CIRA Affiliated Project

In Africa, faith plays an important role in individual and community life and can influence social and health behavior. Despite this fact, very little empirical, scholarly research has been done to examine the impact of faith-based HIV prevention initiatives on the African continent. Since March 2002, the Yale Divinity School (YDS) has established a partnership with the Circle for Concerned African Women Theologians (Circle), whose goal is to improve the awareness and effectiveness of faith based organizations in areas related to HIV prevention. Through this supplement to our ICOHRTA program, ten African women theologians have been provided with training in HIV prevention methods. Their training is fully integrated with that provided to our ICOHRTA fellows from South Africa, and is undertaken under the auspices of CIRA and YDS.

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As in other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, HIV/AIDS in Nigeria increasingly affects more women (57%) than men. Some of the factors responsible for the growing epidemic among women in Nigeria include various cultural practices like polygamy and a culture of silence over sexuality, women’s inability to negotiate safe sex with their partners, lack of sexual education both at home and in schools, religious leaders teaching which has led to stigma and which has not been empowering to women and an unwillingness of most men to use condoms. The roles of women in the society as care givers, educators, nurturers and agents who inculcate the behavioral pattern in the community have been long established. In the religious realm, women outnumber men and have been involved in religious activities like evangelism and prison visitation as well as establishing schools and vocational centers aimed at empowering girls and women. This study aims to assess the potential of Christian women groups in initiating programs to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. In this study, seven national Christian women groups will be targeted for formative research assessment. Data collection methods will include key informant interviews, in-depth interview, participant observation, focus group discussions and document review. The research will inform us about what Christian women’s groups are currently doing with regard to HIV prevention and the potential facilitators and barriers to working with these groups as positive change agents in reducing women’s risk for HIV.

Kenya is one of the countries that have been adversely affected by HIV/AIDS. The overall HIV prevalence rate in the country is between 6% and 7 %. However, the effects of the epidemic are not uniformly distributed in the country. Some communities are more affected than others. The Luo community of Western Kenya has the highest prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in Kenya .It is estimated that the prevalence rate in the community was 21.8% in 2003, while that of other communities ranges from 1.3% among the Somali to 9.7% among the Taita/Taveta of Coast Province. Research has suggested that reasons for this relatively higher HIV prevalence rate in the Luo community include cultural practices like wife inheritance and polygamy even though these practices are openly condemned by the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK). This study intends to find out the cultural practices observed by members of the Luo community, which of these practices are considered by the members to be harmful in the context of HIV/AIDS and how the members understand these practices in the light of the teachings of the ACK. The study will also gather information from leaders of the ACK regarding their attitudes towards the cultural practices of the Luo and their teachings on these practices with respect to HIV/AIDS. Methods of data collection will include individual interviews and focus group discussions. The study findings will be useful in understanding reasons for the discrepancy between the teachings of the ACK and its community members’ cultural practices, thereby providing ideas for more effective HIV/AIDS prevention strategies.

This research aims to address the following problems of Africa in general and Pietermaritzburg in particular: the major mode of the spread of HIV in Africa is through heterosexual relationships. At the same time, marriage is central in African cultures. Within the marriage set up, there are social, cultural and religious barriers that make communication difficult between couples on matters that deal with sexuality. Furthermore, research has shown that while new HIV infections are decreasing among the youth, there has been an increase of new HIV infections among the age group of 24-49. Yet the majority of the current HIV prevention interventions do not target church couples. Research has also shown that there is domestic violence in Christian homes. Therefore the hypothesis of this research is that targeting couples, using a faith-based and gender sensitive curriculum, can significantly increase communication among Church couples about their sexuality, promote the practice of fidelity in monogamous relationships and decrease gender-based violence. The general goal of this research is to adapt and evaluate Stepping Stones curriculum, which is a gender sensitive HIV/AIDS prevention intervention, and apply it to church couples in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. The targeted population for this research will be 30 church couples from Pietermaritzburg Indigenous African communities, who will be divided into two groups. During the four workshops that each group will undergo over a period of four weeks, they will be further divided into four groups based on gender and age. Each individual will respond to a quantitative questionnaire at the beginning of the workshop and after six months. Notes will be made from discussions in each group. The data collected from the quantitative questionnaire will be analysed to find out if there has been evidence of behaviour change with regard to communication on their sexuality, fidelity and gender-based violence in their relationships. Data analysis of the notes taken will also help in identifying areas that need to be revised in the adapted curriculum for use in the churches.

