HIV/AIDS Pilot Project

Churches who participate in the HIV/AIDS program develop local action plans for their education and outreach. Pastor Gerardo of Corinto shares the results of his church's HIV/AIDS outreach at a pastors meeting.   1 of 2

Just outside Chichigalpa near the city dump lives a 13-year old girl “Patricia” who was raped, impregnated, and infected with the HIV/AIDS virus.

When Kenia, the Youth Pastor of the City of God church, learned about Patricia’s situation, she organized some members of the youth group to visit her. Patricia had been thrown out of her house, and is living with an older woman who helps care for her baby boy while she sells water on the street to make money. “We brought gifts for her and the baby; we wanted to spend time with her, help her to feel valued and supported,” Kenia explained.

Kenia’s church is one of seven that participated in the Nehemiah Center’s HIV/AIDS pilot project in 2007, a project which was designed to educate and involve the local church in addressing this increasingly critical issue. In 2003, for example, the occurrence of reported cases of HIV-AIDS in Nicaragua was one case per week. By 2007, that number has increased to one reported case per day.

During the baby shower, it was clear the youth were very affected by the experience. As they held and cuddled the baby as if it were a doll, Kenia reflected on what she was seeing. “I realized this mother is only 14 years old and she should still be playing with dolls. But instead her childhood was stolen from her.”

Participating in the HIV/AIDS trainings and seminars offered by the Nehemiah Center has had a similar effect on many of the other leaders of the City of God Church, whose increased sensitivity and awareness has decreased the stigma associated with the disease within the church. One result of this new attitude is that the church youth have pursued more intentional long-term relationships with abused HIV-positive women and those trying to leave a life of prostitution. In addition, there is a growing group of young women of the church who now wear white bracelets signifying their commitment to abstinence before marriage. “We know that it’s only God who can help them wait for His time,” said Kenia, “But now they have seen the consequences of different choices.”

The increased personal commitment of these youth to themselves and the community means that previously abandoned and rejected people like Patricia living with HIV/AIDS are now being surrounded with love and support from another family, the family of Christ.

In 2008, the Nehemiah Center received funding to continue its work with churches in the area of HIV/AIDS education and advocacy for three more years. This project will touch the lives of 2,800 direct participants through intensive trainings and consciousness-raising, and 140 direct participants living with HIV-AIDS. The two primary goals are to reduce the stigma surrounding this misunderstood disease as well as its prevalence in Nicaragua’s population. This will be accomplished through strengthening the capacity of the local church and community organizations to respond in a wholistic way to people living with HIV/AIDS and to serve as facilitators of education (specifically focused on responsible sexual practices, abstinence, fidelity, justice and human rights) and outreach (offering counseling and safe spaces to share personal experiences) about this disease.

For more information, contact:
Rakel Jaentschke
Luz Urania Largaespada