Summaries of HIV/AIDS Projects in Africa
Tanzania—Scaling Up Churches’ Response to HIV/AIDS

Partners: LWR and the Medical Assistance Program (MAP)

The fight against HIV/AIDS does not have a simple solution. Economic, social and cultural factors all contribute to the spread of the disease. Since the first case of HIV was reported in Tanzania in 1984, the number of people living with the disease continues to rise unabated. For instance, a survey conducted in 1992 found that the HIV prevalence rate in Mwanza town in north west Tanzania stood at 11.8 percent.
Communities have a critical role to play in HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and support efforts. Community-based organizations, including those that are faith-based, provide a significant portion of health care and social services. Churches, in particular, are well-positioned to provide such services like prevention education to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS, because of their theological commitment to social justice and close connections to community members.

GOAL: To support the church community as they face various aspects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Through this project, the organization proposes to build and strengthen the capacity of churches to respond to HIV/AIDS in the Arusha and Mwanza districts. This includes helping each church develop policies and long-term strategies to combat the epidemic, training pastors in HIV/AIDS counseling, and training church leaders to be advocates for relevant issues.
LWR’s accompaniment strategy includes working closely with MAP to identify initiatives within the project area that require further technical and financial support. Also, LWR will facilitate networking among partners in the region for sharing experiences and learning from one another.

OBJECTIVES: LWR’s partner MAP will help an estimated 16,000 people and 150 pastors. The expected outcomes include:

Effective HIV/AIDS intervention policies and strategies developed by churches

• Churches will allocate more resources and with coordinated inter-denomination efforts, they will effectively reach people living with HIV/AIDS and those affected like orphans and widows.

Churches will become learning institutions

• Inter-denominational coordination of project activities, networking and sharing of experiences will enable churches to re-design their own HIV/AIDS intervention strategies and methods and other churches in the region will be able to replicate the effort.

Approved Project Support: $206,094 through 2004.

Projects : Burkina Faso Cameroon Ethiopia Kenya Liberia Madagascar Mali Namibia Niger Nigeria Senegal Sierra Leone South Africa Uganda Zimbabwe
Other African Projects

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