May 6, 2002
Botswana Baptists seek help with societal crisis
___By Scott Collins
___Buckner News Service
___FRANCISTOWN, Botswana --Six open graves lie next to the main road running through Monarch Cemetery Phase 5. Three years ago, this was a vacant lot covered with scattered trees and African bush.
___When the six graves are filled, the cemetery will be full and closed. At the rate people are dying here, it won't take long.
___Francistown lies in the heart of Botswana, the country with the world's highest rate of HIV infection. Perhaps 40 percent of the city's 150,000 residents ar
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| A CEMETARY in Francistown, Botswana, is filled with recent burials--so filled, in fact, that it soon will be full. Botswana has the world's highest rate of HIV infection, and Francistown has the highest infection rate in Botswana.Scott Collins/Buckner |
e HIV positive, meaning they have the virus that leads to AIDS.
___Death is big business here, with new graveyards opening as fast as others close. The wealthiest business people in Botswana are funeral directors.
___A few miles from Monarch Cemetery, Kenneth Mlandu lies in a bed at Nyangabwe Referral Hospital hoping one of the six
graves is not for him. Kenneth has been in and out of the hospital since being born HIV positive. At 13, his emaciated body makes him look more like he is 8. At his side, his only living relative, a grandmother, tends to him. She spends each night sleeping next to him, either on the bed or the floor. Kenneth's mother, father, twin brother and two sisters all died from AIDS-related diseases.
___He asks that his photograph not be taken at the hospital. He wants to be photographed at home, where he knows he belongs. And his only other request is for a toy car, preferably a Hot Wheels model with doors that open.
___In the native Setswana language, the hospital's name, "Nyangabwe," means "hidden warrior." With the onslaught of AIDS in this country, however, the hidden warrior is losing the fight.
___Paul Cline, a missionary with the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board who has lived in Botswana 22 years, calls the country "the Switzerland of Africa."
___Since gaining independence in 1966, Botswana has enjoyed peace and prosperity. The discovery of vast deposits of diamonds and other minerals, combined with the country's rich natural wildlife, have boosted the economy, making it the envy of other African countries. And while economic progress abounds, AIDS holds Botswana hostage.
___Billboards, posters and other advertisements encourage the use of condoms and safe sex. At the same time, Christians in Botswana are advocating no sex at all outside of a marriage relationship.
___Leaders of the Botswana Baptist Convention are engaged in frank and open discussions about sex and the transmission of AIDS as they struggle with ways to cope with what one pastor calls "a time bomb that has finally exploded."
___Among the fallout from that explosion is a dramatic increase in the number of orphan children. In traditional African culture, the village cares for children whose parents die. But the question facing Botswana and other African nations is what to do when the village dies.
___Here, Baptist leaders are requesting help from Texas Baptists through Buckner Orphan Care International. At a meeting in April, Buckner Vice President Mike Douris and leaders of the Botswana Baptist Convention agreed to explore ways Buckner can help churches develop strategies to respond to the orphan crisis.
___"Our goal would be to use our expertise to help Botswana Baptists develop their own ministries and then for Buckner to supplement those ministries with mission teams and financial support where possible," Douris said.
___With the death rate from AIDS spiraling out of control, Baptist leaders, missionaries and Buckner representatives all agree they must move quickly.
___Without help, Botswana is knocking on death's door.
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