Day 108: A Holistic Approach

I've written once before about the statistics surrounding HIV/AIDS, and some of the positive data coming out about anti-retroviral treatment.  There is still a long way to go, but my dear friend, Meighan, who happens to work in the research field of HIV/AIDS has this to say, "For every one person who is started on ARV's, 2 more are infected. Until we can close the gap of the number of new infections, which is rapidly increasing in some countries (and even in some parts of the US), it makes it difficult to get under control. If you think of it as a clogged sink, with water pouring over the top, until you shut off the water it will continue to pour. Shutting off the water = reducing the number of new infections (or prevention). This year we have had some good news with the results of the CAPRISA and the iPrEx study and I remain hopeful that our study (the largest PrEP study of them all) will also show equally good news. The next few years will hopefully be very big for HIV prevention and treatment."

But statistics, while being helpful in grasping the extent of the problem, help us to gloss over the faces of the individuals that are actually living with the disease.  People fearful of their future.  Orphaned children.  Widows.  The outcasts of society, living in extreme poverty and with stigma.  Individuals that need help and hope.

Living Hope Trust is a ministry of ministries, seeking "to bring the hope and compassion of Jesus Christ to the chronically sick and dying in a holistic way and do everything possible to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS."  Founded by John Thomas and the Fish Hoek Baptist Church of the South African Cape Peninsula, Living Hope Trust is made up of Living Right (support groups, life skills education, counseling), Living Care (health care center, home-based care), Living Grace (feeding, counseling, poverty relief, recovery, job placement), and Living Way (savings clubs, entrepreneur development, worker readiness school, vocational skills training).  Their hope is to meet these poverty and illness-stricken individuals, and to love them wholly.  Not just a meal.  Not just shelter.  But in every aspect.

"Living Hope encompasses virtually every dimension of the impact of AIDS in the lives of the poor.  A sister church has been established in the heart of Masiphumelele to provide a permanent and accessible spiritual presence for the community.  A twenty-bed clinic, Living Hope Health Care Centre, for treating the gravest cases of AIDS has been built and staffed with a full complement of health care workers and counselors.  Alongside the center is the Living Way ministry, where HIV support groups can meet and men and women can receive training in job skills so they can support themselves economically after leaving the clinic.  Because the patients are receiving anti-retroviral drug therapy, most of them recover and reenter their communities.  Across the street is a retail store that sells some of the crafts and jewelry made by the women from Living Hope.

Down the road and in the middle of the poorest part of Masiphumelele, we visited a community health clinic staffed by many Living Hope volunteers and lay counselors.

These personnel meet with community members who are about to be tested for HIV, as well as those who are receiving their test results.  The clinic's counselors are literally Christ's hands and feet to individuals who are hearing for the first time that they are HIV-positive.  After the terrifying news is given to the patients, the clinic's staff counsel and pray with them, connect them with available treatments, and help them begin living positively with the disease.  There's even a prenatal clinic that assists HIV-positive women through their pregnancies, ensuring that their babies are born HIV-free...

AIDS is best fought by prevention, so Living Hope has trained an army of life skills educators who go into the community to work, especially with young people.  This is a community rife with drug use, gangs, prostitution, rape, and alcoholism.  Speaking about the plight of young people in these slums, Pastor Thomas says, "There are no dreams.  It's the poverty of the mind."  Hence, life skills education starts in kindergarten and helps kids make wise choices." The Hole In Our Gospel, Richard Stearns

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