105 opportunities for contributing to the growth of others.260 Yet when we look at women of St Alois who are living with HIV and AIDS, we can see that to a greater extent, they are denied the fullness of life. Since human beings are created in God’s image, ABCD tries to promote the dignity of a human person. By recognising the assets and capabilities of women of St Alois, making them participate in dialogue and allowing them to participate in economic development, their standard of living is raised to the level of other human beings. “The dignity of a human person realised in community with others is the criterion against which all aspects of social and economic life must be measured.”261
106 6.3.1 Conscientisation as a Liberation Process
According to Freire (1993), “The conviction of the oppressed that they might fight for their liberation is not a gift bestowed by the revolutionary leadership, but the result of their own conscientizacao.”263 Freire views conscientisation as an awakening process of liberation. For him, conscientisation prompts the oppressed to “unveil the world of oppression and through the praxis commit themselves to its transformation.”264
263 Paulo Freire. 1993, pg. 54
264 Paulo Freire, 1993, pg. 31.
Therefore, conscientisation makes people become aware of their situation, hence making it possible for them to decide on meaningful action. Freire’s concept of conscientisation fits well into the situation of women of St Alois who are living with HIV and AIDS. They experience systematic oppression. From the discussion during focus group discussions we can see that women are experiencing gender injustices.
While some of the women of St Alois did point out their experience of oppression during interviews, a good number of them did not indicate how the situation makes them vulnerable.
I also noticed that some of the women in the context of this research may not even be fully conscious of the injustices around their own lives. I suppose each one of them speaks for herself, isolated in her family cell, without information about what goes on around and in the rest of the world. As such, they are content with the lives that they live and, therefore, everything is treated as a normal condition. They have grown up in a system which has become part of them, a situation that has locked them into a vulnerability context. Even as Catholic Christians who are committed to their faith, they continue to suffer the injustices in their Christian homes. Therefore, they may not even see the oppressive practices that are passed down as culture. They can only share their stories when things are out of hand.
It is, therefore, important that in this era of HIV and AIDS, women are conscientised about their situation in society. This will enable them to be involved in acquiring the capacity to analyse the causes and effects that expose them to the risk of HIV and AIDS, and enabled to act logically and reflectively in transforming their own lives. It is only when women realise their oppressive situation that they are able to take action towards liberation.
107 As regards the situation of this study, a combination of Liberation theology and Asset-Based Community Development is important and requires the effort of concerned women in pushing for liberation. At the same time, the frameworks need to be properly planned and implemented if liberation is to take place. The next concern would, therefore, be: Who should implement the frameworks and how?
6.3.2 Dialogical Action
We have discussed the frameworks and suggested the Church of St Alois as the institution that can best help in initiating the implementation of the frameworks. We shall now briefly discuss some suggestions on how these frameworks can be implemented by the Church.
Paulo Freire’s model of dialogical action has been suggested as the one most relevant in the implementing of the frameworks. Dialogical action is a model proposed by Paulo Freire that critically reflects on the banking system of education, where the teacher has all the information while the learner is an empty vessel that needs to be filled with knowledge from the teacher.265
Dialogical action calls for a participatory approach to life whereby people are consulted, involved and allowed to participate in the process of liberation. By so doing, the spirit of trust, of faith and even of love amongst people within a society or organization is created. In this respect, the oppressors are encouraged to respect human dignity by allowing the oppressed to participate as Subjects in their critical reflection upon reality. As clearly stated by Freire (1970), “It is absolutely essential that the oppressed participate in the revolutionary process with an increasingly critical awareness of their role as Subjects of the transformation.”
When the learner is not allowed to contribute to the learning process, it implies that he or she is forced to take whatever the teacher has to offer and this means that the process is oppressive.
266
In view of the above, we can see that the question of dialogue is fundamental to transformation. The involvement of people empowers the community to live as human beings
265 Paulo Freire. 1993, pg, 57.
266 Paulo Freire. 1970, pg. 108.
108 whose dignity is valued. It is this very transformation that the women of St Alois would need, especially in their situation of living with HIV and AIDS.
Whenever there is oppression, one automatically becomes an object while the other one is a Subject. Freire feels the need for dialogue between the oppressor and the oppressed. It is this dialogue that promotes humanisation. Freire’s approach calls for a participatory approach to life, whereby people are consulted, involved and allowed to participate in the process of liberation.267 According to Freire (1970), dialogue cannot exist without humility especially on the side of the oppressor. Dialogue cannot exist without faith in people, and cannot exist without love.268