(SENEGAL) Last week a women’s group in the AFIA neighborhood of Yeumbeul organized a discussion meeting. A religious leader who participates in the EELS (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Senegal) Embrace AIDS program and works in AFIA in Dakar, Senegal, led the meeting with a presentation titled, “Being Good Neighbors.” Some of the women, and the Mbaye family in particular, were touched by the discussion on stigmatization and discrimination, two major themes of our 4-year Embrace AIDS program through World Renew.
A religious leader who participates in the EELS (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Senegal) Embrace AIDS program and works in AFIA in Dakar, Senegal, led the meeting with a presentation titled, “Being Good Neighbors.” Some of the women, and the Mbaye family in particular, were touched by the discussion on stigmatization and discrimination, two major themes of our 4-year Embrace AIDS program through World Renew.
Two days after the discussion, a member of the Mbaye family went to see the leader saying, “In our extended family, we don’t really talk to each other. We don’t share anything and we don’t eat together. Instead, we all eat in our own corner in the house.” This was unusual because eating together is very important in Senegalese families.
“But,” the family member continued, “the day before yesterday we very much enjoyed the discussion about the evil of stigmatization and how the Bible and Quran say people that should appreciate each other instead of excluding one another. “You told us that to avoid stigmatization; we should share, eat together, help each other, and greet people—especially those who are diGerent from us. The discussion leader talked about the stigmatization of people with HIV and AIDS, but we figured this was also about us!
“We ended our discussion at the women’s meeting with extended greetings and decided we would greet each other at home too. Since then, our family members have greeted each other again, and we are getting closer.”
A few days later, another man from the Mbaye family also came to meet the discussion leader, confirming the story about his family and the changes that were taking place. He also said, “We had a big problem in the heart of our family, but since the discussion on stigmatization, we have seen a change in attitudes and daily conduct within the family.”
Afterwards someone else came to the discussion leader to say “I never really talked to anyone in my family, but since the day I attended the meeting I greet everybody. I feel much more at ease with the people in our extended household, and things are starting to get better between us.”
Both community members thanked the discussion leader profusely, and several members of the wider community have requested more meetings as well. The AFIA community is a suburb of Dakar and hosts many families that just migrated to the city. There is limited social cohesion, and crime by local youth is a big problem, especially on days when traditional wrestling matches take place.
The religious leader who led the discussion works with the EELS’s Embrace AIDS program. Within this program a group of local religious leaders—both Christian pastors and Muslim imams—and community leaders such as neighborhood chiefs, school directors, and wise women (an official position) are involved in the production of discussion materials on stigmatization and discrimination, especially of people living with HIV and AIDS.
Since the discussion materials have been published, the leaders, trained through the program, use the materials to lead discussion meetings in suburban neighborhoods surrounding Dakar. These meetings have been very well received in several neighborhoods, including Yeumbeul, Malika, and Keur Massar.
Esther Kühn
Program Consultant
World Renew – Senegal
