Organization of African Instituted Churches (OAIC):

Project/ program name: Organization of African Instituted Churches (OAIC): Building Community Support Systems for HIV/AIDS Prevention, Care, and Support

Country: South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan, Nigeria, and Ghana

Church or denomination: African independent and instituted churches

Project summary: Building Community Support Systems for HIV/AIDS Prevention, Care, and Support expands on the framework developed during the Lagos Consultation in August 2001 of the Organization of African Instituted Churches (OAIC). This United States Agency for International Development funded demonstration project is geared toward enhancing the capacity of OAIC member churches in 21 countries to develop and implement appropriate, sustainable, grassroots responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The first year of the project is focusing activities in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland and Madagascar. The means for strengthening the OAIC’s response to HIV/AIDS include regional and country-level consultations; a “trainer-of-trainers” (TOT) program; creation of community support groups; and a commitment to networking and collaboration.

Background/ History: African instituted churches (AICs) are micro-churches found mostly in rural areas or low-income areas of urban centers. They lack the skills and capacity to deal with HIV/AIDS, have limited access to resources (both financial and informational), and do not have strong bureaucratic structures. Given these circumstances, AICs are often only left with the option of joining in programs other churches are doing rather than developing their own strategies for meeting the needs of their congregations. At the same time, AICs are closely linked with the local, traditional culture of the communities they serve. While they may sometimes embrace cultural traditions that put people at increased risk for HIV, AIC leaders are also well positioned to speak to and encourage a rethinking of such practices.

Goals: The purpose of this project is to strengthen the ability of the OAIC member churches and the communities they serve, to develop and implement appropriate responses to the HIV/AIDS scourge.

Objectives:
§   Mobilize and engage with OAIC member churches on HIV/AIDS issues
§   Facilitate the OAIC member churches to formulate effective HIV/AIDS policies at denominational levels
§   Strengthen the capacity of the OAIC member churches to design and implement effective HIV/AIDS programs
§   Strengthen the capacity of community level structures (CBOs) to design and implement HIV/AIDS responses at the grassroots

Who does the work?
§   Members of the OAIC executive committee at country level
§   Senior church leaders, women leaders and youth leaders at denominational level
§   TOTs who are selected by the member churches
§   Community enablers who are trained by the TOTs and responsible for mobilising and training the grassroots organisations at community level
§   Local churches/ CBOs work with community members, families and other community level structures to offer HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support services in the community

Our project coordinators are Ms Helena Hooper, based in Accra –Ghana, and Ms Tshandu, based in Umata -South Africa, manage the OAIC-HIV/AIDS program work in West Africa and Southern Africa, respectively.

Main activities: In addition to the Lagos Consultation for the West African region, a regional consultation has been completed in Botswana for the South African region and country-level meetings have taken place in a number of countries, including Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Botswana, South Africa and Madagascar. These meetings are designed to assist AIC leaders in identifying factors that contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS, develop practical solutions to meet local needs, and consider an appropriate theology on HIV/AIDS.

The next phases of the project are focusing on building capacity at the local level and implementing strategies identified at the regional and country-level consultations. These objectives will be accomplished through the Training of Trainers (TOT) program and community support groups. Each participating country will be supported to train a minimum of 20 TOTs, who will each, in turn, train 20 “enablers” over a six-month period. The enablers, drawn from local churches and organizations, will help establish community support groups to aid the organizations in integrating HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and support activities into their existing programs.
These organizations will be representative of the communities they serve and may include formal and informal groups, women’s organizations, programs for children and youth, health care organizations, small businesses, and others. The hope is that these local initiatives will have a multiplier effect on the number of people and organizations involved in HIV/AIDS activities at the grassroots level.

Expected outcomes: See Objectives listed.

Results:
The key issues raised in the national strategy development meetings coordinated by the OAIC include:
§   Church leaders have failed in their duty because they are still silent about HIV/AIDS issues. They also preached a deficient gospel, with misinterpreted biblical teachings resulting in stigmatization of people living with HIV /AIDS.

§   Lack of cooperation and coordination among the provincial administration, political and church leaders on how to curb the spread and manage the HIV/AIDS scourge.

§   Participation and advocacy by the church in the formulation of National HIV/AIDS policies is weak in several of the countries.

§   Poor governance and lack of good leadership skills has paved way to corruption or misuse of funds, lack of transparency and accountability in church matters. This issue has affected budgetary allocations for HIV/AIDS activities among other problems.

