As the burden of HIV and AIDS increases in various societies in the world today, new organizations are being formed to help mitigate its impact. The population of this study included twenty (20) ESSA graduates who took the HIV and AIDS course between 9/19 and 2000. The self-administered questionnaire was sent to all twenty to assess whether they experienced any change in their thinking, attitude and behavior. til'jards of people with AIDS as a result of taking the Church and AIDS course and what HIV and AIDS-related activities they were involved in.
SCOPE OF STUDY 1.1. Introduction
The context of the study
According to the Department of Natilnal Health and Population Development, the first AIDS case in South Africa was diagnosed in 1982. The T+ study was merged into one study entitled National HIV and Syphilis Sero-Prevalence of Women Attending Public Prenatal Clinics in South Africa? '. However, the prevalence of AIDS in South Africa is now taking a devastating toll in human lives.
Research objectives
Research questions
Research hypothesis
He adds that, "in its now recognized role as a service provider, the church can economically empower communities and women in particular, through skills training and income generation projects.,40 He further argues that, the Church has the advantages an established, loyal following; an existing infrastructure to reach people; a centralized structure to coordinate a sustained response; access to resources beyond the local church; and altruistic volunteerism as a core value. About AIDS in particular, religion deals with the causes of disease (especially in African religions), sexual morality and how to cope with illness and death. 41.
Research methodology
- Research method
- ESSA graduates
- Gender
- Race
- Nationality
- Church ministers
- The ECAP staff
- Instrumentation
- The questionnaire
The population list was obtained from the academic officer of the Evangelical Seminary of Southern Africa, ca. This chapter mainly focuses on the motivation for the study and the research objectives. The data collection procedures and evaluation of the research method are also discussed in this chapter.
THE ROLE OF C INTERVENTION
Empowerment through ineo e generating activities
34;In the poverty-stricken rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal, the HIV and AIDS pandemic has caused a serious setback to the traditional family and community. The ESSA Christian AIDS Program (CAP) is a project of the Evangelical Seminary of Southern Africa (ESSA), which was signed to respond to the HIV and AIDS pandemic around the city of Pietermaritzburg. ECAP's work is mainly concentrated in black villages in the Pietermaritzburg area where HIV and AIDS are most prevalent.
He is the one who started teaching the Church and AIDS course t ESSA which later developed into ECAP. As an alternative, ESSA leadership asked 10hnston to design and teach a course on HIV and AIDS to ESSA students. So they used the resources they had in TFT and the links with the churches to do HIV and AIDS work.
173AIDS committee was a group of staff members and students at EBSemSA who were in charge of the Church and AIDS course. Also the training of teachers was done at the 0 tset because they opposed HIV and AIDS training due to theological issues. It started as the Church and AIDS course at ESSA, but over a period of nine years it has also evolved tremendously.
This training session engages the participants in a theological debate about HIV and AIDS and challenges them to respond to the pandemic.
Number of students who ook the church and AIDS course (1999-2005)
Current challenges facing EC
FBOs in Uganda, for example, have were more successful in building collaborative relationships with other groups to support their activities.222 This is thus true of ECAP, which collaborated with the Community Care Pr~ect (CCP). However, when the Community Care Project stopped providing volunteers with supplies, this affected the community-based organizations (CBOs) that volunteers were establishing in their communities. During my interview with Benson, the current manager of the Community Care Project, I wanted to know why his project stopped accepting applications for volunteers.
The KKK these days is not training the PP as we used to do the training before; so most of the training is done in the family because we need 0 the family device instead of us doing it because it is becoming a burden so there is that cha ge. There is welfare training, A Y training to know how to give medicine and take care of people. 224. Having helped initiate thirty-five community projects around Pietermaritzburg, she cannot meet the demand.
They used to be five workers, but two found work elsewhere so they left ECAP. It has tried to explore the origins of ECAP, which is as far back as 1997. ECAP has gone through many changes and at no time has been able to achieve what it has wanted to the fullest, mainly because as a non -profit organization, it must rely on funding from donors.
Now the donor community is also being hit by the increased burden of HIV and AIDS globally.
RESULTS AND AN LYSIS OF THE STUDY
When training took place
- Training of ministers
It combines both the results of the questionnaire sent to ESSA graduates and the personal interviews with pastors of the churches in the Piete Aritzburg area. Out of fourteen respondents, 13 (92.9%) answered 'yes', indicating that the course was useful to them, while one (7.1% respondent answered 'no'. I teach high school students the subject of Life Orientation and a part of the syllabus is HIV and AIDS, so the course really comes in handy now.24J.
