Taking the strain
Women bear a heavy load in the HIV/AIDS crisis, finds CWM Training in Mission participant Teresa Curran.
One of the worst experiences of my trip round South Africa and India with the Training in Mission programme has been the knowledge that the children I have met and grown to love may never grow up.
They may never watch their grandchildren play, they may never worry about those grey hairs that somehow appear overnight, and they may never have a chance to grow old. I don't know how many of these children will contract, or already have HIV/AIDS, but I suspect that the number is high.
AIDS is affecting women most severely in places where heterosexual sex is the dominant mode of HIV transmission.
According to recent population-based household surveys, adult women in sub-Saharan Africa are up to 1.3 times more likely to be infected with HIV than their male counterparts. This unevenness is greatest among young women aged 15 to 24 years, who are about three times more likely to be infected than young men of the same age.
Participant in the CWM Training in Mission (TIM) programme Flata Mwale (right) with fellow Zambian TIM participant Alice Zimba. Mwale works in an HIV/AIDS awareness programme in Zambia.
She said in most cases it is the husband who brings HIV into Zambian families.
Women suffer heavy consequences.
Women faithful within marriage are still contracting the disease
"Women are expected to take care of their sick husbands and also take care of the family. If the husband is the breadwinner of the family, then it becomes the responsibility of a woman to provide food for the family and also to make sure the husband gets what he needs.
"If it is a woman who is infected, they are often rejected by families and society as a whole. They judge the person saying she is an adulteress and deserves nothing better.
"Our culture is a male-dominated one and therefore it may not be such a big thing if a man gets infected. But if it is a woman then it becomes a different story.
"Our culture is a contributing factor for the infection of women. When a husband dies, a woman goes through ritual practices that involve sex as a sign of one being cleansed."
What can be done
Women are often expected to know little about sex and sexuality and this ignorance is a danger to them. In many countries young women do not know how to protect themselves against the risk of HIV infection.
Women and girls often do not have the power to be able to insist on condom use, even if they think the man may have had other sexual partners and may be at risk of HIV. Women faithful within marriage are still contracting the disease. This power imbalance needs to be addressed.
Education is so important in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Telling people the plain facts is not enough, nor is lecturing people on morals. We as Christians must be at the forefront, offering support, care, compassion, treatment and hope. Jesus did not fear leprosy; we must not fear HIV/AIDS. Churches must be open in their support of people with HIV/AIDS.
Young people of CWM-member churches can help, but they need to be empowered to do so. I have heard so often this year on the TIM programme that "the elders don't listen," maybe it is time they did. Young people can overcome the prejudice against HIV/AIDS in our churches. Even in countries where the incidence of HIV/AIDS is low, young people can build awareness in their peers, if they themselves have the correct, unbiased education. Each member church should be able to say: "We are doing enough to combat HIV/AIDS," so their young people have a future.