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Gospel Against AIDS Goes Global
Michigan HIV News, Spring-Summer 2004 Issue
You don’t need to be religious to see the benefit of
Gospel Against AIDS in the war on AIDS. Especially in communities of color, the
church is a key gatekeeper to social influence on acceptance vs. discrimination
for those living with HIV. It also provides an unequaled venue for educational
opportunities that can affect those most at-risk for HIV infection.
Gospel Against AIDS (GAA) offers tools to religious leaders
to enable them to confront the epidemic head on. GAA was the brainchild of a
woman who realized that just knocking on the door wasn’t going to get you in –
and decided to do something about it.
 Rosalind
Andrews-Worthy developed an interdenominational training program to help Black
clergy deal with the difficult issues they face when confronting HIV. With this
training, Worthy and her colleagues at GAA have worked miracles within the
religious community.
The organization has grown exponentially from its grassroots
beginnings in Detroit in 1995 to form the Global Research, Education and
Training Networks (GREATNES). With a team of physicians and public health
administrators from Africa and Asia, the GAA/ GREATNES curriculum has been
translated into French, Spanish, Vietnamese, Ibo and Hindi.
Rosalind Andrews-Worthy
Gospel Against AIDS Ghana
In April 2004, Rosalind Andrews-Worthy, Founder and
Executive Director of Gospel Against AIDS (GAA), traveled to Ghana for the
Inauguration and Launch of GAA-Ghana. This was less than a year from the time
that the founding pastor, Reverend Adjei, visited Michigan in August 2003 with
fellow Ghanaian, Reverend Amoani. “The Reverends came and sat through a (GAA)
presentation and even before the program was over Rev. Adjei said, ‘We need this
program in our country,’” said Worthy. “They knew – as the state of Michigan and
the (CDC) now recognize – the power of outreach of religious leaders.”
Reverend Adjei is a man of his word. As President of the
Christian Friends for Democracy (Ghana) he started the ball rolling for GAA
Ghana upon his return home. According to Worthy, Rev. Adjei began working to
form GAA Ghana with the Ghana Ministry of Health and the Ghanaian AIDS
Commission as well as some 2000 churches under the umbrella of the Christian
Friends for Democracy.
“I didn’t know any of this,” said Worthy. “In February or
March I received an invitation from Rev. Adjei to attend the Launch of GAA in
Ghana on April 21st! I knew nothing of the extent to which the planning had
proceeded. He had put together the program, designated officers for Gospel
Against AIDS Ghana, and had begun an entire action plan and outreach for the
villages around Aburi.”
Upon Worthy’s arrival in Ghana the huge welcoming events in
Aburi also were a complete surprise to her. “He had all of the local television
and radio stations present!” People from all of the neighboring villages had
walked “huge distances” to come into Aburi to attend the brass band procession
through the streets that welcomed Worthy to Ghana. A day long list of events for
the Inauguration of GAA-Ghana followed, including an address by the Regional
AIDS Co-Coordinator, and the official Launching by the Deputy Minister of
Health.
For the week of her stay in Ghana, Worthy was followed by a
video camera documenting her visit. And this was not a leisurely tourist trip.
One of the GAA-Ghana Board members took a week off his work to escort Worthy and
her husband to the many scheduled training events and activities that included
side trips to the neighboring villages of Aburi, one of the regions of highest
AIDS prevalence, via roads traveled more by foot than vehicle.
GAA Activities in Ghana
Rosalind Andrew-Worthy and the GAA Ghana leadership spent
hours in training in each of the villages they visited around Aburi. They
covered all the ABCs “underlining the role that religious leaders have to play –
the capacity development for religious leaders. That’s the (same) training that
we offer here statewide,” said Worthy.
GAA provides the much needed training for religious leaders to be able to deal
with the education of their congregations. While she was in Ghana, Worthy also
performed two worship services which showed the religious leaders exactly how to
show compassion for those living with HIV. Even though they covered how to do
this in the capacity development class, “there’s a difference between doing it
in a classroom – having people teach back to you among other religious leaders –
and doing it before a congregation,” said Worthy.
“What’s demonstrated was, of course, scriptural references
and how a sermon can be written, but more the hands on approach – the touch that
takes place in a healing service, the one-on-one prayer partners,” she said.
“People do not understand this, the need for healing service or worship service
as part of our program. Some people don’t understand the importance of the
religious community as a power. The church has been the apex of many societies.”
