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Compendium
of Christian Projects Addressing the Diseases of Poverty |
FOREWORD
Proceed to the Table of Contents
Over
the past year interest in engaging faith-based organizations to address public
health and social change issues has significantly increased. Among these issues are the prevention,
treatment, and support of persons infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, malaria,
and tuberculosis (TB). The development
community acknowledges the unique position that faith groups have in their
ability and mandate to reach out to their surrounding communities with
prevention messages, treatment, and support. In spite of their position of
influence within their communities, faith-based groups do not have the same
access to appropriate information and training or finances that many of the
larger NGOs have. Churches, in addition to funding agencies in more developed
countries, are investigating how they can support, encourage, and channel
resources to their faith-based counterparts in less developed countries.
At the
May conference hosted by Christian Connections for International Health, "Challenges for the Church: HIV/AIDS,
Malaria, and TB," many of the participants expressed that they would
find a collection of Christian project descriptions and guidelines useful to
the work that they are doing throughout the world. Some churches and
faith-based organizations have distinguished themselves as important actors in
the global effort to address the diseases of poverty, however the potential
contribution of Christian organizations is great. As health becomes an
increasingly central ministry within the life of the church, many leaders are open
to new initiatives and are looking for what they can learn from these churches.
To
better inform the Christian community, CCIH is preparing a compendium of
project descriptions describing how some churches and Christian NGOs are
responding to the challenges of AIDS, malaria, and TB in developing
countries. This is the first draft
version of this document. The overall
goal is to inspire churches and Christian leaders to undertake new initiatives
to expand their response and encourage partnerships with others as appropriate.
Funds have been provided for this by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to
whom we are grateful.
It is our hope that the
compendium will become an ongoing effort by CCIH to work with Christian groups
to tell their stories in order to decrease the spread of disease, improve
treatment, and provide enhanced care for those infected or affected by
HIV/AIDS, malaria, and TB.
This compendium is specifically created to highlight Christian work (not necessarily "best practices") on HIV/AIDS, malaria, and TB based on the model set forth by UNAIDS in their Best Practice series in its final version will provide:
1.
Uniform
documentation about specific projects that have been effective in addressing
various aspects of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and TB, including descriptions of
obstacles encountered in implementation and how they were overcome
2.
Introspective
evaluation by contributors, including recommendations and challenges for
implementing programs
3.
Guidance
on how to access additional information on similar projects
4.
Encouragement
for churches in more developed countries whereby they can begin to understand
the dynamics of supporting such programs in less developed countries
Projects
selected for this compendium were included based on recommendations by members
of both the policy-making as well as the Christian development community,
beginning with projects that were presented at the CCIH conference. It will be made available to as many
interested parties as possible through print, CD-ROM, and the Internet at www.ccih.org.
We
are currently in the process of developing an indexing system for easier and
more timely access to information as well as a web interface that will enable
easier searching on the Internet. As we
continue to expand this effort, we appreciate your feedback and recommendations
to make this as useful a document to your work as possible. A final first volume is expected to be ready
for release in May 2002.
We
extend our deepest gratitude to all those who have contributed to the
information in this volume. Our
apologies go out to those who submitted information that we were unable to
process for this draft.
As I
reviewed the various entries for this volume I was impressed with the
activities ranging from orphan care to insecticide-treated bed net distribution
that the church is engaged in doing and hope that you will be as encouraged and
inspired as I am.
Patty
Mechael, MHS
Editor, Compendium of Christian Projects Addressing the Diseases of Poverty