I thank the committee for allowing me such a wonderful and insightful opportunity. In Cape Town, South Africa our lectures were held at Stellenbosch University, the Faculty of Theology, and the JL Zwane Community Centre and Church. At Stellenbosch University, the lecturer stated that many efforts and programs are being established to target more youth to increase their chances and desire to attend college through a summer program they sponsor. One of their main goals is to peak youth’s interest in the areas of research and development.
 At the Faculty of Theology, one of the lecturers explained how the end of the apartheid is allowing for improved partnerships and trust among the church leaders of different denominations. Some churches are working together to establish outreach and health-ministry programs and resources to assist people stricken with the killer disease, HIV/AIDS, and those affected by the disease. Other concerns addressed were that educational and theological institutions must provide training programs and curriculums that will assist future preachers and Christian leaders in coping with this disease across the pulpits and among their congregations. These curriculums and programs will attempt to teach how to minister God’s standards and Jesus Christ’s love through understanding the crippling and deadly affect of HIV/AIDS and not ostrazying those stricken with the disease has been done for the last couple of decades.
We also met Professor DuToit from the staff at Stellenbosch University and executive director of the Africa Institute for HIV/AIDS Management. He introduced us to Professor Jimmie Earl Perry (who is well-known for his international stage performances in “Cats”, “Jesus Christ Superstar”, and more). Professor Perry is the director of Educational Theatre. He has trained seven semi-professional young adults in stage performance and HIV/AIDS education. Their thirty-minute performance’s aim is to recruit and prompt people to be tested. And, it is working; people are taking the test!!
 While is Stellenbosch, we visited the poverty-stricken Black township, Gugutelo, where we were welcomed by the director, program manager and pastor of the JW Zwane Centre and Church. This centre and church are in the middle of a neighborhood of tin one-room shacks posing as houses. These houses inhabit not one or two persons but families of five or more. This congregation’s mission is to reach all within their township infected with HIV/AIDS and affected by the disease. In their sanctuary hung a red ribbon draped over the Cross to remind them to never forget their mission and purpose in that community. We were introduced to several young adults who are members of a dance and music ensemble. Their ages ranged from eighteen to twenty-two years old. We were blessed with a sample of their presentation. The ensemble’s African songs and African choreography filled the air with artistic and talented voices and their gracious movements exhibiting their artistic abilities. The message of the performance communicated to all ages the consequences and results of this horrific disease.
In Lusaka, Zambia, our bus driver for the week expressed how excited and proud he was to meet us and drive us around. He told me that he “was so proud of his grandparents and great grandparents who built America.” He said, “Where would America be today if it wasn’t for them? That was my first time hearing that point of view.
A conference was held at the Justo Mwale Theological College and its lecturers were principals and presidents of seminaries or Bible colleges throughout the continent of Africa. Each of the speakers stressed the impact that the HIV/AIDS disease was having on the churches and communities where their students were serving. They explained the need for increased budgets through partnerships and the need to incorporate curriculums that address HIV/AIDS. This will equip their theologians, pastors, laypersons and Christian education leaders who graduate and answer a call. The women and children are recipients of the stigma and discrimination barriers, which appear to be initiated by the churches and its members because sex before marriage is a sin. Another huge problem is that members can’t tithe because they are spending their monies on their infected or dying family members. The pastors are burying three to four persons weekly who have died from HIV/AIDS related diseases. There is also a need for brochures and information relating to prevention of the disease to be published and produced in the different languages of Zambia. The other factors promoting the killer disease is the silence of political officials and health officials, the embarrassment of the families or the infected persons, poverty, the lack of education, and the lack of funding for medication and health care coverage.
About six of us attended a worship service at one of the Reformed Churches. Afterwards we were invited to have lunch with the pastor, his family and several members from their HIVAIDS out-reach committee at the pastor’s home. The church had performed a needs assessment and the results proved that the children in their community aren’t able to attend school and/or pay to go to school. The elementary school education is free but their uniforms and school supplies are $125 a year. In high school (eighth to twelfth grades) the cost for the education is $125 and $125 for their uniforms and school supplies, for a total of $250 a year.
In closing, we were able to visit a hospice managed by Mother Teresa’s Missionary Center. We met twelve men whose diagnosis is AIDS. It was an honor to talk to them, laugh with them and pray with them. Their age range was from nineteen to forty-nine years old. Because a tire on the bus blew out and needed repair, we were blessed to visit with some families living in a near-by village. It shocked me to see that in the 21st century people are actually living in huts in small villages. One older gentleman asked me, “How did y’all get to America?
I must never forget what I saw and heard. My plans are to pray to God to guide me in how I may be able to support one or two children’s education a year.
Thank you and may God bless this committee’s endeavors and mine.
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