INSIDE: Question of Stlsett calls Ethiopian

the day for honesty coffee

about HIV ceremony

Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

AIDS 2006:

FA IT H
in
ACTION
Buddhist monks chant, practicing auspicious greetings in the Multifaith Networking Zone.

Faith-based response to HIV and AIDS:
Some progress but more needed
by Juan Michel
While faith-based organizations have made
some progress since the last International
AIDS Conference held in Bangkok in 2004,
much more needs to be done if they are to
meet the goals they set for themselves two
years ago, say religious leaders meeting on
the second day of the International AIDS
Conference in Toronto. High on their agenda:
reaching out to people living with HIV and
AIDS and public testing of religious leaders.
In the Dominican Republic, many churches
are meeting the commitments made in Bang-
kok, says Dulce Alejo Espinal of the Indepen-
dent Evangelical Baptist Mission. They now
have ministries to accompany people living
with HIV and AIDS and to support AIDS or-
phans. A minority of churches, however, still
find it difficult to overcome the stigmatiza-
tion of those affected by the pandemic.
In Nepal, attitudes changed for the better since
Bangkok, Bishnu Ghimire reports on behalf
of the South Asia Interfaith Council. Hindus,
Christians and Muslims have become more
aware of the impact of HIV and AIDS in their
faith communities and religious leaders are
starting to speak out, to preach and to assign
resources in order to respond to the pandemic.
We have been
complicit by
our silence.
Bishop Mark S. Hanson,
But HIV is still connected to sin and there is a Lutheran World Federation
preference for preaching over teaching.
Phramaha Boonchuay Doojai, director of
the Chiang Mai Buddhist College, points to
education initiatives in Thailand led by Bud-
dhist monks which include educating novice
monks about HIV and AIDS and offering Issue no. 3
Aug. 15, 2006
pastoral counseling both in hospitals and
homes. He acknowledges, though, that there Daily news and views on religious
are still difficulties in changing traditional at- responses to HIV and AIDS
titudes to people living with HIV and AIDS. at the 16th International AIDS
Conference, Toronto, Canada. For
more information and articles visit
The Rev. Mark Hanson, bishop of the Evan- www.e-alliance.ch/iac_2006.jsp
gelical Lutheran Church in America and
president of the Lutheran World Federation,
reports that Christians are beginning to have
the courage to follow Jesus Christ and reach
out to people who they would not normally
meet. But he calls on churches to repent and
confess their complicity in allowing
stigma and discrimi-
nation to persist and
their failure to lis-
ten to and follow
the leadership
of people living
with HIV and AIDS.
(continued on page 3)
Initiative poses questions for pharmaceutical companies
by Elly Wamari
A joint faith-based exhibit at the Inter-
national AIDS Conference encourages
conference participants to engage repre-
sentatives of pharmaceutical companies
about their roles in the response to HIV
and AIDS.
Ask Pharma cards offer a question-
of-the-day that conference participants
are encouraged to ask any of the phar-
maceutical company representatives in
the hall. Each card includes an explan-
atory note about its question.
One card posed: Tell me about child-
friendly versions of your HIV and
AIDS drug(s). How much does your
company charge for these child-friend-
ly formulations?
The exhibit was created by more than
40 faith-based organizations want-
ing to share how various faiths are re-
sponding to HIV and AIDS. There are
films and different activities, in addi-
tion to an array of materials from the
organizations.

The idea for Ask Pharma was sparked

when the organizations were assigned a
space in Exhibit Area A, an area domi-
nated by pharmaceutical companies.

We took advantage of our location

here to come up with this process
of involving the pharmaceutical
companies, said Mary Craig, the
Ask Pharma cards pose a question-of-the-day. exhibit coordinator.

Videos Online http://iac.e-alliance.ch (visit the site for more videos)

Why Are We Here?

by Greg Atkinson

A light-hearted look at some very serious reasons that faith-based participants

have for wanting to eradicate HIV and AIDS.

Youth: Our Point of View

by lokaalmondiaal

Many of the young people, who attended the ecumenical and interfaith pre-con-
ferences and are now at the International AIDS Conference, talk about their
response to HIV and AIDS.

Where Do We Go From Here?

