Jan. 18, 2010 issue
Health work helps churches grow
BIC members in Zambia support those with HIV and AIDS
By Mennonite Central Committee staffPage:
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SIMWAANDA, Zambia — Outside Leonard Sintumbi’s home hangs a blanket made by Mennonite Central Committee volunteers in North America.
Leonard Sintumbi, who has HIV, received a blanket from Mennonite Central Committee and care from Brethren in Christ workers. Now he is well enough to farm and support his household. — Photo by Kathy Fast/MCC
Brethren in Christ home-care workers delivered it in 2006 when he and his wife were both very ill due to HIV, the AIDS virus.
His wife died, but Sintumbi was able to get started on anti-retroviral medicines. Now he is well enough to farm and support his household of 12.
The home-based care workers who helped Sintumbi were trained by Compassionate Ministries, an MCC-supported program.
The workers are volunteers from Brethren in Christ churches who minister to people in their churches and communities.
Since Compassionate Ministries began training workers in 2001, more than 200 people have been trained. The home-based care ministry is active in several dozen communities throughout southern Zambia.
Through their MCC-funded training, the home-based care workers learn about the effects of HIV and AIDS. They also learn about issues of stigma, which can cause families and communities to reject people with the disease.
The workers use this information as they encourage people in their communities to go for testing and counsel families dealing with the disease.
“Not only do they give of themselves by going to visit clients in their communities one or two days a week, but they also bring foods from their own gardens and home to supplement the diet of the HIV and AIDS clients,” said Kathy Fast, an MCC representative in Zambia.
The home-care workers’ gifts of blankets and AIDS care kits, which include a variety of hygiene products, help people to improve their health. This helps break down the stigma against people with the disease, Fast said.
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