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Our God is
Youth take the lead; see page 2 more powerful
than AIDS.
Be kind to everyone: Buddhist monks Rev. Canon Gideon
Byamugisha, African
reach out in HIV and AIDS response Network of Religious
by Hilary Roxe Leaders Living With or
Personally Affected by HIV
When Phrakhru Thanawat Wannali started program. As important, he said, he talks or AIDS (ANERELA+)
working as a Buddhist monk in the Chiang constantly about HIV and AIDS in public,
Mai region of Thailand 25 years ago, HIV urging protection and compassion.
had not been identified as a problem in his Issue no. 2
community. Within 15 years, it had become a The effort is gaining a more formal structure Aug. 14, 2006
central focus of his work. through the Southeast Asia Buddhist Monk
Network, a recently created initiative that Daily news and views on religious
responses to HIV and AIDS
Wannali, who spent years working with drug connects monks in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, at the 16th International AIDS
addicts before HIV struck his region, said Cambodia and Myanmar (Burma). Thai Conference, Toronto, Canada. For
he started working on the pandemic because monks, including Wannali, have traveled to more information and articles visit
he noticed the problem growing. He devoted other nations to raise awareness and money. www.e-alliance.ch/iac_2006.jsp
himself to teaching people about the virus The network also forged partnerships between
and how to protect themselves, and ensuring monasteries in Thailand, which often have
that they did not isolate those affected. more experience coping with HIV and AIDS,
and those in the other nations in the network.
When people come to the monk, the first
thing the monk says is to be kind to everyone, Niwat Suwanphatthana, a conference attendee
Wannali said Sunday through a translator at who works with Wannalis
the International AIDS Conference. temple, said the local
approach to care
Today, people from his temple conduct home in Thailand has
visits to those living with HIV, teach skills changed over time.
such as sewing that give affected individuals
some income, and support vulnerable children
at the temple and through a scholarship (continued on page 3)
Youth take the lead in developing new approaches to AIDS campaigning
by Diana Gee-Silverman
The Rev. Adam Russell Taylor came and directs campaigns for Sojourners, dren to learn more about the pandemic.
back from the 2000 International Washington, D.C., USA. Over the past As a young advocate, she hopes to use
AIDS Conference in South Africa and six years, the campaign has grown to in- the Toronto forum to join other youth
founded a youth movement. clude hundreds of campuses in the Unit- and be united in order to campaign
ed States and made connections with and prevent HIV and AIDS.
I was moved by the many voices that youth organizations around the world.
said this is a disease that dispropor- Youth are not the leaders of tomor-
tionately affects young people, so re- UNAIDS estimates that more than row but those of today, because we are
ally its our future thats on the line, 11,000 new HIV infections occurred leading change now, said Constance
Taylor told participants at an event for every day in 2005 more than 40 per- Shumba, 24, Zimbabwe, representing
faith-based organizations prior to the cent of them among young people be- the World YWCA.
International AIDS Conference. tween 15 and 24. More than 15 million
in the same age group are living with To help increase youth involvement
Youth are active participants in the In- HIV and AIDS. in AIDS campaigns, Helge Andersen,
ternational AIDS Conference and in 21, led a pre-conference session called
developing new approaches to AIDS UNAIDS defines youth as ages 15 to How Can Youth? Andersen, a stu-
campaigning. 24 for statistical purposes, while the dent activist from Changemakers, a
Youth Force for the International Norwegian Church Aid Youth initiative
When Taylor returned to the United AIDS Conference includes young peo- founded in 1992 that now counts 2,000
States, he realized few students and young ple ages 15 to 26. The faith-based pre- members in 20 local groups, described
people knew the scale of the epidemic in conference event drew about 60 youth an anti-stigma campaign to distribute
Africa and many had become complacent (up to age 30) from Asia, Africa and 50,000 Positiv buttons.
about it in the USA. We wanted to cre- the developed world. Youth was one
ate a network of students that would try to of the pre-conferences eight thematic The Mennonite Central Committee
educate and mobilize their peers around streams. launched the AIDS Care Now cam-
the AIDS crisis, he said. paign on Aug. 1, aiming to raise aware-
Elonie Jean Honrado Oliva, 15, Phil- ness and education about HIV and AIDS
Taylor launched the Student Global ippines, started a low-cost advocacy with messages created by young people.
AIDS campaign and now organizes campaign in her home country for chil-
The Lutheran World Federations Emi-
Youth delegates at AIDS Treatment Now! March ly Freeburg, Lutheran Office for World
Community at the United Nations,
New York, USA, said youth can also
work through faith-based networks,
whether in young professional groups
active around different development is-
sues, through church youth groups or
other faith-based initiatives.
Page 2
Buddhist monks reach out
Page 3
Hilda Chvez
It is crucial that women know their rights in order to pre- Que las mujeres conozcan sus derechos es fundamental en
vent the spread of HIV and AIDS, says Hilda Chvez, a la prevencin del VIH y SIDA, dice Hilda Chvez, de El Sal-
health promoter with the Caritas HIV and AIDS program vador, un pequeo pas centroamericano con 6,5 millones de
in the Sonsonate diocese of western El Salvador. The small habitantes y unas 36 mil personas viviendo con VIH. Hilda
Central American country with a population of 6.5 million es promotora de salud y responsable del programa de VIH
has 36,000 people living with HIV. The western region has y SIDA de Caritas en la dicesis de Sonsonate, en la zona
the second highest infection rate in the country. occidental del pas, que ocupa el segundo lugar nacional en
nmero de personas afectadas.
In El Salvador, women are basically confined to the pri-
vate sphere, staying at home with their families. They are En la cultura de El Salvador la mujer est esencialmente
not allowed to get involved in other issues, says Chvez. relegada al mbito privado, a la casa y la familia; no se le
Thats why her work focuses on strengthening womens self- permite involucrarse en otros asuntos, explica Hilda. Por
esteem, raising awareness of their rights, providing educa- eso su trabajo apunta a fortalecer la autoestima de las mu-
tion about sexual and reproductive health and even includes jeres, crear conciencia de sus derechos, proveerles infor-
helping them find paid employment. macin sobre temas de salud sexual y reproductiva, e in-
cluso apoyarlas en la bsqueda de alternativas laborales.
As a Catholic organization, Caritas promotes abstinence and
faithfulness to prevent infection: condoms are out of the ques- Como organizacin catlica, Caritas promueve la abstinen-
tion. However, Chvez acknowledges that there are Catholics cia y la fidelidad como estrategia de prevencin; el condon
who accept the use of condoms as part of a pastoral approach est fuera de discusin. Sin embargo, Hilda reconoce que
to prevention. There are priests who will even allow them to hay catlicos que los admiten en el marco de un enfoque
be mentioned in talks with teenagers in the parish, she says, pastoral. Hay sacerdotes que incluso permiten que se hable
although this doesnt happen very often. de ellos en charlas educativas con adolescentes de la parro-
quia, dice, aunque esto no es demasiado frecuente.
Chvez came to the International AIDS Conference in To-
ronto expecting to update her knowledge. HIV has come Hilda vino a Toronto con la expectativa de actualizar sus con-
to visit us, says Chvez, but together we can drive it out. ocimientos. El VIH vino para quedarse, dice, pero todos
In Sonsonate, Caritas is a member of a network of organi- juntos podemos vencerlo. En Sonsonate, Caritas es parte de
zations responding to HIV and AIDS, which includes Lu- una Red de organizaciones que luchan contra el VIH y SIDA
theran and Baptist churches. en la cual tambin participan las iglesias luterana y bautista.
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