17 Juni 2007

Papua Churches and HIV

Papua churches powerful source for preventing HIV and AIDS

Julie DeLuca

Julie DeLuca is a writer for Mennonite Central Committee.
June 5, 2007

Traveling door to door or just talking to people they meet along the street, HIV and AIDS trainers Ibu Lis and Ibu Yohanna have an important message for friends and strangers.

According to UNAIDS, the tropical province of Papua in Indonesia faces one of the most serious HIV epidemics in the entire Asia–Pacific region.

These women are on a vital quest to educate their communities, holding the belief that the church is a potentially powerful source to help prevent the spread of HIV.

“Sometimes we have to journey a long way. The transportation is difficult and the roads aren’t very good. [But] I feel very wrong if I don’t share what I’ve learned,” says Ibu Yohanna.

MCC’s partner Bethesda Health Organization began Sexual Health training in Papua for provincial church leaders in 2006. Previously, Bethesda worked hard to inform people about AIDS. Today they address AIDS in the context of broad issues including sexuality and healthy relationships.

A District Liaison Officer for the program helps to adjust training materials to avoid offending local sensitivities. Their goal is to respect local cultures as they inform them about relationships, HIV and AIDS.

Six months after the training, 40 pastors and lay leaders gathered to discuss their experiences of teaching sexual health, HIV and AIDS in their congregations. One leader expressed her concern for speaking on sexual health from the pulpit. “Even if we want to, our congregations would protest,” she said.

Pak Benn, a trainer from Bethesda, inspired the leaders to extend the mission beyond their church walls. He said, “We are the church. Everything that we do, every day, is the church. If you can't talk about this on Sundays, talk about it with your neighbors, your friends, your men's meetings, your youth meetings, when you go the market, in the bus!”

Ibu Lis and Ibu Yohanna, who attended the training, do that by acting as field workers for the program. “We as teachers for the young people in our churches and in our families can come alongside them with the word of God. I hope to spread the information … so that [what] we gain is not in vain,” Ibu Lis says.

Both women stress the message to be careful. According to Ibu Yohanna, the women she educates are often afraid because they do not understand the causes of HIV. Teaching them about HIV and AIDS and healthy relationships increases their courage to make good choices.

“I tell them to be careful,” says Ibu Yohanna. “We are very thankful because we have received the training which allows us to bring this experience to people. This training and information has been very important for me.”

Persipura Duta HIV & AIDS di Papua


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SIARAN PERS

Jayapura, 15 Juni 2007

Persipura Duta HIV & AIDS di Papua

EDUARD IVAKDALAM & JACK KOMBOY

BERTEMU SEKITAR 300 PEMAIN YUNIOR PERSIPURA

Untuk Bicara Kesehatan dan Bagaimana menjadi Juara

Jayapura (15/6) – Bertempat di GOR Cenderawasih Jayapura, Sabtu (16/6), Eduard Ivakdalam dan Jack Komboy serta sejumlah bintang dan mantan pemain Persipura akan bertemu dengan sekitar 300 pemain yunior dari 12 klub anggota Persipura. Para bintang Persipura itu akan bicara bagaimana meningkatkan rasa kepedulian untuk hidup sehat, pentingnya pendekatan menyeluruh bagi kesehatan jiwa maupun raga, serta bagaimana kiat menjadi seorang juara.

Kegiatan yang akan dilaksanakan mulai pukul 17.00 WIT itu adalah bagian dari serangkaian kegiatan Tim Persipura – Juara Kompetisi Liga Sepakbola Indonesia 2005 – sebagai Duta HIV&AIDS di Papua. Selain Edu dan Jack, direncanakan pula akan hadir mantan bintang Persipura Hengki Rumere dan asisten pelatih Persipura Mettu Duaramuri.

Pada kesempatan itu, para bintang dan mantan bintang Persipura akan berdiskusi dengan para pemain yunior tentang pentingnya memiliki disiplin diri, mengurangi dampak buruk mengkonsumsi miras, dan perilaku dalam hubungan seks. Juga akan didiskusikan pentingnya menjaga kekompakan dalam tim sepakbola, bagaimana menghargai diri sendiri, sesama pemain maupun lawan main, serta pentingnya menghormati kaum perempuan.

