From reflection into action

"Change only takes place through action, not through prayer or meditation" - His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, Cape Town, South Africa, 1999. When delegates convened at the South African National Interfaith AIDS Conference in May 2002, they affirmed their joint commitment to adopting and developing a "...theology of love, compassion, responsibility, dignity and non-judgmentalism" in addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

"Change only takes place through action, not through prayer or meditation" - His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, Cape Town, South Africa, 1999. When delegates convened at the South African National Interfaith AIDS Conference in May 2002, they affirmed their joint commitment to adopting and developing a "...theology of love, compassion, responsibility, dignity and non-judgmentalism" in addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The Statement of Intent that emerged from that Conference formed the foundation for a plan of action, referred to as "...a special united indaba, focusing on addressing HIV/AIDS proactively in our country...". On 6th and 7th of May this year, this indaba took place at the Durban Jewish Club, as the African Forum for Faith-based Organisations in Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS, together with the World Conference on Religion and Peace SA (WCRP), met at a regional conference to report on their projects and share ideas for ongoing work.

Paddy Meskin (Regional Co-ordinator of the African FBO Forum), opened the proceedings with a welcoming greeting of peace, following which prayers were led by leaders of the Ba'Hai, Buddhist, Hindu and Jewish communities. The universality of timeless and boundless spiritual principles was evident in these avowals, with each one expressing the same need for humility, wisdom, self-respect and deep fellowship in focusing on the challenges of HIV/AIDS. They also proclaimed the practical means through which these values could and should be made manifest.

This emphasis on the earthly demands being made by the epidemic on communities, and the need for faith-leaders to respond to these demands effectively and comprehensively within the context of their respective beliefs, is what the Forum set out to accomplish.

Its objectives were based primarily on a will to break down longstanding faith-bound divisions in order to foster partnerships. In so doing, religious leaders aim to strengthen capacity in communities, share accurate information, influence policy through advocacy and expand debate on the grassroots experience of the epidemic.

Through the Forum, faith-leaders have come forward to promote family values, while recognising with unconditional acceptance a diverse range of family structures. Through active engagement with biomedical and socio-economic experts in the HIV/AIDS field, they are equipping themselves with the knowledge that will enable them to facilitate educational programmes to reduce stigma, superstition and ignorance within their congregations. They are also taking the lead in lobbying for access to treatment, resources and care for those infected and affected within their communities.

Reporting on the interim achievements of the Forum since the May 2002 Conference, Paddy Meskin noted that its membership had increased from nine to 15 partners. HIVAN (the Centre for HIV/AIDS Networking) was working closely with the WCRP, specifically in hosting a regular local Forum series on topics such as messaging ethics for youth, drug regimes and vaccine development, prevention of mother-to-child transmission and other key issues. Forum programmes are being planned for Gauteng and Cape Town.

The HIVAN website (hivan.org.za) was showcasing the work of the WCRP and the African Forum on its "Resources / FBO Spotlights" pages. The website also acts as a gateway to a large and highly searchable database of individuals and organisations, through which all those active in the struggle against HIV/AIDS can make contact and develop partnerships or obtain information and advice.

Four countries had participated in the African FBO Forum's "Action Research Programme", and a project to support orphans was on track, as was planning for a focus on the vulnerability and empowerment of women in ways that would not exclude men.

The Forum Report was followed by presentations along a theme of "Spiritual Health in Communities", given by representatives of the African, Christian and Muslim faiths.

There was intense interest in the talk given by Dr I S Mekoa, a lecturer from the University of Durban-Westville, who spoke on the African religion. He began by making a special appeal to the audience to note that this should not be referred to as "the African Traditional religion", and that the term "witchdoctors" should also be avoided. He explained that African communities had always been and remained highly conscious of health and wellbeing. In African thought, the powerful influence of one's ancestors on earthly life makes matters of disease and illness not merely biological, but also spiritual and cultural in origin. For this reason, purely medical explanations for physical disorders would not suffice for African people.

While in Western medicine, Mekoa continued, the religious aspect is not important, African medicinal practice involves herbalism combined with a focus on broken taboos. The latter aspect relates to breakdowns in the individual's adherence to accepted ethical codes of conduct, which fall within a structured system of behavioural prohibitions, so that the sangoma and nyanga are required to offer psycho-spiritual counselling, all the while respecting the privacy of clients and their families.

"African medicine is inextricably connected to cosmology and the interpretation of dreams as messages from one's ancestors, with natural tools such as bones and shells being used to convey the wisdom of the Divine," Dr Mekoa emphasised. "Health and social challenges such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa can never be effectively addressed unless and until the African framework of beliefs and practices is acknowledged by Western allopathic medical practitioners as complementary, and not subordinate to it."

The Rev Bernice Stott from the Anglican Church addressed the Conference on the concept of unity in diversity, and the fulfilment of the individual within community. She described religious rituals as symbolic acts of worship, saying that one of the impacts of the HIV/AIDS epidemic has been the need for individuals to perform these acts in directly personal, social and practical ways as well, particularly in community settings. "A person is a person because of other people," she quoted, "and these deeds in service to community become forms of worship in and of themselves. Helping one's neighbour is a way of deepening one's own relationship with God."

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