of the signs of hope in Rwanda, despite the horrors of the genocide. .... In Northern Ireland, too, there are signs of optimism despite the bitter legacy of the troubles. A major theme underlying many of the changes is the spread of HIV/AIDS. This was raised at the initial IYF [International Year of the Family] conference, but the extent and consequences of the pandemic have vastly intensified during the ten years, bringing heartbreak and poverty to many. The death toll affects all generations of the family, with grandparents having to care for orphans and losing the support of their children in their old age." "The final section of the newsletter tells of action taken by Governments to help families. A point made by many at the Malta conference was that Governments needed to recognise the importance of families as the basic unit of society and do more to help them. It is clear that further Government action is needed, but articles tell of steps forward.
In October 2002 nine members of the Compass Rose Society, led by Canon John Peterson, visited the Diocese of the Highveld in South Africa at the invitation of Bishop David Beetge. "Our primary purpose for visiting the area was to understand better the scourge of HIV/AIDS in Africa, and to experience how the Diocese of the Highveld is dealing with the problem. In the townships and shanties, some 38 to 50 percent of the population are HIV positive. A similar number are unemployed". Among the ministries the group visited was the clown ministry at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, begun by a Swiss man, Andre Poulie. The Compass Rose group included Canadian Canon Philip Poole from Trinity Church, Aurora.
The author, a postulant for the Diocese of Quebec, is a radio news anchor in Montreal and a theological student at the Montreal Diocesan Theological College. He is serving an internship in the diocese of Grahamstown in South Africa. Myers describes South Africa as a beautiful and hospitable country but one which faces huge challenges. "HIV/AIDS is by far the major issue confronting this country. South Africa has the highest infection rate of any nation on the continent: 1,600 people die from it every day. One Anglican priest I spoke to this week told me that he buried five of his parishioners on a single day last week -- all victims of HIV/AIDS." Crime and violence are also huge and omnipresent problems. "Every store and ATM has a security guard, sometimes armed with billy clubs and a guard dog. Even our church hires a guard to keep watch over parishioners' cars while they are inside for the service". There is still great poverty and inequality of resources. "The dichotomy is huge and, I've discovered, still falls mostly along racial lines. Nearly 10 years after the fall of apartheid, whites seem predominantly well off, most blacks still struggling". "The church I'm at (St. Saviour's) is very active: there are six clergy. There's a big HIV/AIDS ministry, an active youth group, Mothers' Union, and more. There are two services on Sunday both well attended, although mostly divided along racial lines". The author also describes his attendance at a service of one of the indigenous African churches and how he "got to see firsthand the radically different way Christianity is evolving in this part of the world. Both churches still follow the Levitical laws of the Hebrew Bible, and take all the scriptures literally. So these Christians are kosher, worship on Saturday (the Sabbath), women's heads are covered in church, and animal sacrifice is still a significant part of their worship. At one service, a dozen chickens were sacrificed to the congregation's ancestors before we launched into a more-or-less normal service of Bible readings, hymns, a sermon, and `communion' -- but with holy water rather than wine".
BBC reporter Siobhann Tighe interviewed the Most Rev. Njongonkulu Ndungane, Archbishop of Cape Town, about the Anglican Church's fight against HIV and AIDS in the African continent. In his comments, Archbishop Ndungane also discusses the importance of Ubuntu. "We've got to rediscover human values. After all Africans have a high doctrine of humanity. The whole philosophy of being human is couched in that wonderful African concept of UBUNTU: I am because we belong together."
A summary of some of the actions taken by the 30th Session of the Provincial Synod of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa (CPSA) gathered in Bloemfontein, South Africa from 23-28 September 2002. Among other motions the Synod passed one which "Acknowledges and gives thanks to God for the role played by gay and lesbian members of the CPSA" and "Encourages the welcoming and affirmation of all members regardless of their sexual orientation, in all the churches of the CPSA". The synod also "unanimously endorsed Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane's call for reduction in the risk of AIDS, including the correct use of condoms. ... Echoing the Archbishop's words, the Synod said `Condoms can save lives and effectively prevent the spread of HIV -- the virus that causes AIDS -- when used correctly. The morality of condoms is about preserving life'."