Selain diskusi juga akan diputar film Mr Right Guy (Laki-Laki Pilihan) yang bercerita tentang anak muda, kebiasaan minum alkohol dalam kaitannya dengan kesehatan seksualitas mereka guna memberi pemahaman atas kaitan antara alkohol, seks, dan kesehatan.

Setelah kegiatan ini, mulai minggu depan, para pemain Persipura akan melakukan tour ke klub-klub anggota Persipura untuk coaching clinic dan bicara tentang bagaimana hidup sehat dan HIV&AIDS.



Sejak tahun 2005 Komisi Penanggulangan AIDS (KPA) Provinsi Papua didukung Kemitraan Australia-Indonesia melalui Indonesia HIV&AIDS Prevention and Care Project (IHPCP) melakukan kampanye HIV&AIDS lewat kerjasama dengan manajemen tim Persipura. Pesan tentang pencegahan HIV dilakukan lewat siaran langsung pertandingan sepakbola di Stadion Mandala melalui RRI Jayapura, pesan melalui penyiar pertandingan, pemasangan spanduk dan balon kondom raksasa di Stadion Mandala serta pemasangan billboard kepedulian Persipura terhadap HIV&AIDS di seputar Kota Jayapura. ***










Untuk informasi lebih lanjut hubungi:

Iskandar Nugroho

Provincial Technical Officer (PTO-STG)

Indonesia HIV Prevention and Care Project - Phase II
Jl. Kesehatan No 2 Dok ll
Jayapura 99112
Tel +62 0967 531-925
email:iskandarn@ihpcppapua.or.id

Dewi Wulandari

Media Relations Officer (MRO)

Komisi Penanggulangan AIDS (KPA) Provinsi Papua

Jln. Kesehatan no.2 Dok II Jayapura

Telp/Fax : (0967) 532523

HP : 0812 480 9004

Email : dewi_wulandari@cbn.net.id

dewijarot@yahoo.com

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Komisi Penanggulangan AIDS (KPA) Provinsi Papua adalah lembaga yang bertugas merumuskan kebijakan dan melakukan koordinasi dalam penanggulangan HIV/AIDS di Papua. KPA Provinsi Papua bertanggung-jawab dan melaporkan kepada Gubernur. KPA Provinsi Papua berdiri sejak tahun 2001 dan dasar hukum KPA Provinsi Papua saat ini adalah SK Gubernur no.84 Tahun 2001.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HIV&AIDS adalah penyakit menular yang bisa di cegah. HIV hanya MENULAR melalui hubungan seks tanpa kondom, penggunaan jarum/alat suntik yang tercemar virus HIV, dan dari ibu ke anak. HIV&AIDS TIDAK MENULAR melalui jabat tangan, berciuman, menggunakan peralatan makan/kerja bersama, berbagi ruangan, dan kontak sosial biasa.

Indonesia's Persipura FC leads HIV fight in Papua

http://footballdynamicsasia.blogspot.com/2007/01/indonesias-persipura-fc-leads-hiv-fight.html

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Indonesia's Persipura FC leads HIV fight in Papua

Papua's famous Persipura football club - Indonesian Premier League champions in 2005 - is promoting HIV prevention to over a million people. Around Jayapura, the capital of Indonesia's eastern-most province, billboards display the Persipura team with slogans such as, 'Be a champion, wear a condom'. Posters with the same message travel the province every day on the back of minibus seats. Before and during live football broadcasts, radio announcers present HIV-prevention messages and promote safe sex. On television, viewers can see Persipura striker Boas Salossa and popular Papuan singer Edo Kondologit chatting about responsible sexual behaviour and the importance of using condoms.

Persipura players and their managers also wear 'Persipura champions' shirts emblazoned with the HIV-awareness campaign logo – a condom holding a football. The shirts are highly prized by fans, especially since the team has started wearing them off the field. Thousands of identical shirts will soon be distributed to the 2,500 junior players in the Persipura football club.

Free condoms are given out at football matches. Communications adviser Sara Knuckey told AusAID Focus, "there's no point talking about condoms unless people know what they are, how to use them, and can get hold of them easily. By distributing condoms over the next two seasons, we're hoping people will start asking for them. Condom use in Indonesia is low compared with other countries so we need to popularise their use. This is why our partnership with Persipura is so important. The team can help us educate young males about HIV transmission before they are sexually active. We have to get across the message that everyone must 'act responsibly and wear a condom'", she said.

