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| Religious Groups Help PSI Improve Health PSI has a history of enlisting religious leaders and organizations in HIV prevention and care, such as Buddhist monks in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar; Muslim imams in Guinea, Mali and Nigeria; and Christian leaders, such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in Kenya, Zambia and South Africa, and has been doing so since the early 1990s. More recently, these groups have also joined forces with PSI to help implement programs in family planning, malaria, diarrhea and other maternal and child health activities Recognizing that religious leaders play a powerful role in shaping the opinions, attitudes and behaviors of the followers of their faiths, PSI collaborates with faith-based organizations (FBOs) that complement PSI's own market-oriented approach. While FBOs are grappling to align their traditions and teachings with social issues at the root of HIV and AIDS, PSI helps them develop social marketing strategies within the context of their beliefs and shares current best practices for battling the pandemic.Here are a few examples of how PSI works with FBOs: •In Malawi, PSI works with FBOs to develop materials and activities for youth that focus on self-esteem and sexuality, and encourage abstinence, a return to abstinence and correct and consistent use of condoms for those who are sexually active and unwilling to return to abstinence. The program helps youth assess their own personal risk, identify the need for voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) and discuss the proper place of sexual activities according to their cultural and faith traditions. •In Mali, the Malian League of Imams and Scholars for Islamic Solidarity and PSI have developed standard sermons on HIV/AIDS that are used during Friday prayers. The sermons explain the means of HIV transmission, encourage abstinence and fidelity and promote compassion for people living with HIV/AIDS. •In Madagascar, PSI distributes family planning products through Lutheran and Evangelical Christian clinics, and insecticide-treated nets and water treatment solution through Catholic Relief Services. •PSI works with the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians to protect vulnerable girls from cross generational sex and promote non-judgmental HIV/AIDS education among youth. The programs challenge congregations and communities to protect youths by providing them with knowledge on HIV prevention, assisting them to avoid sexual exploitation and to support AIDS orphans. •In Haiti, PSI works with a wide array of Catholic and Protestant churches and organizations to promote safe water for diarrhea prevention and oral rehydration salts for diarrhea treatment. •PSI supported the All Africa Conference of Churches to train church leaders throughout sub-Saharan Africa on comprehensive prevention strategies in order to mobilize their congregations to curb the spread of HIV. The program trained heads of churches through regional seminars using individual and collective reflection and assessment of the effectiveness of the churches and their leaders' responses to HIV/AIDS in order to inspire in them to a personal commitment to reverse the epidemic. PSI combines its social marketing strategies with the influence of FBOs to reach people through churches, mosques and other houses of worship and assists FBOs in building their capacity to develop sustainable, effective, comprehensive approaches to stop the spread of HIV and provide health products and services to their communities. |
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PSI, African
religious leaders mobilize against AIDS
