Report Workshop Hiv India

 

2007 

 

Dr.med. Abraham Simatupang, dr.,MKes. – 

Report of International Workshop:  “Stop Gender Injustice and the spread of HIV  and AIDS”   

 

Task Force for HIV & AIDS  – Teaching Hospital &  School of Medicine –  Universitas Kristen  Indonesia  Jln. Mayjen Sutoyo –  Jakarta 13630‐  INDONESIA   Phone: +62 21 937 27 407  Fax: +62 21 809 31333;    Email: [email protected]   

an International Workshop on “Stop Gender Injustice and the Spread of  HIV and AIDS was conducted from 27th October until 3rd November  2007 in Chennai, India. The workshop organized by the Association of  Churches and Mission in South‐West Germany and Church of South  India. Forty participants from local churches, NGOs and  from various  countries such as Indonesia, Ghana, South Africa, Germany and South  Korea attended the workshop.      

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Executive Summary  A nine-day international workshop, from 27th October until 3rd November 2007, entitled: "Stop gender injustice & the spread of HIV and AIDS" was conducted in Chennai, India. The workshop was organized by the Association of Churches and Missions of South-west Germany (EMS) and Church of South India (CSI). Gender injustice and the spread of HIV & AIDS are strongly correlated, particularly among the “marginalized” people. In Indian context marginalized people comprised of the lowest cast or outcast (Dalit). Since it is already known, diseases, especially HIV, are connected with socio-economic-behaviour and cultural background of any given society, then, it can be also seen that the prevalence and the spread of HIV and AIDS in this particular society are tremendously high, and unfortunately, no one cares! Thus, some members of the church together with the marginalised people have been struggling to overcome this problem and they invited us to see, listen and feel how they face their problems. We visited women with HIV and AIDS, children of these mothers or the orphans who are also infected with HIV, MSM (men-having- sex-with-men/gay), and trans-gender (male who are willingly to be recognised as female). As we encountered with these groups of people, we learned a lot, how complex the situation is. Somehow, we think this is really an impossible mission, mainly when the structure of the society is unfavorable for”liberation" to take place. During the workshop the participants were exposed to the "real life" of the lowest cast and marginalized people in Chennai. Since in India cast system is still practiced in many facets of life, therefore, whatever happens, what ever social and political status you have, still you will be recognized by the cast. One NGO leaded by an "outcast" or "Dalit" (according to the Indian context) is reaching and empowering a group of women, who in the past, didn't dare to meet and speak out their concerns and feelings. Some of them experienced domestic violence regularly. But, now, they meet regularly, to strengthen each other. Now they can earn some money, moreover, they know how to open bank account to save their income and use it cautiously, without the money being stolen by their husbands. We also talked how sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV can spread through unprotected (without condom) sexual intercourse. They even asked whether they can protect their self, because, most of men refuse to use condom. We informed them, that female condom is now available. Moreover, gender is no longer stands only for woman or man, but in reality there is "in-between" (transgender/ TG). They also wanted to be appreciated and received as they are. Some international participants admitted that in their countries TG is not recognised and even marginalised as well. I informed them, that in Indonesia, one TG is a very famous as a TV-presenter like the famous Oprah Winfrey.

We were also informed by the reports from participants representing Ghana, South Korea, Germany, India and Indonesia. The differences and similarities among these countries in tackling this rampant situation were intensively discussed. In our intensive discussions with the groups or among us, sometimes came ideas or questions into our minds why God let this happen. The answer is not (only) upon God, but God asks our responses. He calls us not to blame but to take action. But, can we do it? The answer is not (only) upon you, but are we dare to ask God to work together with us? Gender justice is indeed a must for a justice society, and that also lead to lower the spread of HIV and AIDS among us. At the end of the workshop all participants agreed to made statements and recommendations which will be disseminated and worked out in their respective churches, organizations and countries.

