Browsing by Author "Chibambo, Lucy Thokozile."

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Cultural practices among the Sena in Nsanje District Malawi : HIV and AIDS and the African Evangelical Church.
(2009) Chibambo, Lucy Thokozile.; Ward, Edwina Deborah.
This study focuses on the cultural practices that contribute to the increase of HIV and AIDS in Nsanje district of Malawi. The study also proves the hypothesis that the African Evangelical Church has not responded effectively to the cultural practices that influence the spread of HIV. As a result, this has led to the high prevalence rate of HIV in the Nsanje district. Data was collected using content analysis. The findings of this research are that people of Nsanje district have maintained their cultural practices within the context of HIV and AIDS. The key cultural practices that have been maintained are widow cleansing, widow inheritance, bonus wife, fisi (hyena) custom, polygamy and bzyade. The study has also found that sexual intercourse is used in most rituals as a tool for purification. It is a great challenge for church and the community to modify or stop these cultural practices because some of the people in Nsanje district claim that these cultural practices have been practiced since the existence of their forefathers in Nsanje district. The study has also found that there are multiple sexual partners involved in the sexual rituals which increase high risk of the spread of HIV. Therefore, the study recommends that the community together with the church should take a stand in responding to the cultural practices in an attempt to combat the spread of HIV.
Pastoral care for bereaved elderly women in the context of HIV and AIDS : a case study of Dzenza congregation women's guild members of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) Lilongwe - Malawi.
(2015) Chibambo, Lucy Thokozile.; Phiri, Isabel Apawo.; Ward, Edwina Deborah.
The HIV and AIDS epidemic in Africa, specifically in Malawi, has presented itself as a threat to the care of bereaved elderly women who have lost adult children to AIDS related illnesses. While battling grief, these elderly women find themselves inevitably obliged to take care of the grandchildren left behind by their children who in most cases had been breadwinners. The main objective of this study is to assess the appropriateness and effectiveness of the pastoral care for bereaved elderly women provided by the Women’s Guild of Dzenza congregationof the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian. The study poses the question that: if bereaved elderly women are principal caregivers in the context of HIV and AIDS, then who is caring for them? The study draws its insights from a qualitative study based on interviews with ten bereaved elderly women and, in addition, nine Women’s Guild members, the church Minister at the time of the interviews, and five church elders. There were four men and one woman. All together they were 25 participants. The methods used for the collection of data were in-depth individual, open ended interviews and focus group meeting. The collected data was analysed by typing and coding the material according to key themes that emerged in the interviews. ‘Shepherding a Woman’s Heart’ and ‘Feminist Pastoral Care’ are the two theories that were used to analyse the existing pastoral care and the findings of the study. The findings revealed that most elderly women encounter different challenges while taking care of their ill adult children until the time of their death. The elderly women also face the challenge of bringing up their grandchildren before and after the death of the parents. Some of these challenges concern health issues and the psychological, financial, spiritual and social impacts of the loss of their children and the responsibility for their grandchildren. In order to develop an appropriate and effective approach to pastoral care, the Women’s Guild needs to take these impacts into account. On the basis of the findings of the present study, there is a need to develop a manual on pastoral care giving for the Women’s Guild, focusing on issues of health, psychological, financial, spiritual and social aspects that play a role in the context of HIV and AIDS.