October 10, 2005 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States …. [Taashi Rowe/ANN]
For Mammosa, a 26-year-old widow and mother of three, the most supportive treatment for the HIV virus she carries does not come in the form of a pill. Love and compassion is the essential ingredient in any form of treatment, say Drs. Oscar and Eugenia Giordano, director and associate director of Adventist AIDS International Ministries (AAIM) in Johannesburg, South Africa. AAIM is an organization with a ministry that helps answer the question, “What would Jesus do?”
There are an estimated 25 million adults and children in Africa living with HIV/AIDS, according to the 2004 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic from The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
Governments worldwide say the relentless spread of HIV/AIDS around the globe is one of the world’s most pressing issues. Halting the spread of the disease is one of eight goals that U.N. states have agreed to do by 2015. The eight goals, called the Millennium Development Goals, came out of a U.N world meeting in September 2000 that identified and outlined resolutions to alleviate the world’s most dire problems. The Giordanos are among those in the Seventh-day Adventist church who are responding to the urgent call to be involved and change the situation.
The World Health Organization (WHO) explains that HIV/AIDS is more than just a medical problem: infection often results in loss of employment, income, housing, health and mobility.
This is “because of the stigma attached to those with HIV/AIDS, especially in Africa,” says Dr. Oscar Giordano in a recent interview with Adventist News Network. “Most suffering from the disease are left alone at home, weak, without the strength to walk to fetch water or to find food.”
So what would Jesus do? Dr. Oscar Giordano compares those suffering from HIV/AIDS today to those suffering from leprosy in Jesus’ day. “Jesus would approach these people, he would touch them, give them his tangible presence, which means a lot for a person who is completely alone. That touch of love will last a long time … care and compassion starts the healing process,” he explains.
AAIM was started in 2003 to help Seventh-day Adventists in Africa deal with the scourge of HIV/AIDS, which claims the lives of 12 church members on a daily basis. Today AAIM, with a staff of two, is starting to put down roots in local communities with programs that transcend national and human barriers.
The Giordano couple has served as medical missionaries for 15 years in Rwanda, Burundi, Zaire and Madagascar. With a mandate to reach as many people as possible on the entire continent of Africa, the Giordanos, through AAIM, orchestrate dozens of projects that advocate restoring the spirit and giving hope.
The Giordanos have chosen to attack this “silent invader,” not just from a medical standpoint but, first, through love and compassion, and then education, fostering social networks, and helping to generate income.
They believe that everyone in the Adventist Church can improve the lives of those living with the disease. The main approach is to demolish fear and erroneous perceptions. This is particularly important for the Adventist Church, Giordano says. He explains that fear of what other church members will think causes countless HIV/AIDS patient to withdraw from society and die even faster from isolation.
“Many think that if they conduct themselves properly that they won’t get [HIV/AIDS],” says Dr. Oscar Giordano. “But [for many women] it is a silent invader like a terrorist. We don’t know where it is hiding but suddenly it is there.”
More than half of all HIV/AIDS cases are women, Dr. Giordano explains. He says that some husbands work abroad for months at a time, turning to sex workers. When they return home, they pass the disease onto their wives. He also speaks of young women and girls who have no education and turn to sex work to survive.
The Giordanos have encouraged each Adventist church in Africa to become a safe place for those with the disease — a place where patients can be honest about the problem without fearing rejection. AAIM’s mission and motto is “Each Adventist Church, a support center for the community through church-based HIV/AIDS support groups.”
While the Adventist Church has supported HIV/AIDS programs as far back as 1985 in Botswana at Kanye Adventist Hospital, AAIM’s goal is to get every church member personally involved in helping those with the disease. The Giordanos say that every church they have visited in Africa has become an important partner in this ministry.
“We have not found anybody opposed to this. People are willing to help,” Dr. Oscar Giordano says. “We are seeing our church congregations go house-to-house visiting people on a weekly basis doing home remedies, massage, bathing and washing them, bringing vegetables and food and providing company and encouragement, hope.”
One support group of 10 women in Lesotho have put together money to feed one meal a day to 36 orphans whose parents have died from HIV/AIDS.
This kind of outreach improves the quality of life for people living with HIV/AIDS, according to the WHO.
“It is truly Christ’s ministry in action,” says Dr. Oscar Giordano.
Contracting HIV/AIDS is an added burden to those living in countries where poverty is often extreme. “Poverty can in turn affect the quality of treatment,” Dr. Eugenia Giordano says.
“We went to a church in Kenya. There were about 29 members who were living in the slums,” she recalls. “They all were getting medicine but could not afford to buy food.” People cannot fight disease if they are malnourished, she says.
In response to these situations, AAIM has helped start and fund several small businesses. So far they have established work in eight countries and, most recently, have established programs in Lesotho, Uganda and Kenya.
“We do a combination of education and awareness with a practical solution to poverty,” Dr. Oscar Giordano says. “Our strategy is to go to a country and ask them what their ideas are and how we can help.”
“Many think that fighting HIV/AIDS needs a million dollars but … there are many ideas that are wonderful and simple to do that are a source of income,” Dr. Oscar Giordano says.
Some of these sources of income have made a difference, such as in Lesotho where AAIM provided funding to start a garden for those living with HIV/AIDS. They can then get an income from working with chickens, goats and growing vegetables.
In Lesotho AAIM has begun sewing projects where women learn to sew, which in turn allows for a source of income. They have also done agricultural projects, even utilizing proper irrigation of a vegetable garden.
In Kenya where three persons die of AIDS every five minutes, according to UNAIDS, learning to sew, starting a bakery and providing bicycles allow men with HIV/AIDS to deliver and sell baked goods.
“AAIM is very community-oriented. This is about opening the doors of our churches and welcoming people who have this problem,” Dr. Oscar Giordano says. “We need to be open to all with a nonjudgmental attitude with lots of love and compassion and do what Jesus would have done in our place.”
Copyright © 2005 by Adventist News Network.
