It is called the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time. The AIDS pandemic has truly made a global impact unlike any other disease in recorded history. As we believe in the importance of being students of the world around us, it seems extremely necessary for us to have an educated approach and rhetoric when entering into the story of an HIV infected human race.
As a paradigm, we see AIDS as a justice issue. The age of AIDS has brought to the surface many social inequalities that have contributed to widespread infections and a deeply rooted social stigma towards the undersides of society. While AIDS has been seen as the “immoral disease,” we offer a different philosophy by seeking to call ourselves into confession, asking for forgiveness for the times when we have taken too much, and ignored the cries of our sisters and brothers next door and across the globe.
We do not believe that AIDS is a fact of life, but instead a reality that can be affected by a human response of solidarity.
While we partner in HIV/AIDS care in Uganda, our role is to be learners of the impact across the globe, including in our own neighborhoods. AIDS is the leading cause of death of African American women ages 25-34 in the United States. As citizens of the United States, we hope that your experience and education with TAPP will speak directly into your action with local communities as well. Persons living with AIDS must be our teachers, and we must have our ears pointed in all directions.
Note: We do not believe in education for the sake of only knowledge, but instead view education as a vehicle for transforming our selves and the world around us. What good is knowledge that does not turn into compassion? What good is language that is not accompanied by action? We hope that the educational journey we embark on together will not be in vain.
“Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.” –Paulo Freire
Web Resources for AIDS
Book Resources for AIDS
AIDS in the Twenty-First Century: Disease and Globalization
by: Tony Barnett and Alan Whiteside
Breaking the Conspiracy of Silence: Christian Churches and the Global AIDS Crisis
By: Donald E. Messer
Grant Me Justice! HIV/AIDS and Gender Readings of the Bible
Musa W. Dube and Musimbi Kanyoro
AIDS in Africa: How the Poor are Dying
Nana K. Poku
When God’s People have HIV/AIDS: An Approach to Ethics
By: Maria Cimperman
