Can Faith Based Organisations promote Condom use?

[ukeme okon]

During one of our programmes, Called the frontier process. Young people from various communities were gathered for 6weeks to stimulate local responses.
One of the major challenges, identified by the frontier team was rampant teenage pregnancy, even children between the age of 7 and above are sexually active.
They see the issue are nothing and they are even proud of their actions. Sometimes when even discussing with the community members, about 3-5 of this pregnant girls will work pass you. Out of 20 people that came for the Mobile HIV, Counseling and Testing, 7 were positive. So everybody in the community is at risk of contracting the virus. The community is a Riverine Area. So during summer they are idle.
We tried to speak to the young people about Abstainence, it was not working. And The Salvation Army being a faith based organisation and does not promote condom, instead we promote Absteinence and Befaith.
The team was able to create enough awareness on misuse sexually and the benefit of staying clean until the right time.
Can Faith Based Organisations promot Condom use?

[Lloyd M Handongwe]

Ukeme,

Your story and experiences are quite touching. Am involved in similar interventions in a Zambian town called Choma.
We have several approaches...video shows, powerpoint presentations, presentations during church service, linking FBO's to funding, building their institutional capacity to manage HIV Mainstreaming programs in their respective institutions, and this has made it very easy to bring them on board as key stakeholders in the HIV campaign. The latest was with the New Apostolic Church, the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, United Church in Zambia.

My humble opinion is that we first need to build institutional capacities to respond to HIV by bringing in HIV Mainstreaming. We may not be able to replicate practices, but we certainly would not be too wrong if we tried to borrow some of these universal principles....and Mainstreaming is one such principle.

The response is good; we also promote medical male circumcision. Our health facilities are getting overwhelmed.
Our approach to young people is to help them focus on GOAL SETTING.

If you don't mind, let's communicate; drop me an email on [e-mail] and we can share more.
The whole initiative has not been without challenges, but it gives so much promise.

Lloyd M Handongwe
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