'Called to Care' - A new toolkit for church and community leaders

In many countries, the church is a focus for community life and an important social institution. Church leaders and members play many roles in society, including that of disseminating health information and influencing public attitudes, values and behaviour.

ICASA 2005 in Abuja, Nigeria, was the venue for the launch of two new tools designed for use by church and community leaders who want to take practical action to address the challenges of HIV/AIDS.

TOOL NO. 1: 'Positive Voices', is a 40-page booklet of testimonies by 14 African religious leaders (12 Christians, two Muslims) who are living with or personally affected by HIV/AIDS. Five of the authors spoke at the launch of 'Positive Voices'. One of them, Anisia Karanja, a leading member of her Pentecostal church in Nairobi, Kenya, described how she disclosed her HIV-positive status to her congregation: 'One day, after reading the Bible lesson, I just told the whole congregation that I was HIV-positive. At first people didn't know how to respond. They cried and they hugged me, but later they gave me encouragement and support.' The speakers were followed by participants in the meeting. 'I am a Nigerian evangelist,' said one man, 'and I am living with HIV/AIDS. I have not been able to speak about this in my church. Therefore I welcome the publication of this book, which should be distributed widely.'

'Positive Voices' is published by the Strategies for Hope Trust, in collaboration with World Vision International and the African Network of Religious Leaders living with or Personally Affected by HIV and AIDS (ANERELA+). It is the first title in the 'Called to Care' toolkit, which is supported by the Interchurch Organisation for Development Cooperation (ICCO), CAFOD and Meal-a-Day.

TOOL NO. 2: The second title in the 'Called to Care' toolkit, 'Making it Happen', is a 44-page mini-manual which aims to guide and support church groups through the processes of planning, establishing and managing an HIV/AIDS project. It includes sections on planning, decision-making, writing a project proposal, preparing a budget, accounting for funds, monitoring and evaluation. The author of 'Making it Happen', Namibia-based Dr Lucy Steinitz, ran a well-attended skills-building workshop at ICASA 2005 to demonstrate how it can help church groups plan and implement their activities more effectively.

Additional titles in the 'Called to Care' toolkit will be developed over the next three years. The Strategies for Hope Trust welcomes enquiries from publishers and distributors interested in helping to disseminate these two publications more widely, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

HOW TO ORDER: In Nigeria, both 'Called to Care' materials are distributed by Africa Christian Textbooks (ACTS), TCNN, PMB 2020, Bukuru 390008, Plateau State. Tel.: +44 (0)73 281055; 281546; 080 358 95328.

Outside Nigeria they are distributed by Teaching-aids at Low Cost (TALC), P.O. Box 49, St Albans AL1 5TX, U.K. Tel.: +44 (0) 1727 853869; Fax: +44 (0) 1727 846852; Email: [email protected]; Website: www.talcuk.org.

For further information please contact: Glen Williams, Series Editor, Strategies for Hope Trust, 93 Divinity Road, Oxford OX4 1LN, U.K, Tel.: +44 (0)1865 723078, Fax: +44 (0)1865 436069, Email: [email protected]