Partner Highlight

Monday, November 13, 2006

ACW Partner Highlight: Church of Christ Thailand AIDS Ministry (CAM)

A Reverent Fight, Fighting Stigma: From Heart to Heart & From Life to Life.

By, Local Initiatives Team, Health and Development Networks, November 13, 2006


When Ron (not his real name) found out that he was HIV positive, he forced his wife and two children into the family car, and drove at full throttle. The car smashed into a tree, and only Ron was killed in the self-orchestrated accident. Ron had planned to exterminate his family because of his HIV status.

No disease has caused so much fear, alarm and confusion around the world as much as AIDS that some people living with the disease, like Ron, prefer death over life. This is not surprising.

With an AIDS prevalence of 1,7 percent, Thailand is credited for being a model in the global battle to contain the AIDS epidemic. Despite this, stigma and discrimination against people living with the disease are rife.

“We’v talked about stigma but it’s very difficult to address the issue,” said Reverend Sanan Watti, Coordinator of the Church of Christ Thailand AIDS Ministry (CAM), “We encourage people living with HIV to open up to some people, family first and neighbours, and then the community. When people open up, it helps us to offer them help.”

Stigma kills more people with HIV that the disease itself. And the problem is that stigma expresses itself in so many forms; that people who practice it may not even be aware of.

Despite the fact that the problem of HIV and AIDS stigma is widely talked about, it still hangs onto societal attitudes like a leech. According to Reverend Wutti part of the problem emanates from the anti-AIDS campaign in Thailand which painted images of fear and death and portrayed the disease as some form of a dracula. This led to a social construction of AIDS as a monster.

“About 10 years ago, people living with HIV were not even accepted in the hospitals. HIV was viewed negatively,” said Mr. Wutti.

In Thailand today, the battle to HIV and AIDS accepted just like any other disease continues. People living with HIV are shunned within their families and communities. And an obvious consequence has been driving the epidemic underground.

However, since time immemorial, love and compassion have proved to be the two most potent tools in the fight against attitudes of stigma and discrimination. In 1992, Reverend Wutti packed his bags, ready to take up a pastoral opportunity in the United States, but God had other plans, so he says. Then Mr Wutti was offered a posting by the Church of Christ Thailand. Through agonizing prayer and meditation, Mr Wauti was fully convinced that God’s plan for him was in his homeland, so he decided not to leave for the United States. Fifteen years on, it’s a decision that he does not regret.

“I have a lot of happiness in my heart from helping people living with HIV even though what I do demands a lot of work,” he said.

In 1992, he founded the CAM to provide pastoral care and counseling to people openly living with HIV. At first, Reverend Wutti’s fellow ministers and pastors were reluctant to incorporate HIV and AIDS counseling into their work. The church were reluctant to be associated with AIDS due to the prevailing stigma.

“We did not know much about AIDS when we started,” said Mr Watti. “We learned a lot from Africa about pastoral care and caregiving. We learned and applied the materials that we found. We also leaned a lot from people living with HIV as they taught us how to care and love.”

According to Reverend Wutti, his organization collaborates with other faith based organizations to promote positive attitudes towards HIV and AIDS. Although CAM’s work is founded in God’s love and compassion, it does not use its work to convert beneficiaries.

“We treat everyone equally, and do not force people to become Christians when we do our work,” said Reverend Wutti.

The organization trains volunteers that are stationed within the community. Volunteers are followed up and monitored for a period of year to make ensure effectiveness and efficiency of the organization. Every year, the organization also hosts a camp to teach young adults and children about the HIV and AIDS.

Also, social support is provided for orphans and the elderly. Today, CAN supports more than 1,000 people through its drop-in clinic, counseling, training and education as well as spiritual support.

In spite of initial community resistance, CAM managed to build a home that will cater for the terminally ill. The purpose is to improve the quality of lives of these people, especially women.

“Everytime people hear about AIDS, they associate it with death and dying. We want to prove that God still loves people living with HIV or AIDS,” said Mr. Wutti. “We serve God, and serve the people; we serve the people and serve God: it’s a mission.”

ENDS



To contact:

CCT AIDS Ministry
1/100 Rattanakosin Rd
Meung District
Amphur Muang
Chiang Mai 50000
Tel: +66 53 306310
Email: cam@chmai2.loxinfo.co.th