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Hello and welcome to Spotlight. I’m Marina Santee.
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And I’m Ruby Jones Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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December the first is World AIDS Day. Every year, the Day has a special subject, a theme. For 2008, the theme is leadership. In today’s Spotlight we look at a particular kind of leader. This leader is not a doctor, not a health worker, and not a government official. And yet he or she can play a big part in the struggle against HIV and AIDS. In our programme today, we look at the important work of... the religious leader.
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In many communities, a religious leader has great influence. He (or she) has authority. That authority can influence the way communities treat people who have the HIV virus or the AIDS disease. That authority can influence efforts to prevent the spread of the virus in their communities.
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Pastor Maxwell Kapachawo is a church minister in Zimbabwe. He became sick in 2001. He did not believe that his sickness was connected to HIV. But in 2004, he discovered that it was. He was HIV positive. He said,
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‘It seemed like the end for me. I wanted to die fast before my community knew about it’
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Pastor Maxwell stopped leading his church. But then he spoke to a friend, another church minister. His friend told him that having HIV did not make him a bad person. He told Maxwell that he should begin to serve God again. Maxwell attended a conference for religious leaders with HIV. And soon after this, he decided to go back to church. He decided to tell his church that he was HIV positive. Pastor Maxwell remembers:
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‘Three weeks after I told them, about half the church people had gone for HIV tests. They were happy to have the tests because they had seen life in me.’
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Pastor Maxwell knows that church leaders can act positively and negatively towards people with HIV. He says it is tragic when a religious leader rejects someone because they have HIV. He says,
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‘Religious leaders need to be better informed. They need training about how to help people with HIV. Then, they would be able to act in a more understanding and supportive way.'
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Pastor Maxwell is part of an organisation that encourages people to speak openly about HIV and AIDS. Its members are all religious leaders. And they are all personally affected by HIV. They either have the virus themselves, or they know someone with it. The organisation helps its members to see their situation positively. It helps them see how they can lead and guide other people. The organisation began as a movement in Africa. But today it is an international organisation. It is called INERELA+.
INERELA+ includes leaders from many faiths. The current head of INERELA+ is James Matarazzo. He told Spotlight,
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"Our beginning was Christian, but now we are multi-faith... Everyone respects each other's traditions... We have Moslem leaders, Jewish leaders, Hindus, Buddhist monks... "
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INERELA+'s members do not all share the same beliefs about religion. But they all see the value of working together to fight HIV/AIDS. They encourage one another, across the divides of different faiths. Then, they use their experience to help their own communities. They have learned to talk about HIV in their own lives. And this encourages the people they lead to talk about it too. It also encourages people at risk to have an HIV test. It is all about facing a problem, not burying it.
James Matarazzo said:
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"INERELA+ helps give leaders the power to bring hope and change to their communities... Hearts and minds are changed when religious leaders are involved."
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Bishop Mark Hanson is an international church leader. He is a good example of a religious leader creating positive change for people living with HIV. In August 2008, Bishop Hanson spoke at the International AIDS conference in Mexico. His words were powerful. But his actions spoke even louder.
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Before Bishop Hanson spoke a young woman called Sophie had given a speech. Sophie and Herland, her friend, then stayed to listen to the Bishop. Both women are HIV positive. Bishop Hanson said,
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‘I heard Sophie’s powerful story. As a global religious leader, there is really only one right way I can begin. I would like to ask Herland and Sophie to come and join me up here. Then, I will perform an act to apologise. I will do this in the name of all religious leaders. I will wash their feet.’
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The two young women sat with their heads in their hands, facing down. Slowly, the bishop bent down on his knees - at their feet. Gently he lifted Sophie’s feet. He washed them with his hands. Then, he kissed her head. The bishop moved to Herland. He lifted her feet also, one at a time. And he washed them with his hands. As he did this, the women began to cry. He then moved back to speak:
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‘I am sure of this: We religious leaders have shamed people with HIV and AIDS. And so we must first begin by performing public acts of apology - repentance. I fear our words alone will not be trusted. Jesus on the night before his death washed his followers’ feet. He told them to do the same for other people. He said it would help his future followers to remember we are servant people. I believe that Sophie, and others of you, have called us religious leaders to perform public acts. These are not just acts of repentance. They are other public acts - being willing to be tested, welcoming people with HIV into our religious communities. In Jesus’ day religious leaders created barriers. These made society reject particular people: the ‘unclean’, the sick. But Jesus said, “I will sit with you. I will listen. And I will welcome.” Today Sophie and Herland have become Christ to us.’
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