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Background  Gender  injustice  is  still  a  burning  issue  in  many  societies,  although  there  have  been  many  activities  against  it,  but,  in  reality,  people  are  still  practicing  or  at  least  ignore  it.  Gender  injustice  not  mainly  considering “the battle between the two sexes”, but more importantly is to see, to be aware, and to set  up the gender issue in all kinds of societal activities; from household issue, to community issue, from law  to political issue. Gender injustice, like any other injustices, leads to disempowerment of the society and  hence,  this  will  be  reflected  in  many  facets  of  life  such  as  domestic  violence,  high  maternal  mortality  ratio, infant mortality ratio, illiteracy, and certainly poverty.  HIV and AIDS is a pandemic disease, at the moment there are around 33.2 million of people living with  HIV  &  AIDS  (PLWHA)  of  which  15.4  million  out  of  them  are  women,  and  2.5  million  out  of  them  are  children  under  15  years  old.  There  are  2.5  million  newly  infected  people  in  2007  (UNAIDS,  December  2007). The estimated number of deaths due to AIDS in 2007 was 2.5 million worldwide, of which 76%  occurred in sub‐Saharan Africa. Gender issue, of course, plays a crucial role in this issue. How the society  and government put gender balance in all their programs and budgeting, is still a big challenge for us. As  it  is  shown  elsewhere,  the  most  affected  people  come  usually  from  the  developing  countries.  Lack  of  resources,  supports,  infra  structures,  management  skills  are  some  of  the  backgrounds  they  usually  complaining, while they have to fight at least in the three “battles”; firstly, tackling the diseases which  have been known from the classical time (or colonial era) such as Malaria, Frambusia, Tetany in infant,  tuberculosis. Secondly, a pattern of diseases, which are closely, related with “modern” lifestyle such as  blood hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, stroke, obese; and thirdly “new emerging diseases” such as  avian flu, SARS, and HIV and AIDS. Re‐emerging of Tuberculosis is now rampant with the increase of HIV  & AIDS cases, also in developed countries.  Church  as  one  of  the  God’s  presences  in  the  mortal  world  has  been  called  to  take  action  in  this  cruel  some situation of the human being. Church can give its contribution through faith, hope and love, or for  short, to be part of the healing community. But, church also has to admit that, in some ways, church has  been ignorant and pull away from the issue, or for worse, church has been putting themselves as judge  to this issue, to decide who or which is wrong or true.  Therefore, every initiatives rise from the church  to  break  the  silence  should  be  highly  appreciated.  The  association  of  churches  and  missions  in  south  western Germany (EMS) in cooperation with the Church of South India (CSI) initiated and organized an  international workshop on “Stop gender injustice and the spread of HIV and AIDS” held on October 27th  until November 3rd, 2007 at the CSI Centre, Chennai, India. The workshop was attended by local as well  as international participants from Ghana, South Africa, Indonesia, and South Korea, with an intention of  mutual sharing and exchanging of experiences and ideas to the beneficial of the community.         

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Program ms  At the opeening ceremo ony, participaants were inviited to be acttively involved d in the activiities which were  designed in participato ory‐like appro oach.  

 

Figure 1 & 2 2. Participants sung a hymn at the opening cereemony (Courtesyy of CSI_EMS) 

  It means, participants were encouraaged to get in nvolve in consstructing the activities durring the workkshop.  The activities of the wo orkshop weree comprised into five categgories:  1. Feellowships:  Evveryday participants had ffellowships eiither alone orr together. Beefore particip pants started tthe  acctivity of the day and afterr they finished the program m of the day, participants summoned aand  haad a fellowsh hip. On the All Saint’s Day w we took part in a service together with the employeees of  th he Synod’s offfice. At this service a holy communion was also giveen.   

  Figure 3. Re ev. Joshua (rightt), Dr. Meyer (ce enter) listened aattentatively to Ms Pfeiffer spee ech delivered att the opening  ceremony. 