by Shane Chadder

We leave this place more aware of the links between broken promises and
broken lives. The Rev. Canon Gideon Byamugisha, an Anglican priest from
Uganda who is HIV positive and founder of the African Network of Religious
Leaders Living With or Personally Affected by HIV and AIDS (ANERELA+).
Page 2
IAC co-chair Gunnar Stlsett: Faith-based
groups called to be honest about HIV
by Julia E. Heyde
Growing acceptance of the work of
faith-based organizations in response
to the AIDS pandemic is raising ex-
pectations of their representatives at
the International AIDS Conference.
Gunnar Stlsett
Gunnar Stlsett, former Bishop of Oslo
and IAC co-chair, says faith-based or-
ganizations are now widely recognized
for delivering the majority of services
to local communities. But he warns that
religious leaders must overcome their
awkwardness and be honest about the
driving forces of the pandemic. We
need to say it is about sexuality, it is
Faith-based response
(continued from page 1)
Professor Farid Esack, founder of the
South African organization Positive Mus-
lims, speaks of changing attitudes within
the global Muslim community, citing
progress in Egypt, Malaysia and Moroc-
co. But he notes that Muslims are still at
the stage of feeling pity for those affected
and are not yet moving toward empower-
ing them, nor are they dealing with issues
of injustice which require transformation
of structures and communities.
More teaching and more preaching alone
will not help, if it is not the right preaching
about drugs. People representing faith
organizations need to use these words
in order to be heard and be connected
to the real issue.
Noting that the AIDS pandemic has led
to cooperation among people of different
faiths in responding to community needs,
Stlsett cautiously calls it a blessing.
I dont see that we as members of dif-
ferent faiths would have come together
on poverty, on disarmament, devel-
opment or human rights in general. I
wish we would have, but we didnt. So
in that sense, something from which
many people are suffering has created
this engagement and commitment and
mobilization. In that sense it can be
seen as a blessing.
Stlsett hopes this International AIDS
Conference, convened under the theme
Time to Deliver, will lead to more ac-
tion in response to HIV and AIDS. But
he acknowledges it wont be an easy
process. To find the mechanisms by
which you move from words to action
is not simple. It has to do with commit-
ment to stand up and be counted and to
say, enough words!
and teaching, says the Rev. Jap Heath,
general secretary of the African Network
of Religious Leaders Living with or Per-
sonally Affected by HIV or AIDS (AN-
ERELA+). People of faith must come to
HIV and AIDS are part of their commu-
nities and fully include them.
Hanson is calling on religious leaders to
confront stigma and discrimination by
taking HIV tests and publicly disclos-
ing the results. And he affirms his be-
lief that religious communities can be
places for moral formation even while
teaching safe sex practices and welcom-
ing people living with HIV and AIDS.
terms with the fact that people living with
CHECK
IT
OUT
Interfaith prayer room
Daily
Pentecostal Worship; 9:00
Islamic prayers (Salat); 13:20 and 17:15
Buddhist meditation; 10:15
Roman Catholic mass; 12:15
Protestant worship; 15:45
Tuesday only
Holy Qurbana of the Indian Orthodox
Church to Celebrate the Feast of the
Dormition of St. Mary; 7:30-8:45
Roman Catholic mass celebrated by
Archbishop Bernard Moras, Bishop of
Bangalore; 12:15
North Building, Room 103A
Joint faith-based exhibit
Tues. Aug. 15 - Thurs. Aug. 18; 10:15-18:30
Exhibit area A, Booth number 475
Keep the Promise Letters to the
World
Launch of childrens letters with HRH
Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway
Tues. Aug. 15; 14:30-14:50
Exhibit area A, Booth number 475
Multifaith prayer service
Tues. Aug. 15; 20:00
St. James Cathedral, 65 Church Street
Faith-based caucuses
Time for prayer, reflection on the day and
sharing
Wed. Aug. 16 - Thurs. Aug. 17; 21:00
Room 100, International Living and
Learning Centre, Ryerson University;
Sixth floor common room, New College
How to support people disclosing their
status by identifying support structures
(ANERELA+)
Tues. Aug. 15; 16:45-17:45
Global Village,
Community Dialogue Space
Page 3
Sr. Tenabech Tesfalegh

Traditional coffee drinking ceremony in Ethiopia offers innovative

way to talk about HIV
by Diana Gee-Silverman

Although the seated circle of people may be similar, the
Global Village in Torontos convention centre is a far cry
from a coffee ceremony in central Ethiopia. Still, the topic of
conversation is the same HIV, AIDS and related stigma.
The Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church has found an innovative
way to talk about HIV. The Bunna Tettu coffee drinking
ceremony, which involves friends and neighbors getting to-
gether to discuss local issues, has been updated to include
talk of HIV and AIDS. Coffee ceremonies are organized at
the home of a person living with AIDS. Volunteers prepare
the coffee and invite the community to converse with the
chronically ill or bedridden patient.
Awassa city Project Coordinator Sr. Tenabech Tesfalegh
says, HIV is one of the main issues in Ethiopia. There is a
high level of infection rates, including in the churches.
She estimates HIV prevalence in urban areas to be between
10 and 12 percent. The Kale Heywet Churchs potential
reach is great: After 78 years in Ethiopia, it counts six mil-
lion members in 6,000 local churches.
Tesfaleghs Awassa project, like sister ones in seven other
cities, trains different members of the community, includ-
ing church leaders, idirs (traditional local funeral coopera-
tives) and area youth. Young people are involved in drama
productions that serve in peer education.
UNAIDS and the United Nations Development Programme
have recognized this success in church community mo-
bilization. Kale Heywet is one of 25 finalist communities
nominated for a Red Ribbon Award at the International
AIDS Conference. Inaugurated this year, the award aims
to support creative and sustainable ways to provide care,
treatment and support to people living with HIV and AIDS
through recognition of outstanding community leadership.
When we started the project there was high stigma in
the community. We try to teach the community through
the church and other community structures. The HIV
problem is my problem. It affects every family in Ethiopia,
Tesfalegh says.

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