This research critically analysed Muslim approaches to five women with HIV/AIDS in Cape Town focussing particularly on the approach of 'Positive Muslims' - an awareness-raising and support group for Muslims living with HIV/AIDS. The central question of this thesis dealt with the impact of the norms, values and practices of Cape Muslims on the approach of Positive Muslims to women living with HIV/AIDS. It is suggested that while norms and values articulated in religious texts inform the ideological approach of the organisation's AIDS prevention model. This is due to the pragmatic approach adopted by Postive Muslims which recognises that the articulated norms and values do not always conform to the practices of Cape Muslims.

<p>South Africa has the largest percentage of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world. However, the response against the further spread of HIV/AIDS in the country is being hindered by stigma and discrimination. In order to develop effective intervention programmes to control and reduce the further spread of the disease, it is first important to understand the nature of HIV/AIDS-related stigma and especially how people construct it. In the present study, the social construction of HIV/AIDS-related stigma among Muslims was investigated because high levels of stigma were found in this group. This was fuelled partly by the belief that HIV/AIDS was not a serious problem amongst Muslims. Two focus groups were conducted, one among Muslim women only and the second among Muslim men only. The main aim of the study was to examine the perceptions of HIV/AIDS-related stigma among Muslims. The transcripts were analyzed using thematic content analysis to determine the themes that emerged from the research material. The main findings of the study included that Muslims&rsquo / religious identity/positioning was the most salient discourse that informed how they understood, made meaning of, and responded to HIV/AIDS. They engaged in various forms of stigma such as &lsquo / othering&rsquo / , and mediating factors of stigma included religious positioning. Stigma also served as a social barrier to VCT and disclosure of HIV status. However, supportive attitudes and behaviours were also evident. The findings yielded useful insights into possible elements of intervention programmes, both to reduce HIV/AIDS-related stigma, and also to encourage behavioural change in order to control and reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS in this community.</p>

This study is designed to assess the causes and the effects of poverty and HIV/AIDS on women's spirituality. A case study of Mpererwe Township in Kampala, Uganda was chosen because this researcher has been staying in this township now for 7 years; and has seen most women experiencing difficulties in their daily lives. Poverty and HIV/AIDS among women of Mpererwe Township is a much-needed area of study because the majority of women's lives and their contribution to development have been hampered by economic, religious, political, social and cultural structures. However, all in all, the purpose of this social analysis was first, to identify the factors that render Mpererwe women to be vulnerable to ill situations that pave the way to poverty and HIV/AIDS conditions. Then thereafter, to suggest strategies that may transform the physical, political, religious, economic and social life of women in Mpererwe Township. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

As the burden of HIV and AIDS ncreases in different communities of the world today, new organizations are being formed to help mitigate its impact. The current study assessed whether Christian fa th-based organizations (FBOs) were making any contribution to mitigate the impact HIV and AIDS in Pietermaritzburg area using a case study of the ESSA Christi AIDS Programme (ECAP). ECAP has been involved in training churches in HI and AIDS awareness, home-based and orphan care, assisting churches to initiate c urch-related projects, and facilitating the Church and AIDS course to the theology s udents at the Evangelical Seminary of Southern Africa (ESSA). The population of this study comp ised twenty (20) ESSA graduates who took the HIV and AIDS course between 19 9 and 2000. The self-administered questionnaire was sent to all twenty to assess hether they experienced any change in their thinking, attitude and behaviour to'jards people with AIDS as a result of taking the Church and AIDS course, and wHat HIV and AIDS-related activities they were involved in. An interview schedule with two phases, was used to collect data. The first phase elicited data from six (6) ECAP stakeholders to establish a brief historical background of ECAP. The second hase elicited data from ten (l0) church ministers in whose churches ECAP conduc ed its training to assess whether the ECAP's training programmes made any di erence in their attitude and behaviour towards people with AIDS, and what HIV a AIDS projects they started as a result of getting being trained. Although the study could not ge eralize the results because of the case study methodology, the results showed th t ECAP was making significant contribution to the fight against AIDS epidemic no only in the communities of Pietermaritzburg but also in other countries where the EISA graduates were working. However, lack of enough human and financial resour es is affecting ECAP's efficiency. Based on the findings in this study, recommen tions have been made to ECAP's method of recruiting churches for training, enues for training and its approach to HIV prevention methods. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

The main aim of this study was to explore the extent of freedom or lack thereof in the relationships of HIV positive pregnant women and their partners. These women were attending antenatal care in two Soweto clinics, run by the Perinatal HIV Research Unit. A semi-structured interview schedule was developed and used as the data collection tool. A theoretical framework based on Amartya Sen's theory of Development as Freedom and Isabel Apawo Phiri's theological reflections on women's freedom, was used to analyze data collected from the participants of the study. The ideas of the two theorists complemented each other with regard to the sources of "unfreedom" for women from an economic point of view and from the cultural and religious points of view. Sen highlighted lack of basic freedoms and human rights as the core causes of lack of freedom, which is both a primary means and principal ends of development. Phiri advocated for the liberation of women from the oppressive cultural and religious practices brought about by patriarchy. Removal of all those key sources of unfreedom would provide an ideal situation in which women would be less vulnerable to HIV infection. The analysis of the participants' responses in this study suggested a lack of freedom in their relationships with the fathers of their unborn babies. This had an adverse effect in their ability to disclose their HIV positive status, negotiate safer sex and contraception. Economic dependency on the partners was found to be the major cornerstone that kept women in bondage in their relationships. The churches in Soweto did not seem to have any plausible impact in the lives of the participants and as a result all of them had very loose links with the church. This was another major gap in the initiatives to reduce HIV infection which challenges the churches in Soweto to strengthen their prophetic ministry in terms of women's freedom and their dignity both in the church and in society. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007