Stigma is an obstacle to HIV/AIDS prevention and care interventions in Kenya. This study investigates whether and how church-based interventions influence people’s responses to stigma. In addition, the study examines whether and how such interventions enhance or mitigate social stigma associated with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The research aims are explored by comparing responses of a Roman Catholic Parish and a Quaker Monthly Meeting (church) to HIV/AIDS in the Kibera slums in Nairobi, Kenya. These two churches differ in structure and ideologies. The study explores similarities and differences in the prevention and care interventions that have been initiated by these two churches at the following levels: in the service-users’ experience of these programs, in the responses of church members that are HIV seropositive but are non-service users to the programs, in the behaviours of Christians who are HIV/AIDS seronegative, and in the stated goals and motivations of religious leaders and personnel responsible for service delivery. Data will be gathered using open-ended interviews and focus group discussions with respondents of different ages, genders, HIV statuses and roles in church-based programming, and levels of experience with such programming. Furthermore participant-observation method will be used to obtain data on HIV/AIDS service planning and delivery. The study attempts to summarize the similarities and differences observed in the data from the two different religious contexts. It subsequently uses Goffman’s conceptualization of stigma in terms of the discredited and the discredible and Bruce and Phelan’s model emphasizing the importance of power to the stigmatization process, to identify and describe connections between the enactment of religious ideology in the different organizations and the current responses and levels of stigma in the two churches.

The overall purpose of this study was to conduct a process evaluation of a Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) intervention referred to as the Young Women's Skills Training Project that has been in existence since August 2000. The intervention comprises a collaborative venture between the YWCA and the African Inland Church Primary School in Kajiado located in the southern part of Kenya, near the border with Tanzania. It brings together approximately 120 Maasai girls aged 8 to 15 years, the latter victims or near-victims of culturally-embedded discriminatory practices like early or forced marriages and/or female genital mutilation, as well as girls from Primary school, to receive training on sexual and reproductive rights, HIV/AIDS, human rights and vocational skills through use of formal (books, manuals, etc.) and communicative (posters, poetry, drama, songs, etc.) methods on a continuous basis.

This evaluation research conducted from August 2003 to August 2004 had the following specific aims: 1) To gain an understanding of the lives of these young girls as related to their current self-esteem and self-worth, and the influence of faith in their lives; 2) to assess the girls' knowledge on sexual and reproductive rights and HIV/AIDS; 3) to determine whether faith emerges as a reality in the intervention and how it manifests itself in the lives of these young girls; 4) to make recommendations on how to strengthen similar programs within the World YWCA movement.

HIV/AIDS has increasingly taken its toll on human lives, time and material resources, annihilating populations, destroying family and community structures and weakening the country's economy. In Kenya, the rate of HIV infection in girls and young women aged 15 to 19 years is about six times as high as that of their male counterparts in the most affected regions. Statistics indicate that 24% of women aged 15-19 are now infected versus 4% of men in the same age group.

