The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Zambia has so devastated the family structure that the southern African country now has half a million orphans, with their numbers expected to double by the year 2010.
"You can see evidence of this on the street," said Suzanne Matale during an Aug. 4 World Day of Prayer address sponsored by Church Women United. A member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Matale is the Women's Desk Coordinator for the Christian Council of Churches in Zambia.
Many of the orphans, she explained, have no place to live and no one to care for them. That's why the council is asking its 19 member denominations and 14 associate members to start small programs for the orphans in their particular communities. "We are saying open up your churches," Matale added. "Let them be havens for your kids."
United Methodist bishops have responded to the critical needs of children in Africa by establishing a campaign called "Hope for the Children of Africa." As a response to that campaign, the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries has created a "missioners of hope" program. The agency commissioned 60 missionaries, most of whom are African, at a July service in Zambia to work exclusively with ministries for children in Africa.
About 20 percent of Zambia's population-- one in every four or five persons-- is infected with HIV, she said. Because of insufficient hospital beds, AIDS patients usually are sent back home to their families. The Christian Council of Churches has started a home-based program focusing on both prevention and care of HIV/AIDS suffers and also is providing education and counseling.
Children are often moved from one relative to another as their parents and other family members die off. Matale's uncle, for example, lost five children-- all suspected of dying from AIDS-related causes. The uncle and aunt were left to cope with the 21 surviving grandchildren.
Although there are established orphanages in Zambia-- most run by the Catholic Church-- "they're bursting at the seams," she said. "They can't take any more kids."
The hope is that churches can help resettle children orphaned by AIDS back into their extended families or with foster mothers in the same community.
The AIDS situation is worsened by Zambia's poor economic conditions and high unemployment-- a situation Matale blames on the "structural adjustment" programs imposed by such groups as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. In a country with no social welfare system, people are scrambling to eke out a living, she added.
As sub-regional coordinator for Southern Africa with the All Africa Conference of Churches, Matale also has been involved with issues of war and peace.
Zambia has not been subjected to civil war, but has received refugees from countries that are-- Angola, Congo, Burundi and Rwanda. The women in Zambia have weekly prayers for peace.
"We know sometimes there is very little we can do," Matale said. "But we know, as women, we can tell how we feel."
August 6, 1999
Africa: Children and AIDS
Orphans Due to AIDS: 1990-2010 (Zimbabwe and South Africa), Chart by UNAIDS, 16K
Source: United Methodist News Service.
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Please support UMCOR Advance #982345, "Global AIDS Fund," Advance #982842 "AIDS Orphan Trust," or Advance #101218, "AIDS Awareness and Children Impacted by HIV/AIDS in Africa." UMCOR encourages you to give through your local United Methodist Church. Gifts may also be sent to: UMCOR, 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115. To make a credit card donation, call 1-800-554-8583.
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