•  HIV/AIDS PROGRAMME

ACK Mandate on HIV-AIDS

While the church agrees with the global statistics on the high HIV/AIDS prevalence, it also accepts that its own people are infected and affected by the pandemic.

Globally 42 million people are living with HIV/AIDS.

29 million of them are living in Africa South of Sahara according to UNAIDS (2004).

In Kenya alone 2.5 million people are living with AIDS (Surveillance data 2004) .

In the ACK survey done in 2004, there are 65,000 Anglican Christians living with HIV/AIDS. Although the death rate has fallen from 700 to 300 people per day this is still a very high rate, next to malaria, which could also be due to HIV infection. The orphans are increasing daily while women are left without husbands.

Our church has AIDS

The church can no longer bury its head in the sand while its own people are dying, suffering and caring for their loved one due to HIV/AIDS. The church has directly been affected by the AIDS scourge and there is great feeling to execute its mandate of holistic ministry; that of preaching teaching and healing. It is out of this calling that the Church has joined hands with others, especially the government to implement the all-inclusive National Strategic Plan on HIV/AIDS.

The church therefore will endeavour to in reach its own congregations as well as reach out to others.

When the country speaks of the great strides it has made in HIV/AIDS prevalence rate reduction from 13.5% to 6.7% in 2005, the contribution of the church cannot be over emphasized. The world has recognized that faith based organizations have the mandate and the moral authority to talk about prevention especially by abstinence for the unmarried and faithfulness and fidelity in marriage. It is no wonder then that there is a global shift of focus to the church for solutions on prevention and care & support while strengthening its health institutions, which have won the communities' trust for provision of ARVs. The church is perceived as the custodian of the community's moral values; so when AIDS threatens the family unit, the church has a great concern and duty to restore community values that strengthen the family. The Church is strategically placed for promoting behavioural change. DOSS will signpost the RCCS and other ACK implementers to some approaches that are known to be already effectively in use for promoting behavioural change. The church is important in the ongoing exhortation on behavioural change, as they preach in the pulpit and at funerals and other public gatherings.

While the church appreciates the value of external resources, it also recognizes the importance of looking at local resources and networks as well as local initiatives. DOSS will emphasize active engagement of the Parish in these areas.

The church has been involved in addressing HIV/AIDS since the early nineties. In the early years efforts were limited to awareness creation. In the past two years, there have been varied activities by several arms of the Church on the HIV/AIDS problem. The church has carried out a needs assessment survey and its structures have been strengthened through systems and capacity to effectively continue addressing HIV/AIDS.

The plight of HIV/AIDS orphans requires coordinated attention. Home-based care of the PLWAs and orphan care are parish-level activities. DOSS will emphasize active engagement of the parish in these areas.

An aspect of particular concern is the common perception of home-based care as merely to care for the person at home while waiting passively for death.

Care should focus on functional living till death comes. The church will enhance its pastoral care programmes to make is more holistic in terms of the spiritual, physical, and psycho-social support of the infected and the affected.

This therefore means that seeking easier access to ARVs, which are more available and affordable, will also be a priority.

Another issue of interest is how to tap emerging coping mechanisms. DOSS would like to be involved in tracking how some of the PLWAs are coping. This will be taken on as a social research exercise.

The church recognizes the need for an ACK HIV/AIDS policy therefore DOSS will endeavour to ensure that a policy is formulated and widely disseminated.

The HIV/AIDS programme will address all issues relating to the pandemic in the 3 programmatic areas namely:

• Capacity building

• Prevention

• Care and support

CAPACITY BUILDING

The church will “scale up” the use of existing Health professionals working with DOSS, RCCS and Health Institutions to spearhead the capacity building of all levels of church leadership using its structures (clergy, KAMA, MU, Youth and Sunday School).

DOSS will facilitate the development and dissemination of training manual(s) and IEC materials that incorporate Christian values.

DOSS will facilitate completion of the Policy documents relating to HIV/AIDS so as to provide reference for all church workers and congregations.

The training/education will aim at providing factual information about HIV/AIDS science, transmission, prevention, treatment, VCT/PMTCT/Condom use, stigma/discrimination, advocacy, Home-based care, OVCs etc. The training will also include management issues so that it improves on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation for effective programme implementation.

HIV/AIDS PREVENTION

The church intends to address issues of prevention with an open mind based on reality but strongly propagating church values.

The church will provide factual information on the use of condoms with effective counselling on abstinence and faithfulness (Abstinence-based activities)

VCT/PMTCT will be provided at various church Health Institutions. We intend to start VCT as a preventative strategy through making informed choices on Abstinence and Faithfulness or use of condom for discordant couples.

Stigma and Discrimination will be addressed at all church fora through awareness/education and by involving PLWAs in all church functions by giving equal (biased towards PLWAs) opportunities to them.

The church will continue to advocate and lobby for legislation and policies that are favourable to PLWAs and OVCs in the provision of ARVs, Care and Support using religious structures.

