The Guild

GENERAL SECRETARY'S TRIP TO SOUTH AFRICA AND ZAMBIA 2004
Alison Twaddle, Guild general secretary was invited as a guest of Christian Aid to tour some of their HIV/AIDS projects in South Africa and Zambia during February 2004.
In anticipation of her trip, Alison said:
"I welcome the opportunity to see at first hand some of the positive steps that are being taken to care for people living with HIV/AIDS and to give clear messages about the nature of the virus and how it is spread. I first became interested when the Guild supported an AIDS education and care project in Malawi, run by the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian, during the years 1997 to 2000. At this time, Edinburgh had one of the fastest growing rates of HIV infection in Europe. This was due to needle sharing among the drug using population and raised awareness of the fact that this was not simply a disease which affected homosexual males. 
"Last year, the Church of Scotland launched a major appeal to raise funds for HIV/AIDS work in the UK and overseas, again emphasising that this is a world concern and one which the churches can't ignore. I hope to bring back stories to share, which will tell the truth, but bring signs of hope as well as challenges to face reality."
Itinerary
Sunday 8 February 
21.05 GMT Depart London Heathrow 
Monday 9 February 
10.10 (local time) Arrive Johannesburg, South Africa 
15.50 (local time) Depart Johannesburg for Ndola, Zambia
18.10 (local time) Arrive Ndola, Zambia 
Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 February
Visiting education and support programmes for young people in the Catholic Diocese of Ndola, Zambia 
Thursday 12 and Friday 13 February
Visiting the Copperbelt Health Education Programme (CHEP) in Kitwe, Zambia. CHEP is an HIV/AIDS education programme using and training peer educators.
Saturday 14 February 
Travelling from Ndola, Zambia, to Johannesburg then Durban, South Africa. 
Sunday 15 February
Free day in Durban.
Monday 16 February
Visiting the Diakonia Council of Churches in Durban. The Diakonia Centre aims to provide an enabling environment for people and organisations committed to social transformation. 
Tuesday 17 February and Wednesday 18 February
To Pietermaritzburg, visiting the Pietermaritzburg Agency for Christian Social Awareness. This centre promotes peacework and issues surrounding gender, church and economic justice.
Thursday 19 and Friday 20 February
Visiting Cape Town and the work of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa. This work enables and assists communities to set up AIDS friendly churches.
Saturday 21 February 
Again in Cape Town, visiting Wola Nani - a project based in a township on the outskirts of Cape Town which has developed a family and community support centre.
Sunday 22 February
Free day in Cape Town. Departing 20.40 (local time).
Monday 23 February
06.35 GMT Arrive London Heathrow.
Diary
Alison was able to send a few emails during her trip. They are detailed below, along with her initial comments on her return. 
Sunday 8 February: Alison arrives safely at Heathrow.
Wednesday 11 February: We hear Alison has been moved by what she has seen so far in Zambia.
Monday 16 February: Alison writes: Hello everyone. Here I am in very sunny, very hot Durban at the Diakonia Council of Churches. I have seen so much and learned so much in the last week or so in Zambia and now South Africa. It has been humbling and inspiring to see what is being done in circumstances of incredible hardship and poverty. When asked what motivated her, one of the Zambian volunteers who visits people living with AIDS said this to me: "I was hungry and you fed me, I was sick and you took care of me."
Dare to Care with compassion in a very real way. Love to you all, Alison
Thursday 19 February: Alison writes: Just arrived in Capetown - off to a meeting. I have heard some wonderful stories of women now independent and generating their own income to get themselves out of poverty - great energy and hope in the midst of great hardship. Love to all, Alison
On her return, Alison writes: Arriving back at Edinburgh airport on Monday morning (23 February) I was hit by a blast of cold wind and the sharp light of a frosty sun, and it was wonderful. I had spent two challenging and inspiring weeks in southern Africa, visiting HIV/AIDS projects supported by Christian Aid. I had learned a great deal, seen some harrowing sights and met some very special people. But I was so glad to be home.
There is nothing like seeing the conditions in which other people exist to make one appreciate the blessings of one’s own life. The AIDS pandemic in Africa is a tragedy on a huge scale. The statistics are almost beyond grasping. But the individual stories are what will remain with me.
Walking along beside Edith, a home care volunteer, after visiting a lady on her list, my mind was full of the person we had just left, very sick from tuberculosis, which is one of the most common opportunistic infections affecting people living with AIDS. Looking for something more positive to occupy my thoughts, I asked Edith about her work and her family. She told me she now had four children, one having died of AIDS last year. I asked if her other children were well, “Yes” she said, “and my grandchild, the daughter of the one who died. I’m working in this programme to try and make sure they stay well.”
The grandchild came running to meet us. She is just of an age to be starting school, where she will learning about sexual health from the earliest years, thanks to the programme run by Christian Aid’s partners in her shanty compound. Earlier that afternoon a class of seven year olds had shared poems they had written about HIV/AIDS. In a class of twenty-five 13 to 15 year olds, all of them were already sexually active. If the goal of an AIDS free generation is to be achieved, education is crucial.
I knew before I went to Africa that AIDS was about more than a virus:it is about health, yes, and education; but I discovered that it is also inextricably linked with issues of culture, gender and, of course, poverty. The role of the churches is vital - not just in the work of caring for those living with HIV/AIDS and their dependents; not just in providing health education; but also in addressing the stigma that attaches to the virus, in stating loudly and clearly that this is not the judgement of God on sinful people and that his love and grace are unconditional and for all. This is our problem and our concern, for, in a very real sense, we are all living with AIDS.