Nema Aluku

The trip that I had been preparing for several weeks finally got a kick-start on October 27, 2011. I wasn’t sure how our daughters would react as we said our goodbyes immediately after they arrived from school that Thursday evening. You see, I had only been home for a couple of weeks after visiting several partner sites in Uganda where I spent twelve intensive days assessing interventions and providing technical support for program managers. The girls were sad to see me go again, and our youngest daughter, four years old, hasn’t developed a good sense of time yet. A week, two weeks, six weeks--for her it is tomorrow. “Mama is coming back tomorrow!” Well, that will be six weeks from the 27th of October.

It may not be easy to understand how a mother, wife, friend, and employee of an international faith-based organization would just pack up her bags for a six week visit to North America to share what God is doing in East and Southern Africa, and even more so to talk about communities devastated by HIV and AIDS. People often ask questions like, ”How do you manage?” “Who takes care of your children when you are away?” “Did you say six weeks you will be gone from your family?” “How old are your girls?” I often reflect on my answers to these questions during my visits to churches, schools, women’s groups, universities, and adult education groups. I would not say it is easy to be away from my husband and our quarter-dozen banditos! I miss them dearly. What keeps me going? Why do I do what I do?

I spent more than 16 hours traveling from Nairobi via Amsterdam to Toronto. The flight seemed shorter than usual, time flew by as I read the book, “If You Want to Walk on Water, You have to Get Out of the Boat,” by John Ortberg. By the time I arrived in Toronto I was on the final chapter of the book and found myself reflecting on my Christian journey--my calling to enhance community health resilience in remote areas and my calling to walk with the body of Christ devastated by HIV and AIDS.

It’s now more than 35 years since the world awoke to the news that a deadly virus had been discovered. Little did humanity know what the virus would do to communities, to the church…It was to change the way we all relate, the way we share meals, the way we engage each other. Little did humanity know that the virus would test the core of Christianity, cause stigma and discrimination that was termed “a punishment from God” and “the disease for the immoral.” The virus continues to wreak havoc. Uganda, once celebrated as a success in addressing HIV and AIDS, is estimated to have had 120,000 new infections of HIV in 2009 (UNAIDS (2010) UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic). Why? What has happened to “the success story?”

I propose that we may be regressing in our zeal to address HIV and AIDS. Can you think of the last time your pastor, elder, or deacons talked about HIV and AIDS in your congregation? When was the last time you personally made an effort to visit a hospice in your area? When was the last time you sent a petition to your government representatives about fair global economic policies? Today, HIV and AIDS is a big “elephant in the room.” It seems as though we are no longer seeing the whole animal in the room. I am reminded of the Ethiopian proverb, “When spiders unite, they can tie down an elephant.” Do we still have the passion for fighting HIV and AIDS that we had ten years ago? Are we experiencing fatigue? Would we rather focus on other issues and pretend HIV is not there? Or pretend that women do not continue to be adversely affected by HIV? That without concerted efforts from all areas--especially those who follow and believe in Jesus Christ, we would not halt the spread of infection. So, why do I do what I do? Why do I leave my family to go! I go because of these words, ”Go ye into the world and make disciples….” Go! Jesus did not say to wait for people to come, but to be proactive in engaging God’s people, re-awakening the church and community to realities within our midst, Go! So I go.

I do what I do because I have experienced the love of God. For God is love, and because He first loved us, I share His love with others in need wherever He leads me. I do what I do because I feel angry: I feel angry because of the injustice that I see across the world and in the communities I go to. I see injustice in how food and resources are distributed across the world. Why should an orphaned child go to bed on an empty stomach? Why should less than half of the adults who need HIV treatment and only one-third of children who need the life prolonging drugs have access to them in a developing country like Kenya? Why should a mother in the year 2011 die as she is giving birth? Why should only slightly over half of the Kenyan population have access to clean water? Why should more than 120 children of every 1000 die before their 5th birthday? Why should life expectancy drop to 57years for most developing countries due mainly to HIV and AIDS? Why should 7,000 Kenyans have one doctor to provide curative care? So tell me, why do I do what I do?

Before I left Kenya, a friend said to me, “If you stop reaching out to people and communities, you are preventing ten million women from experiencing the love of God.” When I was sharing with a women’s Bible study group in the USA, a woman said to me, “you can’t stop coming to North America to share about what God is doing in East and Southern Africa. You would be preventing young people in schools, universities, and people in the CRC from seeing the reality of AIDS.”

Though I may miss my family, I do what I do because I have passion--I have love and anger--that keeps me charged and energized. Some days are better than others; I choose to stay focused on today. For now, I do what I do because I choose to go! Because I choose to go, I have made more friends. I am encouraged that young people in Christian schools, universities, church leaders, and congregants have heard our story of how CRWRC continues to work with communities devastated by HIV and AIDS. I am encouraged that through my visits and interactions, God is awakening and re-awakening people to the realities within our midst. That’s why I do what I do!

Pray that God may give me wisdom as I start the final lap of my visits. As I write, I have just had an eye opening discussion with researchers at Kansas University. Pray that God will raise more researchers to work on evidenced-based interventions, to research and document the improvements made by people living with AIDS who eat amaranth grain, to research innovative interventions to increase access to pap smears for women who live in remote areas; pray that God will continue to steer peoples’ hearts so that they can be receptive to HIV realities. Pray that my remaining visits will be guided by God. Pray for good health during my visit.

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!

About Nema Aluku

Nema Aluku, Program Manager-Health and HIV, is leading the CRWRC response to the HIV/AIDS crisis in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Nema works with staff providing assistance through consultation, networking, and training on how to integrate a response to HIV/AIDS programming into their daily work. Nema has a bachelors degree in Community Development from Daystar University (Kenya) and a Masters of Arts in Rural Sociology and Community Development from the University of Nairobi (Kenya). As well as speaking English, Nema is also fluent in Chichewa, Kiswahili, and Bemba.

Email: naluku@crwrc.org