§   Cultural and traditional practices such as wife inheritance, sexual cleansing, circumcision, and rites involving sex, which expose people to HIV/AIDS infection, are still prevalent.

§   Poverty has resulted from a number of factors, which include unemployment, inadequate skills, poor governance, idleness among the youth and others. Poverty particularly puts people at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.

§   Lack of adequately trained church leaders/pastors in AIDS related issues. This has led to silence and stigmatization of PLWA because the church leaders lack the accurate knowledge, education and skills to respond effectively.

§   The leaders established that gender imbalance brought about by the traditional patriarchal system has occasioned the marginalization of women. The women are sidelined in decision-making processes in the churches, family and community system.

§   Youth and children issues lacked representation in the church structures and decision- making processes. Hence, important issues like youth economic empowerment, child labor and girl child vulnerability are given no attention. Positive and responsible parenting has been neglected, leading to gaps in information on how to prevent HIV.

§   It was observed that counseling and HIV testing for people intending to marry in church is lacking and that the statistics on HIV/AIDS indicate that only one out of six HIV infected people report to hospitals due to fear, helplessness, lack of finances and the like. Similarly, the leaders noted that there are few HIV testing centers and facilities in the areas of concern.

The following recommendations have been compiled with respect to the way forward for AICs in addressing HIV/AIDS:
§   Addressing poverty through increasing food security, economic activity and skill training and committing financial resources and using the available human resources to fight the pandemic.

§   Involving marginalized groups in decision-making processes, making the church more gender sensitive and open to the voices of women, girl children, PLWAs, and youth.

§   Condemning harmful traditional practices, like widow inheritance, sexual cleansing and female circumcision, which put women at risk. It was also noted that women and the youth would be empowered economically to be able to manage and be in charge of their lives. Similarly, church resources will be committed to respond to their concerns.

§   Readdressing the church's theological position that stigmatizes PLWA's and does not adequately address the danger of harmful cultural practices in relation to HIV/AIDS.

§   Capacity building for church leaders to equip them with knowledge on the HIV/AIDS dynamics, training in good leadership and governance to strengthen democratic administrative church structures, and responding to issues of transparency and accountability in the light of HIV/AIDS pandemic. Related to this, integration of HIV/AIDS in the theological education programme carried out by OAIC is considered to be a strategic move.

§   Capacity building for pastors to offer emotional and spiritual support to the affected and infected in the light of HIV/AIDS especially in family life issues, youth concerns, sexuality and PLWA. This would also entail guidance and counseling, peer counseling all based on a strong Christian perspective. It was agreed that counseling and HIV testing for people intending to marry in church would be encouraged. In addition to this, church leaders agreed to promote HIV testing in the churches because of the positive impact it has on de-stigmatization.

§   Supporting and training of women and youth in leadership skills, advocacy and prevention of HIV/AIDS and care of PLWA.

§   Networking and nurturing partnerships with other HIV/AIDS support organizations to enhance exchange of services and information.

Lessons learned: Facilitating church leaders to look at HIV/AIDS as a spiritual, economic, leadership and governance, cultural and gender issue has led to a better understanding of the problem which goes beyond the moral issues that churches have focusing on as the cause for the spread of HIV/AIDS.

The holistic understanding of HIV/AIDS by church leaders leads to holistic responses. This is reflected in the recommendations which the church leaders have committed themselves to during the regional and country level meetings. The participatory approach used during the Leaders meetings has helped us to manage with the senior church leadership on critical issues -especially the theological, gender and cultural which are sensitive issues among many African Independent Churches (AICs).

It is easier for the African Independent Churches to network with other agencies involved in HIV/AIDS programs after these churches have analytically understood AIDS in their own settings first. The involvement of the youth and women in the Leaders' groups helps to bring their issues to the surface. With the mediation of the facilitators, the Church leaders have recognised the critical gaps in the area of women youth and children's issues in the Independent churches.

Financial and other resources: This project is funded by the CORE Initiative. The CORE Initiative is a United States Agency for International Development funded Futures Group International POLICY Project program.

Further reading and documents: N/A

Contact information:

Nicta Lubaale
The Organization of African Instituted Churches
PO Box 21736
Nairobi
KENYA

Telephone: +254 - 2-566628
Tel/fax: +254 - 2- 570356
E-mail: oaic@skyweb.co.ke