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RSSSeptember 12, Proper 19
by the Rev. Barbara Cawthorne Crafton for ERD
9/12/2004
Exodus 32:1,7-14
1 Timothy 1:12-17
Luke 15:1-10
Psalm 51:1-18 or 51:1-11
"And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’" -- Luke 15:1 (NRSV)
A seminary student in Zambia knows from the beginning that much is expected of him. Already his conduct must be exemplary to others. Already people begin to treat him as the spiritual leader his eventual ordination will certify him to be.
Those prepared to offer Kennedy Kazeze this kind of automatic respect must have been surprised—perhaps even offended—at the passion that seized him early in his course of study at St. John the Evangelist Seminary in Kitwe, Zambia, when he took a training course on HIV/AIDS offered through a partnership between Episcopal Relief and Development and Medical Assistance Programs (MAP) International. Aimed especially at church leaders, the training program educates seminarians and clergy about AIDS transmission and prevention, reasoning that their informed voices will begin a communal conversation about the topic in Zambia, in which HIV/AIDS infection rates are very high.
"To say I was challenged would be an understatement," Kazeze says. "I was converted—to the ministry of AIDS." Why were Zambians suffering in such record numbers? And why were so many young wives infected? He decided to seek answers to those questions in a place to which he had a natural entrée: his own home in the Copper Belt of Northwestern Zambia. Copper mining is the main component of the Zambian economy, and the rough world of the mines contains all the elements that contribute to a high risk of AIDS: many married and single men far from home, a thriving system of prostitution, the plentiful presence of cheap alcohol. A recent recession has cost many miners their jobs: add idleness and depression to the factors increasing the likelihood of unsafe practices that lead to infection. Kazeze quickly made a name for himself among the miners and mining officials, and is in demand as a speaker on what is true and what is false about a disease about which many dangerous myths abound.
Kennedy Kazeze will continue his education—his ambition is to pursue a Ph.D., conducting research and writing about the ways in which the cultural practices of his people affect their well-being, and how his people can summon the power to change. "Just knowing something does not mean you can or wish to do something about it," he says.
Many in Africa—and this includes many in the churches—came late to the table in the worldwide discussion of AIDS, at the cost of millions of lives. There are unique cultural issues involved with discussing sex and AIDS in Africa. And, in many cases, church people had been raised not to discuss it. Kennedy Kazeze is right: facts aren’t everything. But they are, often, the birth of hope, for if we know the problem, we can approach the solution.
Episcopal Relief and Development saves lives and builds hope in communities around the world. We provide emergency assistance in times of disaster. When the immediate crisis is over, we rebuild devastated communities and offer long-term solutions in the areas of food security, health care, and HIV/AIDS.
