He said they are now empowered with the knowledge of their status and they no longer hide their head in sand and hope the danger disappears. “What we should rather be doing is getting our hands soiled by being part of the solution or else we are part of the problem.” Kgwarapi said they could not sit and become spectators because they would become part of the problem in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
“We are living with HIV/AIDS here in the church, we have sick neighbours and we are burying our people,” Kgwarapi said. He advised that fear should be rejected because it is the opposite of faith. He said people would go out in thousands to test as they have seen their spiritual leaders doing the same. He reiterated the words of President Festus Mogae, that people test so that they can take advantage of the ARV programme.
Meanwhile, when officially opening the workshop, the director of Clinical Services in the Ministry of Health, Dr Mompati Mmalane said that even though the Church has been in the forefront of health and education in Botswana, it has been slow to respond to HIV/AIDS. He said as a result, it has lagged behind and has been over-taken. He said those who have tested are now free of fear of the unknown and those who tested negative can donate blood to those in need.
The four-day workshop focuses on prevention of HIV transmission. It has participants from different denominations and organizations in Botswana. It is funded by an American organization, Samaritan’s Purse. EFB has a network of 40 evangelical denominations in Botswana.
