CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
by Spès-Gaud. Manirakiza, Burundi, November 1998
THEME = AIDS
Burundians are preoccupied with the
HIV/AIDS problem and the civil war.
Both are hardships presently besetting our country.
The AIDS infection is advancing steadily in rural areas but seems to be stabilising itself in urban areas. In 1992, HIV prevalence among pregnant women in rural areas was less than 2%. By 1995, this figure had already risen to 8%. Because of the critical situation which Burundi is presently experiencing, it's not possible to carry out an effective observation of the epidemic; many hospitals are no longer making an official notification of AIDS cases, as they were doing before the crisis. The official control centres can't function as they ought to, because staff can't get around as they used to. The most recent statistics (1998) show that in rural areas, for example in Kiremba (Ngozi province), the percentage of pregnant women HIV-positive who come for pre- natal check-ups, is 3%. In semi-urban areas, the percentage of pregnant women HIV-positive is 15%.
Although the present insecure conditions make it impossible to provide more recent statistics (the last were available for 1989- 1990), UNAIDS estimates that the number of people HIV-positive in Burundi is around 260,000 out of a population of some 5.5 million - which places Burundi in the danger zone vis à vis HIV infection.
Dr Spès Ntabangana is in charge of the Epidemiological Department of the National Programme For the Fight Against AIDS (PNLS). She says the reasons for this situation are multiple. She especially points to the civil war and the fact that much of the population is displaced. In such a situation, people give themselves easily to prostitution, with a consequent danger of catching Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD)s and the HIV virus. She remarks that the age-range most affected is that between 25-29 years. However, the situation is not completely hopeless because there are people, both men and women, who are doing their best to engage themselves in the fight against AIDS.
Bonaventure Ntaconayigize is in charge of the information section of CARITAS - Mutual Aid and Development, an organisation which works closely with the Catholic Church's Health Advancement Service. He explains what the Church is doing vis à vis the AIDS pandemic: "Throughout Burundi, the Catholic Church runs 61 health centres. In each of these centres there are special care teams who carry out voluntary screening for HIV/AIDS. If the staff find patients HIV-positive, they look after them both from the medical and especially the psychosocial point of view, encouraging them to remain hopeful and to accept this sickness as part of life itself. They explain that God hasn't forgotten them and they must live their lives to the full, in spite of their suffering."
In their work, the care teams at the health centres, attach particular importance in making the Small Christian Communities aware of AIDS-related issues. They crisscross the hills of Burundi, encouraging the people to preserve their cultural values and to adopt healthy behaviourial habits.
Use is made of informal teaching methods called "Yaga- Mukama," to warn young people away from dangerous sexual behaviour, and help them prepare a sure future for their families.
Someone once said, when referring to the help given AIDS patients: "If you're going to screen someone medically for AIDS, you've got to be prepared to help them materially." Once such patients are in an advanced stage of the disease, they grow ever- weaker and can no longer earn their living. A number of organisations such as CARITAS and MISERIOR, assist these sick people with medicine and milk to help them put weight back on.
Apart from these international organisations, there are other groups who give their all in going into the highways and byways looking for AIDS victims in hospitals, displaced peoples' camps or in host families. Members of these groups look after the sick people's basic needs - washing them, caring for them, bringing them food, and praying with them as they start out on their final journey. Among these groups, there's the Bujumbura Senior Seminary Group, the Bujumbura Parish CARITAS Group, as well as about twenty other charitable organisations such as the National Association of Aid to HIV/AIDS Victims (ANSS); the Society - Women On AIDS In Africa - Burundi; plus many others.
The organisation "New Hope" was founded in 1992 by the Diocese of Bujumbura, and is situated in the Buyenzi district of Bujumbura. It aims to provide: A counselling service; social assistance; mobile health care to those ill with AIDS and to their children, and participates actively in preventing AIDS in the various districts of Bujumbura.
Father Ludwig Peschen is a priest-doctor with the Society of Missionaries of Africa. Speaking about New Hope, he says: "We lend a willing ear to those who contact us and we try to help them. For example, two young people, both of them HIV-positive, wanted to get married. They came and talked to us about their intentions. They wanted to know what impact having AIDS will have on their lives. And what about having children? Will their children be HIV- positive? Many New Hope members each donate about 100 Burundian francs towards the cost of treating opportunist illnesses such as diarrhoea and fever. We also look for ways and means of launching fund-raising activities for primary schools. We try to work with people who contact New Hope members on World AIDS Day. We provide medical care in the home for those who can't afford to visit us at our Centre. In a number of camps for displaced persons, such as at Butare, we have rented a house where we can welcome people with AIDS."
Father Ludwig says he's happy that people now feel they are able to openly declare they have AIDS. It's a major step forward, because fifty years ago, anyone saying they had AIDS, was treated like a leper.
The organisation, A Family for Defeating AIDS (FVS), was founded in 1990. There were many children in the hospitals who seemed to be without an-yone to help them. This sad situation came to the attention of a group of women, mostly those working in the medical profession. The women asked their friends and colleagues to visit those children found to be without parents. It appears the children had lost both parents because of AIDS. So the women decided to establish an association, the FVS, to help the orphans of AIDS victims, but soon they had to widen their work to include war orphans and all children with family problems. They provide food for those children who haven't anything to eat and help them with their schooling.
S. Nihangaza is president of the FVS. She says it's of prime importance that the orphans feel people love them. "The children must be listened to, and encouraged to pour out their hearts to those who care for them. Some of their stories are heart- rending, especially those coming from children who've had to witness their parents' final moments of agony. The children are welcomed to the Centre, where we show them that someone does indeed love them. A happy atmosphere goes a long way towards calming the trauma suffered by many of the children." Those children who've lost both their parents and who aren't taken in by other members of their families, are looked after by the FVS until their own families can be found or they can be fostered elsewhere.
The question must be asked: "Is it easy to find suitable foster parents as long as AIDS is considered to be an unusual sickness". By way of an answer, S. Nihangazi puts it this way: "Many people don't know how AIDS is transmitted - that's the problem. Many think that if the parents had AIDS, their children will have it as well. Such is not the case. Many of the children are healthy. Others think that if the child is infected, he will infect members of his foster family. People don't know that AIDS cannot be transmitted by the little happenings of daily life. There's ignorance; there's fear. The number of children in need grows daily and we are forced to restrict our activities, because we simply don't have the necessary means to look after all the orphans who find their way to our Centre. However, there are other organisations which help us to care for the orphans and see them through school.
The FVS also organises awareness campaigns in both the urban and rural milieux to educate people about the realities of AIDS. Training sessions are given to individuals who will, in their turn pass on information about how to prevent AIDS.
Young people are the main target group. It is all-important they understand the following: How AIDS is transmitted; the consequences of AIDS for their families; AIDS vis à vis the individual and the community; the way in which young people can help to prevent AIDS from spreading in their own milieu. With adults, we spell out the consequences of AIDS and show them that when one of the spouses is infected, he/she should refrain from sexual intercourse with the other. They are reminded they could possibly have children who are also infected with AIDS, and in any case, when they die, their children will be orphans - with all the consequences entailed. It's clear a great deal still needs to be done to impart information about AIDS-related issues.
END
CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
PeaceLink 1999 - Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgement