Regardless of what language you speak, there are two words that seem to be understood by everyone in Kenya. The first is HIV, and the other is cancer. Yesterday was World AIDS Day. What a time to be in Kenya, a country where 1.5 million of its residents suffer from HIV/AIDS (a prevelance of 6.3%) and where 1.2 million children are orphaned due to this virus. To put this in perspective, about 1.2 million people in the U.S. have HIV vs. 1.5 million in Kenya (which is geographically about the size of Texas). If you spend any amount of time in Africa, you will hear the word "PEPFAR", which stands for the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and was initiated by President George W. Bush. Through PEPFAR, $15 billion was committed over 5 years to providing anitretroviral therapy (ART), support, and prevention free of cost to those diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. It has since been carried on by President Obama. Tenwek is a major recepient of PEPFAR funds. Thanks for paying your taxes :)
Yesterday for World AIDS Day, there was a gathering held at the Church at Tenwek. A pastor of a Kenyan church spoke about the effect of AIDS and the associated descrimination. You may be as surprised as I was to find that such a negative stigma exists around a diagnosis of HIV in Kenya. I assumed since the illness was so common, that it would be more accepted here. I assumed wrong. The pastor told a story about his church which participated in outreach programs to minister to prostitutes living in their community. All of whom were afflicted by AIDS. The congregation was overjoyed one Sunday when a bus full of these women pulled up to the church and they started singing praises as they made their way down to the alter. Twenty-eight women received Christ that morning, and the church was ecstatic! Naturally, the next step for the women was baptism. The pastor was stunned when members of the church approached him about their concerns of their children being baptized in the same water as the former prostitutes. They even gave suggestions that perhaps their children could be baptised first, and then the women of the community could follow. In the end, that pastor baptized everyone alphabetically therefore mixing all the participants together. After the first former prostitute was baptised, she fell down into the water sobbing and praising God for salvation and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Never before had the pastor witnessed a baptism where he could truly feel a person dying with Christ on emersion and being raised to new life. The pastor made the point that "People can be hurt by the Church", but the Church should be a place of hope, restoration, and healing. Although we as humans (and Church) often fail, praise the Lord for a savior who chooses to bring forgiveness and healing and new mercies every morning.
The other word that needs no translation is cancer. Many of our patients at Tenwek seek medical attention when it is too late. This is usually due to financial restraints. Patient's live too far and don't have the transportation or money for medical treatment so they often try home remedies to no avail. Often times their cancer is so advanced when they arrive that palliative care is all we can offer them. I have been in the room with many patient's when they are told they have cancer and no matter what language they are being spoken to in, the word is always the same..."Cancer". I have had the opportunity to pray with many patients while here, and I pray that they find comfort in the promises of Jesus, the mighty healer.
No comments:
Post a Comment