This study is about refugee women from the Great Lakes Region, who are living in Pietermaritzburg and face many challenges that contribute to their vulnerability to HIV and AIDS. These include the challenges of language barriers, lack of communication, gender based violence, and other socio-economic problems. This dissertation seeks to investigate critically some of the gender-based challenges that the refugee women from Great Lakes Region face in Pietermaritzburg which can make them vulnerable to HIV and AIDS. Though there is much literature written on the challenges of women refugees in Africa, there is not much written on the challenges of refugee women who live in cities. This study was involved to eight women and two male church leaders of the French-Swahili church in Pietermaritzburg where these refugee women fellowship. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

This research critically analysed Muslim approaches to five women with HIV/AIDS in Cape Town focussing particularly on the approach of 'Positive Muslims' - an awareness-raising and support group for Muslims living with HIV/AIDS. The central question of this thesis dealt with the impact of the norms, values and practices of Cape Muslims on the approach of Positive Muslims to women living with HIV/AIDS. It is suggested that while norms and values articulated in religious texts inform the ideological approach of the organisation's AIDS prevention model. This is due to the pragmatic approach adopted by Postive Muslims which recognises that the articulated norms and values do not always conform to the practices of Cape Muslims.

<p>South Africa has the largest percentage of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world. However, the response against the further spread of HIV/AIDS in the country is being hindered by stigma and discrimination. In order to develop effective intervention programmes to control and reduce the further spread of the disease, it is first important to understand the nature of HIV/AIDS-related stigma and especially how people construct it. In the present study, the social construction of HIV/AIDS-related stigma among Muslims was investigated because high levels of stigma were found in this group. This was fuelled partly by the belief that HIV/AIDS was not a serious problem amongst Muslims. Two focus groups were conducted, one among Muslim women only and the second among Muslim men only. The main aim of the study was to examine the perceptions of HIV/AIDS-related stigma among Muslims. The transcripts were analyzed using thematic content analysis to determine the themes that emerged from the research material. The main findings of the study included that Muslims&rsquo / religious identity/positioning was the most salient discourse that informed how they understood, made meaning of, and responded to HIV/AIDS. They engaged in various forms of stigma such as &lsquo / othering&rsquo / , and mediating factors of stigma included religious positioning. Stigma also served as a social barrier to VCT and disclosure of HIV status. However, supportive attitudes and behaviours were also evident. The findings yielded useful insights into possible elements of intervention programmes, both to reduce HIV/AIDS-related stigma, and also to encourage behavioural change in order to control and reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS in this community.</p>

A structured questionnaire was used to survey the perceptions of programme coordinators, fieldworkers and beneficiaries of the role of church-based programmes in addressing HIV and AIDS in the inner-city of Durban. One hundred and ninety two respondents were recruited from seventeen churches. Findings indicate that fear of HIV- and AIDS-related stigma and discrimination abound. The material and spiritual roles of church-based programmes in addressing the needs of people infected with HIV and affected by HIV and AIDS were stressed by the respondents. Whereas programme coordinators were well informed about HIV and AIDS, information that can dispel fears about stigma and correct myths about HIV-transmission should be tailored to reach ordinary men and women. It is recommended that further research be conducted on the preventive aspects of church-based programmes in the Durban inner-city. / Sociology / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)

Chapter 1 describes practical theology as a communicative operational science and stresses how important it is that a hermeneutical and narrative approach compliments it. It is shown that pastoral work must be launched from the church community. The premise is that the Enlightenment paradigm causes a reductionistic, individualistic and denominational approach to pastoral work. A holistic, comprehensive and ecologically orientated approach is proposed. Chapter 2 discusses the need for an ecosystemic approach as a metaparadigrn for practical theology in terms of the move away from the Newtonian view of science and the post-modem critiques of a technocratic society. This is supported by developments in systemic family therapy, constructionism and community psychology. Chapter 3 describes an interrelated ecclesiology as a base theory for practical theology and pastoral work with reference to the church's interrelation with society and the need to include an anthropology as part of an ecclesiology. This interrelationship implies that the serving (diakonia) and caring (koinonia) functions of the church should converge, forming a diaconal pastorate. In chapter 4 the secularised modem world-vie\v and the traditional African world-view, both functioning in South Africa, are employed to shed light upon the importance of the concept community for the church's pastoral work. The term community is broadened to include the idea of networking, emphasisingg that community is more than geographical proximity. Chapter 5 is a quantitative investigation. by means of a questionnaire, of the views (ecosystemic/non-ecosystemic) of pastoral workers regarding the church and of pastoral work. Chapter 6 discusses the implications of a community pastoral work approach. Pastoral work has a serving-caring role, but should also function prophetically, to conscientise. sensitise and empower people. The church as a healing community must become the springboard from which pastoral actions can face the challenge of AIDS (chapter 7). This will require the church to shift its paradigm from the reductionist, individualist approach, presently prevalent in society and church pastoral actions, to an all-encompassing. holistic one. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / Th.D. (Practical Theology)