Building Strong Relationships: Fighting HIV and AIDS in Zambia

aheckman — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 20:22:00 +0000

Building Strong Relationships: Fighting HIV and AIDS in Zambia aheckman Thu, 02/02/2023 - 20:22

FEBRUARY 2, 2023 · REPORTING BY MOSES SIKABETA, NCM IN ZAMBIA

The volunteers who regularly make the rounds between villages have a challenge set before them. They are visiting people to talk to them about HIV and AIDS, issues that will mean combatting a deeply-rooted stigma.

While much progress has been made to combat HIV and AIDS in Zambia over the last decade, it is still a common reality for too many people. Often, women and girls, who have less autonomy due to culturally-enforced norms, bear the brunt of both the illness and the stigma. While the government provides free medication and testing services, many people fear stigma, rejection, or unknown treatments.

Several Nazarene churches wanted to do something to help; together, they decided to start by talking to married couples in the community. Counselors would work with couples, and volunteers would connect people to HIV and AIDS testing services. This education and support is done with the goal of strengthening families and encouraging them to rethink gender norms to empower women.

The ministry still faces challenges—there is still a deeply engrained hesitance to be tested, and many people see it as unnecessary. But there are stories of hope, too. People are discovering that the church is a safe space to go for help and guidance.

Alice, who participated in a training at a Nazarene church with her husband, explained that they had no template for becoming a strong married couple. They fell into a pattern that excluded her from any decision making. Learning communication techniques is helping them build a stronger marriage.

“When we learned about friendship in marriage, I saw that my husband started treating me as a friend and started sharing his thoughts with me,” Alice says.

This story taken from the latest issue of NCM Magazine.

Health

Health Care

Africa

From the Magazine

An Integrated Health Initiative yields Healthy Solutions in Liberia

aheckman — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 20:44:21 +0000

An Integrated Health Initiative yields Healthy Solutions in Liberia aheckman Thu, 04/28/2022 - 20:44

An Integrated Health Initiative yields Healthy Solutions in Liberia

APRIL 28, 2022 · CHET BUSH

Marie Tutu of Liberia had no way of knowing that the way she arranged the dishes in her kitchen would have a direct impact on her children’s health. She, also, could not have known that vectors of disease linked bacteria from the community to her home no matter how clean she kept her family’s living space. When health alliance workers representing the Integrated Health Initiative of Nazarene Compassionate Ministries came to her community in Gompa, Marie learned about strategies for wellness that could protect her family and promote the health of her six children. Now, Marie says she stacks her clean dishes upside down and covers them with linen to protect against insect and airborne disease.

Though this change seems simple, the practice is connected to a broader system of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) solutions that position families in Gompa, Liberia, and beyond, to live longer and healthier lives. NCM’s Integrated Health Initiative promotes these health solutions by facilitating partnerships between clinical and community health services in five countries in Africa: Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, and Zambia. As an expression of the ministry of Jesus, this initiative works through local churches to strengthen existing health networks, thereby equipping members of the community to drive the solutions for public health, themselves.

Health volunteers

Marie’s kitchen organization, therefore, fits within a broader system that works to establish and protect clean water sources, build sanitary latrine facilities, clear play areas for children, and develop the terrain for safe water drainage. That simple act of protecting her dinnerware protects Marie and her family from bacteria spread through contaminated drinking water, open defecation, stagnant wet spaces, and overgrown play areas, all aspects over which she may not have immediate control. As more and more households employ the alliance’s solutions, however, WASH methods systematically challenge the spread of infection and disease. And residents have embraced a core value in the mission of the Integrated Health Initiative: by focusing on children and mothers' health, these innovative methods yield positive results for the entire community.

Vocational skills training

Health

Building Strong Relationships: Fighting HIV and AIDS in Zambia

Most Popular Blogs

Tags

An Integrated Health Initiative yields Healthy Solutions in Liberia

Add new comment

Most Popular Blogs

Tags