Changing the world a continent away

By Heather Lowhorn

Be forewarned that this story could change your life. This story will tell you all about the AU-East Africa initiative, Anderson University’s response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. It is a program that has changed the way students, faculty, and alumni look at the world, creating in them a desire to help in amazing and unexpected ways. Read this story now, and later you may wonder what you can do, too.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic is the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time. An estimated 38.6 million people worldwide now live with the disease, and millions more suffer from the disease’s impact. Every day 6,000 children are orphaned by AIDS. 6,000. Every day. Every week AIDS kills as many people as the total number of American casualties in the Vietnam War.

Sub-Saharan Africa, which includes East Africa, is at the heart of this devastation with 64 percent of the world’s HIV/AIDS cases. Almost no aspect of society is untouched by the shockwaves of this disease. According to World Vision, AIDS has crippled entire communities because it doesn’t spare healthy, working-age people. The people who keep society running — the parents, the health-care workers, the food producers, the educators, and others — they are dying from AIDS.

In some areas, dangerous myths about AIDS run rampant: AIDS is caused by evil spirits, or if you feel healthy, you can’t be HIV positive. Women are often left sick and alone with a large family of children they are unable to care for. Having HIV/AIDS can mean being shunned by friends and family. Food shortages become more and more of a problem as agricultural workers die from AIDS. Older children orphaned by AIDS drop out of school to help care for their younger siblings. The suffering caused by the pandemic stretches on and on.

For two people at Anderson University, the weight of such tragedy cried out for a purposeful, focused, campus-wide reaction. Stuart Erny, director of campus ministries, and Scott R. Martin BA ’91, director of international student services, began to envision a movement that would bring the AU community in touch with East Africa.

"As human beings, we should have some reaction," says Erny, "but certainly as followers of Christ. If this reality in our world does not stir us, awaken us, and cause us to act with a sense of urgency, then it begs the question: What will?"

So Erny and Martin did act. AU already had many links to East Africa. Many alumni call that area home. The Church of God in Uganda operates the Tumaini AIDS Prevention Program (TAPP) in the city of Kampala. Colleen (Hoffman) Stevenson BA ’79 and her husband, Tim, are the Church of God Uganda Field Directors overseeing TAPP. Erny and Martin could see that the connections between AU and East Africa were already in place. It was clear AU-EA could become reality.

At first, it can be difficult to grasp the AU-EA concept. It is so broad, and it continues to grow every day. It is not one project that can be completed and put away. It is not one trip that ends when the plane lands back in the States. It is not one fundraiser that is over when the goal is met. AU-EA is an evolving, ongoing relationship between the AU community and the people of East Africa.

"We really see this partnership as one of reciprocity and mutuality," says Erny. "We do not see ourselves as the donors and the folks in East Africa as the recipients. We feel like it’s a two-way exchange." He refers to the program’s logo which features the words, "Encounter. Engage. Transform," and he says that goes both ways. Not only do Martin and Erny seek to respond to the AIDS pandemic, but they view building relationships between AU students and people in East Africa to be just as important.

Martin hopes students will connect with someone in East Africa in a lasting way, that their exposure to AU-EA will create a bond with someone in East Africa that will last long past graduation. "The idea is that every person who goes to AU — whether they ever go on an East Africa trip or not — because of AU-EA will have some exposure to East Africa. They will have a sense of East Africa that’s pretty genuine," says Martin.

"The vision for AU-East Africa is that as many persons, as many groups, as many departments on campus as possible establish and grow relationships … with the people of East Africa and with the persons who are already working there to meet the needs," says Erny.

But what are people actually doing about HIV/AIDS in East Africa? Much more than the founders of AU-EA had dared to hope for.

Students are sponsoring East African children through Children of Promise, a Church of God program where sponsors donate each month to a specific child’s welfare and education. A residence hall has raised money to purchase goats to help make families in East Africa self-sufficient. A professor has included in his class curriculum designing Web sites for non-profit groups that benefit East Africa. Plasma drives called "I Bleed for Africa" have raised thousands of dollars for mission work in East Africa. Social groups are raising money for causes such as building a dorm for a school in East Africa. A student organized a Miss AU pageant to raise money for a clinic in the Kibera slum in Nairobi. Students are traveling the United States to speak to churches about what they can do to help with the AIDS pandemic. And students of all majors are traveling to Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda to work and learn and build those all-important relationships.