It helped me get rid of the stigma I had around people living with HIV and AIDS.246 It has reduced my fear, stigmatization, judgment towards people living with HIV and AIDS.247. Instead of being judgmental, I look at AIDS as one of the other diseases we have in society. The effectiveness of the training was also observed in the churches, as some people living with AIDS began to reveal their status, something they could not do at first for fear of discrimination.
Denial occurs at all levels of the disease's history, from denial that the virus was the cause of the disease in the first place, to denial that it was ultimately the cause of death, with all stages of denial in mind. between.259. However, the interviews revealed that change has occurred among ministers who years ago were part of the business that excluded people with AIDS because of their theological position. While most Church AIDS organizations, at least in Africa, teach that abstinence is the most important line of defense.27.
One of the aims of CAP is to network with other organizations involved in HIV and AIDS work.
Church initiating projects
- Early childhood education
- Fundraising
We are doing collections in the church to get groceries for PWA and Benson comes to,z97. People in the Third World will be forced to develop new networks of relationships beyond the immediate family and neighbors. Question ten in the questionnaire was a follow-up to question 9 which asked respondents to list the HIV and AIDS-related activities they were involved in after receiving training from ECAP.
Nine out of four respondents indicated that they were involved in HIV and AIDS related projects. One of the goals of PZAP was to train volunteers in home and orphan care so that they could train their peers in the church. Three participants listed the activities they were involved in: "education for young people open discussion sessions on any topic including HIVIAIDS during meetings with young people"; a d "training young people in the whole issue of HIV.,307.
Another goal of ECAP is to help community projects that it helps establish in the communities to raise their own funds to sustain themselves. Although the nutrition scheme goes hand in hand with home care, it also looks at the needs of poor people in the maize units who may or may not be HIV positive. This church also gives out its premises free of charge for funerals and assists families in the time of mourning.
Today they are involved in HIV and AIDS related projects in their churches and communities.
SUMMARY OF FIN INGS AND CONCLUSION
Gender
Moreover, women bear the brunt of the care for the sick and dying. When these volunteers return from training, they depend on the minister's voice or 'keys' to take action. Liebowtiz says in his research on faith-based organizations and HIV and AIDS in Uganda and KwaZulu-Natal that .
ECAP has its own belief system and sanctions the use of condoms for couples only if one of the two is infected. Anglicans in Luuka saw condom use as an effective strategy, with young people increasing their condom use and limiting the spread of HIV among sexually active members of the youth. Of the small number of FBOs that provided condoms or encouraged their use, few received positive responses from their communities about the success of the strategy.
Impact of IT-based organizations on HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation in Africa: Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD), Atal University with support from the Department for International Development Recognized Program. 34; Sexual Decision-making and AIDS Negotiation: Youth in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa." Epstein, D., Morrell, R., Moletsane, R., and Unterhalter, E. Gender and HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa: interventions, activism, identities.
Jean Dussault, member of the Canadian HIV/Aids Legal Network, AIDS Stigma. htto:llwww.unesco.oralcourier!l99910/uk/dossier/txt35.htm.
Map of KwaZulu-Natal Provi ce locating Pietermairtzburg
I am a student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal doing a Masters in Theology and HIV/AIDS. The purpose of the study is to assess the ESSA Christian AIDS Pr gramme (ECAP) in HIV and AIDS intervention, one of which is the facilitatin in church and AIDS course at the Evangelical Seminary of Southern Africa (ESSA. I am aware that there is many others require your time, but could you spare a few moments of your time to complete this questionnaire and return it to me immediately.
All responses will be treated as strictly confidential and no names will be published in the survey. If your answer is 'yes' to the question above, did you find the course useful to you? How has the course affected your attitude, behavior and thinking towards people living with HIV and AIDS?.
Are you using your 'Church and AIDS' training in your church/community or whatever you do? If your answer to question 9 abo is 'yes', please note the activities in which you are involved.
Interview Schedule wi h ECAP stakeholders 1) When was the ECAP progr me started?
How has the training affected your attitudes, thinking and behavior towards people with AIDS? What HIV and AIDS related activities are you doing at your church as a result of receiving training from EC P.