P a g e  | 5    2. Exposures:  One  of  the  main  activities  was  exposure  of  the  participants  with  local  church  members  and  pastors, local activists and the communities they have been working with, such as male‐having  sex with male (MSM), sexual workers, trans gender, people living with HIV & AIDS (PWLHA) and  their  family  members,  and  orphans.  We  also  got  acquainted  with  some  local  NGOs  such  as  Tambaram  Community  Development  Society  (TCDS),  Rural  Development  and  Development  Association (READA), Board for Socio‐economic concerns of the Diocese of Madras – Church of  South  India.  We  learned  that,  in  Indian  context,  culture,  community  and  even  religions  are  somehow  “slowing”  if  not  hampering  the  healing  process  of  PWLHA  through  ignorance,  stigmatization and discrimination, although, small movements initiated by church members are  like candles illuminating the darkness.  3. Bible‐sharing:  This is a method of reading the Bible which was firstly introduced in South Africa. Through this  approach  participants  see  and  read  the  Bible  text  within  a  particular  context  of  the  readers,  which  can  be  very  various  in  cultural,  educational,  genders,  and  socio‐economic  backgrounds.   During  the  workshop  we  had  two  Bible‐sharing  sessions  and  have  had  a  new  experience  on  reading and understanding the Bible text with this “simple” yet very fruitful approach.    4. Group working:   Participants worked also in groups to establish senses of “ownership” and togetherness which is  very  important  for  tackling  community‐based  issues,  since  participants  came  from  various  backgrounds.  Many  experiences  and  ideas  can  be  shared  within  the  groups  and  these  also  enrich  the  participants  with  new  horizons.  One  example  of  the  group‐working  results  was  an  idea aroused for establishing a workshop on involvement of men in the gender‐sensitive HIV &  AIDS  programs.  Participants  from  Indonesia  are  prepared  to  propose  this  program  in  the  near  future  as  a  follow‐up  program  of  this  workshop  (please  see  annex:  Hey  man!  It’s  time  to  change!)  5. Presentation:  Participants  were  given  a  chance  to  present  their  works  and  projects  with  regards  to  the  workshop’s  theme.  Abraham  Simatupang,  Debora  Murti  and  Krise  Gosal  from  Indonesia  presented  a  short  report  entitled:”Church  Involvement  in  fighting  for  HIV  and  AIDS:  a  Short  Report from Indonesia”, which elaborated the local works of the Indonesian participants in their  respective organizations and a national perspective on HIV & AIDS.      

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  Figure 4. Three participants (Rev. Hun‐Syun/Korea, Dr. Langenbein/Germany, and Dr. Simatupang/Indonesia) attended a  Sunday service at a local church (Courtesy of Hun‐Syun) 

  Figure 5. Daniel Mesakh (center) from READA  leads the discussion with the women empowerment group  (Courtesy of Thomas) 

          Figure 6. Rev. T. Augustine from CSI translated the discussion  between the workshop’s participants and the women of  empowerment group (Courtesy of Bram Simatupang) 

  On the third day participants were officially welcomed  by  the  Bishop  of  Madras’s  Diocese,  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  V.  Devasahayam.  He  expressed  his  thank  to  the  Lord  for  giving them the opportunity to host this very important  international workshop which deals with a very critical  issue not only for Indian context but also for the rest of  the  world.      Furthermore,  the  Bishop  elucidated  that  CSI  has  been  actively  taking  part  to  empower  the  less  priviliged  people  by  providing  schools  for  deaf  and  mentally challenged children, and the participants were  Figure 7. Bishop of Madras’s Diocese delivered a  very happy to see their performances at that night. 

speech at the gathering night (Courtesy of Lesenda) 

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  Figure 8. Participants took a group photo (Courtesy of CSI_EMS) 

 

Conclusion  The  workshop  was  very  fruitful  to  all  participants  and  gave  new  perspectives  on  how  church  and  its  congregations, lay leaders, pastors, church leaders and fellowship groups can actively involve in tackling  this devastating epidemic. Ideas and experiences collected by the participants during the workshop are  essential  to  be  considered  in  their  respective  individual,  organizational  and  societal  works.  Funding,  programs,  health  care  providers  and  other  important  resources  are  indeed  very  important,  however,  without commitment and compassion of the whole people who are directly or indirectly involve in this  area, then, these efforts will be ineffective and worthless.  We hope that participants, when they arrive back at home, are willing to start, or continue, or improve  their work on HIV & AIDS with respect to gender issues in their respective communities.  These efforts  will  give  more  impact  if  they  do  partnership  or  networking  with  other  local,  regional  or  international  institutions. EMS and CSI could take an active role to quicken this process.   One  other  lesson  we  learned  during  the  workshop  that  the  enthusiasm  and  the  energy  of  the  local  organizers  under  supervise  of  Rev.  JA  Victor  Joshua,  together  with  the  representatives  from  EMS,  Dr.  Gabriele Mayer and Ms. Andrea Pfeiffer were a great contribution to the success of the workshop.