This project seeks to: 1) Identify and describe the response of selected religious institutions (Christian, Islamic and African traditional) to HIV/AIDS prevention/care in Nigeria; 2) Describe the level of engagement and position of these institutions on HIV/AIDS relative to The Emergency Action Plan of the government; 3) Explore the possibility of religious institutions in Nigeria working together with government in a collaborative effort against the HIV/AIDS pandemic; and, 4) Provide relevant and appropriate data from our case study on the level of engagement of religious institutions in HIV/AIDS prevention and care to key stakeholders (government, religious institutions and public health practitioners) for policy review and preventive practice. This qualitative research design used key informant interview and document review to create a case study of religious organizations' response to HIV/AIDS in Cross River State. The research questions guiding the study were focused on the HIV/AIDS policy and practices of religious institutions. Male and female religious leaders who constituted the key informants were asked questions pertaining to internal institutional debates and discussions about their role and response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Within each religious organization, except the traditional association, two parishes or mosques were contacted to provide key informants - one rural and one urban site and two male and female leaders at each for a total of eight respondents per organization and 53 respondents overall. The organizations in the case study may not have put structures in place in terms of care and counseling practices, but they are still relevant relative to contributing to the campaign against the AIDS epidemic. They may not have supported the promotion of condoms, but they cover areas that public health organizations, political leaders and NGOs don't emphasize in their activities. These include morality, rules of family life and sexual activity. All these are connected with HIV/AIDS.

The study is about Church’s responses to HIV/AIDS prevention and care in Hoima Diocese of Uganda. Since its establishment over a hundred years ago, the Church has been offering the message of Christian faith and morality. Today it is being challenged with a moral dilemma of HIV/AIDS which is transmitted mainly through heterosexual intercourse. About 1.5 million people are infected nationwide, and more continue to be infected every year. There are 110,000 people who are sick and need anti-retroviral therapy. Only 10% of those who need treatment have access to the drugs and at a cost. Although the new infection rate has gone down in urban areas, it is still rampant in rural areas. Hoima Diocese is in a rural area, where medical services are scarce and inadequate. The Catholic Church is against condom use as a contraceptive, but some bishops today look at condom use as preventive measure to HIV/AIDS.

The objectives of this study are: to investigate and assess the messages being given by the Church leaders to parishioners who come seeking counseling regarding HIV/AIDS prevention and care; and also messages given in sermons and other Church teachings to the general public; to assess whether these messages influence the social, cultural and gender relationships of people’s lives; and whether they hinder or assist them in making proper decisions on preventive strategies, treatment, counseling and support within their communities. In addition, the study seeks to evaluate whether the messages are embodied in Church sponsored programs regarding HIV/AIDS prevention and care.

The study will use Moser’s conceptual framework for gender analysis and planning at household and community levels. It explores gender roles, control of resources and decision-making at both levels. It also explores women’s reproductive and productive roles as well as their community roles resulting in different types of policy intervention, with a view to planning for balancing of gender roles. The overall research design is exploratory descriptive study analysis using qualitative methods that is in-depth interviews and focus group interviews. The NUD*IST (N6) software will be used to analyze data. Recruitment will be limited to the Banyoro community in two parishes of Hoima Diocese. This study will contribute to knowledge about the messages Church leaders give to their parishioners, as none of the existing literature has addressed this issue. The long-term goals are gender equity and the creation of a new African Christian sexual ethics that can effect behavioral change in this HIV/AIDS era. Ethical transformation will lead to healthier and better lives of the people of Hoima Diocese and beyond. This will be achieved through the dissemination of the analyzed data. On the local level, papers derived from the report will be disseminated through published journals. In addition, there will be seminars held in each of the Parishes for results dissemination after the writing of the report to benefit the communities which contributed to the research. On the international level, a report will be submitted to CIRA which will be read and quoted by people from all over the world who are interested and working with PLWHA and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment/care.