And just to make sure the safe sex message is never far from anyone's mind, a large football-toting inflatable condom in Persipura team colours will float above the grounds, starting with the first game of the 2007 season. The next stage of the campaign is peer education. Former and current Persipura players are training as AIDS ambassadors. They'll work with younger players to improve fitness and football skills but they'll also teach them about sexuality and safe sex practices.

According to the AusAID-funded Indonesia HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Project, the population estimate for Papua as of end 2005 was 2.5 million people while the estimated numbers of people with HIV is 11 042. The epidemic is more generalized than in other parts of Indonesia and reflects a Melanesian style epidemic as compared to a traditional Asian epidemic. HIV has been found in coastal as well as highland populations, in cities as well as villages, and is found in people who are not from the usual vulnerable populations of sex workers, IDU or men who have sex with men. Injection drug use seems to be relatively uncommon and transmission through injecting illicit drugs has not made a significant contribution to the epidemic. STI are endemic in Papua with high rates of antibiotic resistance, and limited health infrastructure to manage this effectively. Population level knowledge about HIV and its prevention through condom use, is low. Condom availability is also low. Other contributing factors to the epidemic in Papua include lack of circumcision and a long history of accepted cultural practices that now facilitate HIV transmission.

The Australian Government is supporting the multimedia campaign through a A$3.15 million grant during 2006-07. Disbursements of these funds to NGOs in Papua province include Palang Merah Indonesia (Red Cross) A$241,734, Yayasan Kesehatan Bethesda (Church-based health foundation) A$384,929 and DKT Indonesia (provider of condoms) A$500,000.

The central govenment owned Radio Republik Indonesia Jayapura receives A$66,594 as well as RRI Wamena A$29,867. According to kangguru.org the RRI stations carry a weekly radio program called Mari Kitorang Bertanggung Jawab (MKBJ - Let Us Be Responsible) to provide information about HIV/AIDS, to improve people's awareness and to ask people to be responsible about HIV/AIDS. "Other very successful activities included cooperation with the Panitia Pelaksana (Implementing Committee) of the Indonesian Football League. Every match played by Persipura - the Jayapura Football Team - is broadcast live on RRI. Volunteers distribute information about HIV/AIDS and the football commentators announce HIV/AIDS information to the spectators."

The football team itself, Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Jayapura (Persipura), is allocated an Australian grant of A$26,979 for the period.

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posted by Geoffrey @ 24.1.07

12 Juni 2007

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Church, HIV, Papua




Papua churches powerful source for preventing HIV and AIDS


Julie DeLuca

Julie DeLuca is a writer for Mennonite Central Committee.
June 5, 2007

Traveling door to door or just talking to people they meet along the street, HIV and AIDS trainers Ibu Lis and Ibu Yohanna have an important message for friends and strangers.

According to UNAIDS, the tropical province of Papua in Indonesia faces one of the most serious HIV epidemics in the entire Asia–Pacific region.

These women are on a vital quest to educate their communities, holding the belief that the church is a potentially powerful source to help prevent the spread of HIV.

“Sometimes we have to journey a long way. The transportation is difficult and the roads aren’t very good. [But] I feel very wrong if I don’t share what I’ve learned,” says Ibu Yohanna.

MCC’s partner Bethesda Health Organization began Sexual Health training in Papua for provincial church leaders in 2006. Previously, Bethesda worked hard to inform people about AIDS. Today they address AIDS in the context of broad issues including sexuality and healthy relationships.

A District Liaison Officer for the program helps to adjust training materials to avoid offending local sensitivities. Their goal is to respect local cultures as they inform them about relationships, HIV and AIDS.

Six months after the training, 40 pastors and lay leaders gathered to discuss their experiences of teaching sexual health, HIV and AIDS in their congregations. One leader expressed her concern for speaking on sexual health from the pulpit. “Even if we want to, our congregations would protest,” she said.

Pak Benn, a trainer from Bethesda, inspired the leaders to extend the mission beyond their church walls. He said, “We are the church. Everything that we do, every day, is the church. If you can't talk about this on Sundays, talk about it with your neighbors, your friends, your men's meetings, your youth meetings, when you go the market, in the bus!”

Ibu Lis and Ibu Yohanna, who attended the training, do that by acting as field workers for the program. “We as teachers for the young people in our churches and in our families can come alongside them with the word of God. I hope to spread the information … so that [what] we gain is not in vain,” Ibu Lis says.