Martin could not be more pleased with the way the movement has taken off. "The synergy that we hoped for as we started to think about it is not only occurring, but it’s occurring at an unbelievable rate," says Martin. "It took off so quickly. I really thought all I’d be doing with AU-East Africa this semester was helping 12 kids go. We are going to have 40-50 kids in East Africa this summer through four different trips." "It’s exciting," says Erny. "It can be overwhelming at the same time."

Even though the AU-EA initiative has spread so quickly, Martin and Erny see endless opportunities for AU to connect with East Africa and stop the spread of AIDS. They see business students developing economic enterprises for depressed regions or helping with business micro-loans. They envision physics students exploring alternate forms of energy. They see theatre and dance troupes traveling to East Africa to help educate and build cultural and social bridges. They see more nursing majors, education majors, and social work majors pursuing internships in East Africa. Because the AIDS pandemic affects the foundation of society in East Africa, the possibilities for involvement are vast. It is more than just a health issue.

But how is AU-EA going to change something as huge as the AIDS pandemic? The same way we do everything at AU — one life at a time.

Take, for example, Scott Schomburg, a junior from Miamisburg, Ohio, studying Bible and religion. Schomburg has traveled twice to Kampala, Uganda. His first trip in May of 2006 was a bridge-building trip through Church of God Ministries. AU students representing different academic departments were invited to stay with the Stevenson family at the TAPP center. Schomburg and his fellow students traveled to local villages, met people, worshipped with them, and pitched-in on some work projects. Schomburg described the trip as a "total exposure" experience with the idea that the students could return to campus and help others become involved by telling their stories.

Schomburg’s second trip in January 2007 was targeted toward HIV/AIDS. He and the AU students he traveled with stayed with the Stevensons at the TAPP center again. The T in TAPP stands for Tumaini — the Swahili word for hope. And hope is what TAPP offers. As the first Church of God AIDS program, TAPP seeks to prevent HIV/AIDS by teaching abstinence and faithfulness and to provide care to people living with the disease.

"A big part of it is home-based care," explains Schomburg. "[Workers] go to the homes of the people living with HIV/AIDS and spend time with them and pray with them." Schomburg says that usually the homes he visited were one-room shanties with as many as a dozen people living in them. "You can never prepare yourself for a home visit. Just the reality of the whole situation is overwhelming."

Schomburg said that he knew of one home visit where a desperate mother begged one of the AU students to take her child with her back to America. "She couldn’t take care of her, and she loved her daughter so much," says Schomburg. "The [student] broke down. She didn’t know what to do. … Sometimes just to be willing to enter into somebody’s suffering like that can be so hard. But it’s so real and redemptive and life-changing."

While Schomburg was unprepared for the depth of suffering that he encountered, he was also unprepared for the joy they shared with him. "They’re so happy to see you. You’ll be walking down to one of the homes and the children will see you and run and jump on you. The women … they’re just so overwhelmed that people are there and care about them." Because they have been diagnosed with AIDS, they have often been deserted and shunned, and they are amazed that people are willing to spend time with them. "You can’t prepare yourself for the love they pour out on you," says Schomburg. "It’s hard to understand. How can they love so much when they’re surrounded by pain and suffering and hate and evil? It’s because they’re not anymore — TAPP is changing that."

While the HIV positive men of Kampala often shy away from help for fear of appearing weak, the women of TAPP have formed a support system for themselves. "They meet together to support each other and to talk about what they’re dealing with — the pain and the emotional struggles," says Schomburg. "It’s such a beautiful thing to watch them lift each other up." Schomburg says it gives others in the community who have hidden their HIV the courage to admit it. "They say, ‘I want to be a part of this. I want support. I can’t do this on my own anymore.’"

The women of TAPP often work together sewing and making crafts such as necklaces. The women make beads for the necklaces by shellacking tightly wound paper. The women couldn’t find a suitable market for their necklaces. "The people in their surrounding community don’t have enough money to just buy jewelry," says Schomburg. "If you’re worried about your next meal, you’re not really worried about accessories. There are wealthy people in Uganda, but … they want to buy silver or gold."

Uganda may not have a market for the necklaces, but America does. Schomburg has begun marketing the necklaces. With the help of Bound for Freedom, a not-for-profit student-owned journal making company, Schomburg is learning how to place the necklaces in stores. "I’m not a business person at all," says Schomburg. "Bound for Freedom … [is] taking me under their wing." The necklaces are available at the AU bookstore and will soon be available wherever Bound for Freedom journals are sold.

The necklaces come with tags that summarize the TAPP story. He hopes people who wear the necklaces understand their significance. "We don’t just want people wearing pretty jewelry," says Schomburg. "The focus is to get the story out and move people to action.