Specifically, the church will conduct the following programme activities:

•  Abstinence Program for the youth adopt the Reach out Strategy:
•  In this plan we intend to work with the youth at the congregation level.
•  We have selected five (5) working Regions with 10 congregations in every Region.
•  We intend to form committees in the congregations where the action is.
•  Mobilization of the congregation will start at the Regional, Diocesan level through trainings
•  Window of hope for children program adopt the ‘Stay Alive' model:
•  We intend to pilot with nine (9) Dioceses one in each Region.
•  Train the Sunday School and Brigade teachers in the nine (9) Dioceses up to the congregation level.
•  Train the parents to support the programs and mentors of the children.
•  Distribute training materials to the Pilot Dioceses.
•  Start Child-to-Child counselling in the Primary schools and train lower Primary school teachers.
•  Family life education program:
•  We intend to initiate dialogue in the family as a way of reducing the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the family. This will be done in the churches and homes.
•  To achieve this we intend to train TOT's to initiate this from the National level up to the congregation through the Parish model.
•  Innovative ways of informal dialogue will be sort through sharing tea after the church and home shells which will include the youth.
•  Initiate debate in the church between the youth and parents.
•  Continue with seminars and workshops in the churches on Family Life Education (FLE).
•  Integrate Gender issues in all the HIV/AIDS activities.

CARE AND SUPPORT

The church has a biblical mandate to care for and support suffering communities. The church will “scale up” this role by mobilizing resources from all sectors – GoK, donors, individuals and the community. The resources will be used in caring for the orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs), widows, widowers and PLWAs.

The church will involve the existing structures (KAMA, MU etc) in providing home based care to PLWAs and engage them in positive and productive lives. Specifically, we shall:

•  Train two (2) VCT counsellors to do counselling and testing in the VCT centres.

•  In every Dioceses train five (5) more VCT counsellors to sensitize the community on the need for VCT to make informed choices in their lives.

•  Train Home Based cares to train care givers (i.e. clergy Evangelists, CHWS).

•  Facilitate our Health Institutions to start ART and MPTCT and treatment of opportunistic infections.

•  Start IGAS (entrepreneurship for the infected and guardians of orphans).

•  The hope team model for care and a model to reach the congregations.

•  Do a survey to know the number of orphans in the country.

•  Encourage support groups in the churches

•  The church will steer the building of networks among PLWAs and other collaborators in this field.

HIV PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES

•  ACK stated HIV/AIDS response at the National level in 1997 to coordinate what the regions were doing
•  ACK implements its development work through RCCS structures
•  HIV/AIDS has been integrated in the development programs for ease of implementation
•  Diocese implement HIV/AIDS activities through the departments like youth MU and Kenya Anglican men association
•  ACK has about 86 health facilities and three main hospitals which have HIV/AIDS activities
•  We have community resource persons (CHW, Aids educators and HIV/AIDS counselors) doing community care and home based care and counseling
•  We have institutions like ST. Johns community centre that do HIV/AIDS programs in six slum area of Nairobi
•  We have community drug shops which serve the communities with fast aid drugs and refer serious case to the hospitals
•  We have community drug shops which serve the communities with fast aid drugs and refer serious case to the hospitals.
•  Community programs for care and support of orphans through the church
•  The three hospitals have started comprehensive care of people living and affected with HIV/AIDS
•  Some clinics and dispensaries have started VCT services

PROGRAMMES ACHIEVEMENTS
•  Training of 34 bishops and their wives in 2003
•  Training of 54 diocesan coordinator covering the marginalized areas of north eastern Kenya
•  Starting diocesan HIV/AIDS programs in the 29 dioceses
•  Training of the department coordinators Sunday school and brigade, youth and mother's union
•  Development of ACK HIV/AIDS liturgy and week of prayer
•  Needs assessment survey was done in 2004 in all the Dioceses.
•  Revision of the strategic plan to incorporate the DOSS strategic plan 2004-2008
•  Implemented a National youth out each program with FHI partnership managed to train peer educators, HIV/AIDS committees, Focal persons and puppeteers(2005-2006)
•  In partnership and St. Paul theological encouraged ACK clergy and church workers to join MA spill program on community care and HIV/AIDS
•  Anglican clergy and church workers have started to come out to share their experience of living with AIDS


Special Programme

CHRISTIAN WOMEN OF FAITH PROGRAM- A group of former commercial sex workers came together and formed a group called “Christian women of faith”
•  The group was officially launched by the archbishop in 2003 and have been meeting weekly in a church hall.
•  To make the group more organized 25 leaders of their leaders were trained on group dynamic and income generating activities (IGA) and support and care of the sick.
•  After the training they were encouraged to form clusters of 20 women each under a trained leader for easy management of the group.
•  Due to financial problems we have not started IGA projects as was initially intended

Challenges
•  Raising demand for services by the church institutions
•  Stigma is still high and hinders VCT programs
•  Sustainability of the diocesan HIV/AIDS desks.
•  Role modelling for behaviour change both in the church and community
•  Community structures for care and support of the infected and affected.
•  Financial support for the programs