I was captivated by Dr. Dube’s storytelling and inspired by her determination to improve the health of communities across Africa. Her experiences are the epitome of what one can accomplish when combining public health movements with cultural awareness and understanding. This is especially true in regards to the Christian community, where friction exists between HIV/AIDS discussion and religious leaders. Dube’s initiatives in local churches included open discussion about sex and sexuality. As she brought up, how are you supposed to ask a pastor to stand at the pulpit and talk about HIV prevention?
To accomplish this, it is critical to thoroughly understand the people and practices of the specific community. I would love to learn more about how Dr. Dube adapted her approach to each of the churches across the continent. Outside of Christianity, I’m interested in other faiths’ attitudes towards HIV/AIDS and the responses of their places of worship, especially with religion being such a central part of people’s community life. Dr. Dube’s visit to our class also left me wanting to know more about her curriculum intertwining theology with the epidemic. What exactly does it look like to read the bible in the context of HIV/AIDS? How did she reshape these discussions into a theology of compassion, when previous readings of the bible from this perspective treated HIV as a punishment for immoral lives? These questions intersecting science, culture, and religion deeply interest me, and I feel so grateful to have heard Dr. Dube’s incredible story firsthand.
I am also interested in understanding how religious/spiritual leaders from other beliefs approached the HIV/AIDS pandemic. From a sociological perspective, religion is a critical group for finding a sense of belonging and resilience. Especially during times of health crises, belonging and resilience is important.
I also wondered how Dr. Dube adapted her approach for each of the churches across Africa—I am curious to know if she ever discovered that one church’s views are markedly different from the views of a church of the same congregation in a neighboring town. What also struck me is that Dr. Dube traveled to places like the United States and Switzerland to have theological conversations regarding HIV/AIDS; I am interested to know how her discussions must have been different in non-African countries. Overall, I applaud Dr. Dube’s courage as I imagine it would be tough to preach to pastors about sex, knowing that backlash possible. However, I was inspired to hear her say in class that she persisted and was motivated by every time her workshops successfully broadened the horizons of religious leaders!
Great post Emily and nice engagement Audrika and Sreyas. I was SO INTERESTED in this idea of an HIV Positive church and really wanted to get a sense of how this idea was and is received across the communities Dr. Dube engages with. Similarly, I was trying to imagine what this might look like outside of Christianity and in a Non-African setting. Fascinating work.