The study aims at investigating beliefs and attitudes regarding sexuality and about HIV/AIDS among the Luhya of Western Kenya. The main objective for this research is to identify and to evaluate the pervasiveness and influence of African traditional beliefs, myths and proverbs, on the spread of HIV/AIDS. More specifically, its objectives are to: 1) Determine whether and to what extent Luhya traditional beliefs hamper or help efforts to contain the spread of HIV; 2) Discover how beliefs about sexuality are learned and/or reinforced through family, peers, clan elders, religious education and practice; 3) Discover what opinion makers (political and religious leaders, peer associates, etc.) have communicated to the people specifically about HIV/AIDS; 4) Establish the differences along rural and township lines; and 5) Identify strategies that will promote holistic health through the harmonization of beliefs and practices regarding sexuality for both women and men. The overall research design is a comparative case study analysis using qualitative methods (focus group interviews and in-depth interviews). In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were the most feasible for this study. Focus groups were organized by three different age groups and separated according to gender. Materials on HIV/ AIDS from the District AIDS Control Council office were used in the focus groups, and written materials on religio-cultural beliefs and myths put out by the NACC, the Catholic Church and the National Council of Churches in Kenya were used for discussion. In-depth interviews were conducted with 5-10 influential peers identified from the focus groups. The results found: 1) Nearly all the people interviewed were aware of HIV/AIDS and the ways through which one can be infected; 2) All the people interviewed are very much aware of their traditional cultural beliefs, myths and proverbs about sexuality; 3) The women interviewed and at least one man were upset and outraged that Bukusu culture always blamed the woman for the infection; and, 4) The people interviewed emphasized that traditional cultural practices are still widespread and keenly adhered to by the community. Some of these cultural practices include, polygamy, widow inheritance, bride wealth, rituals involving sex with other than legitimate partners, pre-marital sex, the traditional circumcision, and other ceremonies which lead to risky behavior that may lead to HIV/AIDS infection. Cultural beliefs and practices put women at greater risk of HIV infection than other groups. There is an urgent need to inculturate safe practices in the church so that proper sex education including abstinence and faithfulness are imparted to both young men and women by the church using the Christian clan elders. There is an urgent need to lobby the political leaders of Africa to take their responsibility of ensuring that its citizens’ welfare is well taken care of especially when it comes to women’s reproductive health.

The aim of this study was to develop an empowering sex education program for women which is sensitive to their religio-cultural practices and which will make them less vulnerable to HIV infection. The specific aims were to: 1) Determine the range of young Malawian women’s sexual beliefs and practices including their vulnerability to STIs in general and to HIV/AIDS in particular; 2) Examine the influence of traditional Malawian sex education (Chinamwali) and the Church’s sex education (Chilangizo) on women’s sexual beliefs and practices; and 3) Pilot and evaluate a sexual education workshop that responds to women’s sexual concerns and to their vulnerability to HIV. For the analysis, the following were employed: individual in-depth, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs) with religio-cultural and church Chinamwali instructors and lupanda ngalibas (Yao, Nyanja and Lomwe boys’ religio-cultural and church initiation rite), and a two-day information disseminating workshop involving participants from the individual interviews and FGDs facilitated by a curriculum developer, assessor and VCT and AIDS counselor; and a gender expert who is also Yao. An analysis of the data collected brings out several findings: 1) The existing sexual education among Nyanja, Yao and Lomwe women is very elaborate at equipping women with elaborate sexual techniques and positions for maximum sexual pleasure of their heterosexual partners. 2) Its celebration of women’s bodies as sacred and interconnected to mother earth seem to give these women subtle powers to use these bodies as tools of resistance in case of lack of mutuality in sexual involvement; and also as tools of ‘enticement’ that breaks male barriers in cases where these women need favors from these men. 3) The one-sided emphasis on the preparation of women for gender submission to and sexual satisfaction of men unfortunately limits women’s sexual decision-making powers and consequently exposes them to vulnerable sexual behaviors which lead to high risk for STIs including HIV. No such study that solicited sexual experiences of both women initiates and their instructors’ for the envisioning of a more empowering sexual education curriculum from a feminist theological perspective had ever been done before. As a stepping stone to the development of a more empowering sexual education program, the involvement of both women and men instructors was the greatest strength that gave even more significance to the findings of this study. There is need to carry out a wider national research involving two centers in each of the three regions in Malawi that involves both men and women in faith-based communities who are involved in the process of gender and sexual socialization of adolescents (15-24 years of age) especially making an effort to tap from the contextually existing rites of passage.