Challenges to Prevention in Ghana
During the capacity development training, which gathered
religious leaders from a variety of faiths, Worthy said that when she called the
pastors to come and form a prayer line – demonstrating how to receive the
individuals from the congregation one on one – “they didn’t want to do it
because they feared the other participants might be infected.”
“They believed that HIV is transmitted through perspiration.
So I had to stand up and show them; if I was willing to do it then they had to
be willing to do it.”
This is just one example of the lack of basic knowledge of HIV and AIDS that has
plagued the rural areas and outlying villages of Ghana. Worthy did not spend her
visit in the cities. There the Ghana AIDS Commission has effectively been
operating a prevention education campaign since the beginning of 2002.
Religious leaders have a role to play not just in reducing discrimination based
on fear and misinformation but in prevention education to dispel myths and
change social mores of risk behavior. According to the 2000 government census,
approximately 69 percent of the country’s population is Christian, 16 percent is
Muslim, and 9 percent adhere to traditional indigenous religions or other
religions.
Polygamy is still practiced in Ghana, and the myth that
having sex with a virgin will cure you of AIDS increases the risk to young women
in Ghana, according to Worthy.
GAA Ghana had the support of an interdenominational group of religious leaders
and the sensitive issue of polygamy was discussed. The people realize that
“their house is burning,” said Worthy and they were willing to tackle the
difficult issues.
“We were even granted an audience with the chief of the
region. Tradition has it that no business can be done without the chief’s
blessing. He came to extend his support to people who were coming to save the
lives of his people.” So GAA had full support from all of those who had an
influence over the Ghanaian people.
In Ghana, HIV is primarily transmitted heterosexually. Commercial sex workers
returning from other countries may have accounted for the earliest infections.
By 2000, the Ministry of Health reported 2/3 of AIDS cases were among females.
The documentary made of Worthy’s visit shows a line of
females who wait just to receive a warm hug from her at the Inauguration. During
the actual services the congregants would form long lines “because they realized
they could share with me in their language and I wouldn’t understand.” They
could disclose their HIV status without fear of stigma. “All they wanted was
somebody to pray for them.”
More than 100 languages and dialects are spoken in Ghana. As
a result of the country’s colonial past, English has become Ghana’s official
language. It is used for all government affairs, large-scale business
transactions, educational instruction, and in national radio and television
broadcasts. So, while Worthy presented all of her training in English she was
accompanied by a translator, since in these rural areas not everyone speaks
English.
This has posed communication challenges for prevention
messages in a poor country with isolated rural villages where most people don’t
have even have radios. Worthy said Ghanaians didn’t realize that they were not
the only ones in the world suffering from AIDS.
For the most part prevention messages must be by
word-of-mouth. Worthy did leave information there that could be translated. And
before leaving the country she visited a radio station where hours of the GAA
training were taped for later broadcast in English. “While there were hundreds
who came to the Launch and probably hundreds more who attended the trainings and
services, we outreached to thousands because this will be broadcast throughout
the country,” she said.
TA to Ghana and Plans to Expand GAA in Africa
Worthy is hoping to return to Ghana in the very near future.
In the meantime, GAA is collaborating with an on-line career-coaching curriculum
company in Michigan to provide on-line technical assistance to GAA Ghana.
Career Coaching Connections, Inc. works with people in
business and education, and they have donated their services to allow GAA to
provide on-line TA and live chats via the Internet. The GAA infectious disease
specialists and trainers will host the live chats here in Michigan and will be
accessible for those GAA leaders who have Internet access in Ghana.
Under the guidance of Reverend Samuel Adjei, GAA - Ghana’s
Board of Directors created and has begun implementing a strategic plan that
targets specific villages where HIV/AIDS prevalence is believed to be serious.
Rev. Adjei, as well as wearing the hats of President for both GAA Ghana and
Christian Friends for Democracy, is also a peace-keeping mediator for Ghana. “He
is already making plans to take GAA to neighboring countries, the Ivory Coast
and Burkina Faso,” said Worthy.
Worthy’s fluent command of French came in handy on the trip.
While in Ghana, she had the opportunity to speak with the ambassador of Côte
d’Ivoire and discuss how GAA works and how successful a program it is. She sees
the possibility of expanding GAA to other countries as well.
This trip to Ghana disproves a couple of myths, according to
Worthy. First, that a lot of money is needed to be involved; and second, that
the church is not involved. This trip was made possible through contributions by
churches in Detroit that came together to support the efforts of GAA.
“There are churches that are very active in supporting
prevention efforts and capacity development efforts, locally and internationally
– we’re the proof of that.”
Contact GAA at 313.341.5989.
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