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HIV/AIDS Cube Making an Impact in Ethiopia
by Dr. Tim Teusink, Ethiopia
20 October 2008
     
  A group of Ethiopian church leaders participate in a training session  
     
  My teaching colleague Belete instructs
Ethiopian Orthodox Priests and Deacons
in the Cube. We hope to reach the
entire Diocese and others with the
HIV/AIDS Cube		  

What’s the best way to communicate an important message in cultures where many people don’t read? In Ethiopia, with a reported 83 languages and 200 dialects, traditions are often passed down by stories and oral teaching.

Ethiopia is unique in sub-Saharan Africa in having a written language for a few thousand years but with so many language groups, it’s important to be able to communicate effectively with tools that are not dependent on a single language.

We are thankful to have a tool recently developed by e3 Resources in association with SIM called the HIV/AIDS Cube®. This excellent tool is the size of a Rubik’s Cube® but folds out into seven individual panels that share the message of HIV/AIDS Prevention & Care.

We are effectively using the Cube in Protestant and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches to train pastors, priests, and church leaders who will then train others to spread the message of prevention and care. Over the past few months, I’ve had opportunity to travel to several regions of the country and present this great resource.

Recently, I was in Gondar, in Northwestern Ethiopia, the heartland of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. There, I helped train 100 leaders in the HIV/AIDS Cube and other aspects of AIDS prevention. The participants were thrilled to have this training. The Gondar Diocese has 2,040 parish churches and several million members—this is a wonderful opportunity to work together in confronting the AIDS Epidemic.

Pray

  • for the newly trained church leaders to effectively teach others a prevention message.
  • for continued good relationships with the Orthodox church in Gondar.
  • that the spread of HIV and AIDS will be slowed throughout Ethiopia and the world.

Find out more about SIM’s work to halt the spread of HIV and AIDS and care for those living with the disease at www.hopeforaids.org
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