Schomburg considers his second trip to East Africa as a life-changing event for him. "I decided that either directly there or indirectly here my life will be committed to stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS." This summer he is traveling across the United States speaking to Church of God congregations about TAPP and the AIDS pandemic. "I feel like there are a lot of Church of God congregations around America that don’t even know what TAPP is. I think they’d want to know, and I want to tell them," he says. "I think they want to help, so I want to give them the opportunity and hopefully stir something in somebody’s ear on the way."

Sophomore Emily Wasonga is another student moved to act and change lives in East Africa. She grew up in the cosmopolitan city of Nairobi, Kenya. It wasn’t until after her family moved to Noblesville, Ind., and she began studying communications and international education at AU that she learned of Frida Enane.

Enane runs a clinic called the Frepals Nursing Home in the Kibera slum, the largest slum in Nairobi. As a retired nurse, she and her husband have dedicated their lives and their personal finances to providing good health care to the people of Kibera, many of whom suffer from HIV/AIDS.

Wasonga read about the Frepals clinic and felt she couldn’t turn away. She felt God was prompting her to create a pageant — one that wasn’t just about outward looks, but inner worth and innate beauty reflected in Christian love and servanthood. Wasonga called Martin and told him about her idea. He thought it was a great idea and a perfect addition to AU-EA.

Wasonga wanted to raise much-needed funds for the clinic’s short-term needs and provide sources of income to help the clinic be self-sustaining. "The best way for the clinic to become self-sufficient is to get land," says Wasonga. "If you have land in Africa, you can do almost anything. So we want to buy them land — at least two and a half acres. The land she has found has a water source right in the middle of it meaning they wouldn’t have to worry about water. They could grow food for the hospital as well as for sale."

When Danielle Shaw, a senior social work major from Elkhart, Ind., heard about the Miss AU pageant, she instantly felt a calling. "My heart immediately told me this was something I needed to do," she says. A local family nominated her and her friends and family all pitched in to raise the $100 entry fee.

The first Miss AU Pageant was held on March 1, 2007. It was a terrific success. Because Wasonga wanted the focus of the pageant to be on the beauty of love and service, the contestants were judged primarily on their ideas for projects that could help the Frepals clinic. Shaw’s project idea was to provide Kibera school children with $100 laptop computers through a United Nations program and link those children with e-mail pen pals at AU. "I wanted to focus on education and relationships," says Shaw. She hopes the program can "build that brother-and-sister-in-Christ relationship so that we can connect with those children to give them another resource and support person in their life." The computers are designed to be used by children in poor and emerging countries and the batteries can even be recharged by human power when there is no electricity. Her project idea proved to be a winner, and Shaw was named Miss AU. She is now doing the work of applying for the computers and making her idea a reality.

Shaw will travel to Kenya to present Enane with the funds the pageant raised. Wasonga will accompany Miss AU on the trip, and she can’t wait to show her everything that Kenya has to offer. Wasonga is looking forward to being at the meeting between Enane and Miss AU. "[Enane] told me that I am a true daughter of Africa," says Wasonga.

For Shaw the trip to Africa is the opportunity of a lifetime. "It’s the most exciting thing and the scariest thing — just to be so far out of my comfort zone," she says. "I think that’s something everyone needs to do, to be able to stretch themselves and open themselves up to the world that we have around us."

Martin and Erny do not want to leave anyone out, so that’s why they hope to find ways for alumni to be involved in the AU-EA project.

"In my mind, I include the alumni in this initiative," says Martin. "I really think for this initiative to be as effective as it can be [we have to include] current students and former students."

Martin and Erny hope to see alumni become involved in their areas of passion just as the students have. "Whatever you do in life, whatever your career path is, however you spend your time and energy, whatever volunteer work you do, I’m convinced there’s a way to link that to a relationship in East Africa," says Martin.

"I foresee an alumni chair in the not-to-distant future where people can start to make a personal connection," he says. "I don’t think that’s terribly far down the road. I’d love to see that happen. It’s much like the way students have come to us — I couldn’t have foreseen all the ways students are involved. … And that’s what I’d like to see with alumni."

In the fall of 2006, President James Edwards spoke to the student body at a chapel service dedicated to the AU-East Africa initiative. He said, "I want you to think about the role you might play as you learn more about the issue of AIDS in Africa and the difference Anderson University students can make as we think together about the possibilities of being involved in the days and months to come."

What about you?

Is there a role for you to play?

Interested in getting involved in AU-EA?

Visit the website, or contact the co-directors:

Stuart Erny: (765) 641-4206

Scott Martin: (765) 641-4074