Africa (MNN)–Medical Ambassadors’ Terry Dalrimple says the structure of their Community Health Evangelism (or CHE) village in Mbale, (m-bahllee) Uganda will likely be the model for more.
They hit squarely in the family unit. “These workers that are going into the home are working with the families to meet the needs of the family both physically and spiritually.”
The workers teach basic hygiene, the ‘how-tos’ of recognizing the signs and symptoms of key diseases found in their area.
They also work to prevent the disease in the first place. This involves teaching how to protect the village water sources, build pit latrines, and to grow and use the right crops.
In the process, many of these people come to Christ. They’re brought into the church. When it comes to the AIDS orphans, they’ve taken an extra step of putting together a program just for them.” Because the WHOLE family is included in the outreach, the children grasp the hope of Christ.
Dalrimple says they’re confronting the issue of 12 million AIDS orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa, one family at a time. “The solution is for Christian people in a community to organize their communities to come around and care for their own orphans.”
