Back to Index

Making a difference by remaining the same: May-June 2007 site visits to Zimbabwe
HIV/AIDS Zimbabwe Trust
July 19, 2007

http://www.hivaidszimbabwe.com/page5.html

Download this document
- Acrobat PDF version (1263KB)
If you do not have the free Acrobat reader on your computer, download it from the Adobe website by clicking here.

In the era of HIV and AIDS, various members of society in developing nations continue to establish, coordinate and strengthen community or national level responses to the epidemic, regardless of limited resources. The motivation that drives them, from government to community-based organizations is to mitigate the impact of the disease on affected communities. Ultimately, the common view is to change people's lives. The extent of their commitment is governed by a set of beliefs or principles that determine the scope of their activities. As many organizations have either extended their outreach, altered mission statements or simply faded from the scene, one institution remains bound by a vision seemingly eternal - the church. In developing countries the church has had an inflexible foothold in the lives and perceptions of people, more remarkably the poor.

The visit to Zimbabwe by the USA-based personnel from HIV-AIDS Zimbabwe (HAZ) and Zimbabwe AIDS Relief (ZAR) was an enlightening experience in terms of revealing the selflessness and resoluteness of churches in communities affected by HIV and AIDS. It unveiled two church driven initiatives whose stinging characteristics - lack of funds- did not seem to deter either of their commitment to serve. The increasing number of faith based responses to HIV and AIDS stems from the fact that the epidemic has left one particular group vulnerable - children. The Chitungwiza Unit K Baptist Church orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) program, and the Home of Hope-Zimbabwe Children's Home, run by the Roman Catholic Mutare Diocese are excerpts from an exhaustive list of faith based responses that largely remain undocumented, but are making a difference in the lives of children that society would have otherwise forgotten.

Visit the HIV/AIDS Zimbabwe Trust fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP