A woman in the old town of Harar
[photo: UBS/Francois Sieberhagen WR411/3
ETH07DJ-56]
ETHIOPIA — The 24 volunteers who deliver the Where is the Good Samaritan Today? HIV/AIDS outreach program in Dire Dawa (see previous article) are co-ordinated by 39- year-old Lijalem Adane. He has been involved with several different HIV/AIDS training initiatives, but believes that only this one offers what is really needed.
“I became involved with the Good Samaritan program because our country is being attacked by this virus,” he says. “I am a servant of God with a compassionate heart for the people who are infected. “The infection rate here in Dire Dawa is around 8.6 per cent: far too many people are dying of this disease.” As the first person appointed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church to lead HIV/AIDS work, Mr Adane speaks with authority. “I was asked about five years ago to set up a committee to address the HIV/AIDS situation,” he explains. “But, for various reasons, the committee members could not continue their involvement and the program stopped. Then, in 2005, I attended the launch of the Good Samaritan program in Dire Dawa and the first training workshop. After the workshop I decided to volunteer and now I co-ordinate all the other volunteers.” Mr Adane makes it clear that the Good Samaritan program offers something that was not present in earlier initiatives. “This program really excites me,” he says. “I attended so many different training sessions before the Good Samaritan program was launched, but they only ever talked about the issues from a medical and scientific point of view.
Bible-based
“The Good Samaritan program is different. The material is Bible-based. It is very practical and has helped me to understand who I am and why I am on this earth. The ideas it mentions have touched my heart. I want to be a Good Samaritan for my people.” Another benefit of the Good Samaritan program, Mr Adane believes, is that it is engaging and uniting the Churches. “The Churches are very positive about this program. It is widely accepted because of its sound biblical content. It is in line with what the Churches teach. They are happy for us to train their pastors, members and workers. “We are also seeing the Churches start to work together. Protestants are now training people from the Orthodox Church. This is very exciting. “It’s wonderful to see a change in attitudes among people who have gone through the training. The program has helped to significantly reduce stigma and discrimination in the Church. There’s also much more openness now.” Mr Adane believes that there is great potential for the impact of the Good Samaritan program to spread even further.
Smiling children in Dire Dawa
[photo: UBS/Francois Sieberhagen WR411/3 ETH07DJ-43]
Expand the program
“We need to expand the program and do much more work to equip people in the small towns around Dire Dawa,” he says. “We have already been asked to come to Harar, around 50 kms [30 miles] away. “Of course, we will need to find additional funds to pay for all the training. It would also be good if the Bible Society could open an office here and take on a leadership role in developing collaboration between the Churches. The Society was the catalyst in providing this program, and now it must sustain it through work with the Churches and local government.” Estimates from 2003 put the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate among adults in Ethiopia at 4.4 per cent. 1.5 million people were estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS, with 120,000 deaths attributable to HIV/AIDS .
This report refers to project 75727. (WR 411/3 - 05.07)[4 photos]