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by Elizabeth McBride
 The
energy was palpable. Impromptu demonstrations broke out. There were formal and
informal discussions about violence against women, making good choices about
sexual activity, the use of microbicides, and what it means to be a community
affected by HIV without access to clean water. Groups of 19- to 23-year-olds
participated in an MTV-sponsored "48hour" project, in which young people from
around the world came to write, edit, and shoot a three-minute film focused on
women and HIV/AIDS. All of this and more took place at the International Women's
Summit: Women's Leadership on HIV and AIDS, in Nairobi, Kenya, last July.
 During the summit, sponsored by the World YWCA,
representatives of that organization from around the globe and representatives
from other non-profit women's organizations, AIDS advocates, and churches,
including the ELCA and Women of the ELCA, gathered to discuss, build networks,
and increase awareness about HIV and AIDS and how the epidemic affects women. I
attended the summit as a representative of Women of the ELCA.
Before this event, I had never met anyone who shared her
positive HIV status openly. But throughout this summit, women from around the
world wrote t-shirts that read, "I am living positively with HIV." Prior to the
summit, women with HIV organized and led the "Positive Women's Forum." For the
first time, the event was planned and attended exclusively by women living with
HIV.
 The YWCA also held their annual council meeting following
the summit. They issued The Nairobi 2007 Call to Action, a strategic
document that outlines 10 action-based areas for creating change for women and
girls around the world, especially those affected by HIV and AIDS. The first
goal calls for the YWCA to develop "leadership of women and girls to respond to
HIV and AIDS, overcome stigma and discrimination, and offer solidarity and
support to all women and girls and particularly those infected and affected by
HIV."
The YWCA's call to action is in keeping with the theme for
World AIDS Day this year, "Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise — Leadership." World
AIDS Day is celebrated on December 1 and began in 1988 in order to build
awareness about HIV and AIDS and to remember those who have died of the disease.
In our own communities and congregations, we can take the
lead by learning more about the experiences of women and girls living with HIV.
We can talk about ways our congregation can welcome and include our brothers and
sisters who have been affected. We can include men and women living with HIV as
leaders to broaden our church's HIV and AIDS ministry. We can discuss HIV
and AIDS with our friends, regardless of their ages, and talk to youth about
making good choices for their bodies.
According to UNAIDS 2006 Report on the Global AIDS
Epidemic, an estimated 38.6 million people worldwide were living with HIV at
the end of 2005. An estimated 4.1 million became newly infected with HIV and an
estimated 2.8 million lost their lives to AIDS.
Don't wait for someone else to act boldly and take the
lead. You can start right now.
Elizabeth McBride is editor and designer for Café.
Remember in your prayers...
the people who may not feel welcome in your congregation or community
because of stigmatization; those who are losing their homes because the expense
of medications is too great; the young woman who contracted HIV as a result of
rape but was too ashamed to tell her family and so suffers alone; all women who
are forced into sex work, in this country and around the world; and those
affected by poverty, hunger, prejudice, and lack of access to health care.
Worship ideas for World AIDS Day
Visit www.elca.org/aids/worship/
Additional resources
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