Both women stress the message to be careful. According to Ibu Yohanna, the women she educates are often afraid because they do not understand the causes of HIV. Teaching them about HIV and AIDS and healthy relationships increases their courage to make good choices.

“I tell them to be careful,” says Ibu Yohanna. “We are very thankful because we have received the training which allows us to bring this experience to people. This training and information has been very important for me.”



MCC IN INDONESIA

Persipura-HIV-Papua


Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Indonesia's Persipura FC leads HIV fight in Papua

Papua's famous Persipura football club - Indonesian Premier League champions in 2005 - is promoting HIV prevention to over a million people. Around Jayapura, the capital of Indonesia's eastern-most province, billboards display the Persipura team with slogans such as, 'Be a champion, wear a condom'. Posters with the same message travel the province every day on the back of minibus seats. Before and during live football broadcasts, radio announcers present HIV-prevention messages and promote safe sex. On television, viewers can see Persipura striker Boas Salossa and popular Papuan singer Edo Kondologit chatting about responsible sexual behaviour and the importance of using condoms.

Persipura players and their managers also wear 'Persipura champions' shirts emblazoned with the HIV-awareness campaign logo – a condom holding a football. The shirts are highly prized by fans, especially since the team has started wearing them off the field. Thousands of identical shirts will soon be distributed to the 2,500 junior players in the Persipura football club.

Free condoms are given out at football matches. Communications adviser Sara Knuckey told AusAID Focus, "there's no point talking about condoms unless people know what they are, how to use them, and can get hold of them easily. By distributing condoms over the next two seasons, we're hoping people will start asking for them. Condom use in Indonesia is low compared with other countries so we need to popularise their use. This is why our partnership with Persipura is so important. The team can help us educate young males about HIV transmission before they are sexually active. We have to get across the message that everyone must 'act responsibly and wear a condom'", she said.

And just to make sure the safe sex message is never far from anyone's mind, a large football-toting inflatable condom in Persipura team colours will float above the grounds, starting with the first game of the 2007 season. The next stage of the campaign is peer education. Former and current Persipura players are training as AIDS ambassadors. They'll work with younger players to improve fitness and football skills but they'll also teach them about sexuality and safe sex practices.

According to the AusAID-funded Indonesia HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Project, the population estimate for Papua as of end 2005 was 2.5 million people while the estimated numbers of people with HIV is 11 042. The epidemic is more generalized than in other parts of Indonesia and reflects a Melanesian style epidemic as compared to a traditional Asian epidemic. HIV has been found in coastal as well as highland populations, in cities as well as villages, and is found in people who are not from the usual vulnerable populations of sex workers, IDU or men who have sex with men. Injection drug use seems to be relatively uncommon and transmission through injecting illicit drugs has not made a significant contribution to the epidemic. STI are endemic in Papua with high rates of antibiotic resistance, and limited health infrastructure to manage this effectively. Population level knowledge about HIV and its prevention through condom use, is low. Condom availability is also low. Other contributing factors to the epidemic in Papua include lack of circumcision and a long history of accepted cultural practices that now facilitate HIV transmission.

The Australian Government is supporting the multimedia campaign through a A$3.15 million grant during 2006-07. Disbursements of these funds to NGOs in Papua province include Palang Merah Indonesia (Red Cross) A$241,734, Yayasan Kesehatan Bethesda (Church-based health foundation) A$384,929 and DKT Indonesia (provider of condoms) A$500,000.

The central govenment owned Radio Republik Indonesia Jayapura receives A$66,594 as well as RRI Wamena A$29,867. According to kangguru.org the RRI stations carry a weekly radio program called Mari Kitorang Bertanggung Jawab (MKBJ - Let Us Be Responsible) to provide information about HIV/AIDS, to improve people's awareness and to ask people to be responsible about HIV/AIDS. "Other very successful activities included cooperation with the Panitia Pelaksana (Implementing Committee) of the Indonesian Football League. Every match played by Persipura - the Jayapura Football Team - is broadcast live on RRI. Volunteers distribute information about HIV/AIDS and the football commentators announce HIV/AIDS information to the spectators."

The football team itself, Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Jayapura (Persipura), is allocated an Australian grant of A$26,979 for the period.