The Franciscan Response to HIV & AIDS

Youth Alive Members & Sr Venantius Munee LSOSF

It would be pretentious to present an overview of the global engagement of Franciscans in the fight against HIV and AIDS around the world.  The examples given below, thus, represent a small slice of the everyday work of our brothers and sisters on the African continent. 

In Kenya, Sr. Felicia Matola, FMSA a vast program called Education For Life. This initiative works on the front-line to change society’s attitude towards AIDS.  She develops various radio programs on raising awareness, with the help of single mothers, married couples, persons living with the virus, and an entire follow-up system to assist them.  There is also a united effort to take responsibility and care of the Persons living with HIV. 

At the leadership training seminar for the Franciscan Family of East Africa in February 2007, an action plan was adopted to fortify the Franciscan response to the pandemic of HIV and AIDS along the region of Lake Victoria in Kenya.  Coordinated by two franciscan sisters of St. Anne Lwak, Sr Mary Gorrety  Anyango and Sr Ageline Odie, the action plan has extended its reach to the fishery associations do the Usigu and Bondo and to youth in colleges, specially, Asumbi Technical Training College.  Questionnaires and interviews conducted on individuals and target groups have allowed us to gather useful information.  All relevant actors in the region have been mobilised to help sensitize the local populations and to dispel the false assumptions that people have about the pandemic. 

The program’s activities include: comforting the sick and their families, giving them hope, educating them on the importance of treatment and how to strictly follow instructions when taking medications, training families in gardening and culinary arts, disseminating advice on nutrition and food security, spiritually and psychologically supporting Persons living with the virus (PLV) and their families.  The program to change attitudes of people towards AIDS is already active. 

In the capital, Nairobi, Sr Munee Venatius, a little Sister of St. Francis, works with Youth Alive, a group of young men and women from the shanty towns of Nairobi.  The HIV and AIDS section of their health program aims to reduce the prevalance of HIV amongst sexually active youth in Kenya, and to react to the   socio-economic impact of the pandemic on youth and their communities. 

Our Lady's Hospice

In Zambia, in collaboration with other congregations, the Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood have set up a Centre called “Our Lady’s Hospice”. The hospice is developing an interesting program concerned with the fight against discrimination and stigmatisation.  The hospice door are open to people living with the virus, people who have already started developing the disease, as well as, people who are there for counseling and voluntary tests. Our Lady’s Hospice dispenses quality palliative care right from the detection of the disease to its treatment, with additional permanent care for life.  This kind of care takes into account the physical, spiritual, and psycho-social needs of the patients and their families.   

In the Cooperbelt region, particularly in Ndola, the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Assisi run a Cheshire Home for handicapped children living with the virus. 

In Togo, Sr Judith Akpata, a member of the congregation of Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi works with persons living with the virus in Anyronkopé, Aného-Togo. She took part in a specialised training (formation) for providing therapy to persons living with the virus and those made sick by AIDS.  Thanks to Sr. Akpata’s initiative and the follow-up measures she instituted, many people have been able to access treatment.  

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Stigmatines take care of those who work in the diamond mines of Mbuji-Mayi, many of whom are living with HIV. 

In Rwanda, the Mission of the Glorious Cross, an organisation of secular Franciscans have set up a large centre that takes care of abandoned children, amongst whom, many are orphaned by AIDS. 

In South Africa, close to Johannesburg, in Boksburg, the St Francis Care Centre offers care to sick persons who are in the terminal phases of illness.  Even if infected by HIV and developing grave illness, the dignity of the person must be respected, and all people must have the right to die in dignity. 

The Franciscans in the front-line of the combat against HIV and AIDS have also given testimonies of their everyday work.