May was a busy month for LRPI members in Zambia! LRPI members Terry and Idah attended a 2-week continuing education course in Psychosocial Counseling offered through the Ministry of Health and UNAIDS. They both have previous training in this area, and hope to become better able to care for the mental health as well as the physical health of the community. The following objectives were addressed:

• ·    Basic facts about HIV and AIDS.

• Interventions in HIV and AIDS prevention and care such as

• CTC (Counseling Testing and Care),
• VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing),
• PMTCT (Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission),
• condom use,
• ART (Anti-Retroviral Therapy), 
• behavior change.
• Counseling theories, skills, and techniques
• Report writing
• Crisis intervention
• Practical in HIV Rapid Testing
• Personality and Behavior

This part of the course covered an introduction to Counseling Children and Counseling Couples. In August, the participants began a practicum that specializes in one of those areas. After completing that practicum and registering with the Zambia Counseling Council (ZCC), they can become certified professional counselors. 

Terry and Idah, along with Bishop Muleya’s son, Rev. Tulin Muleya, set glowing examples during the course. Terry was appointed treasurer, Idah was appointed class secretary, and Rev. Muleya was appointed as the class chairperson. They certainly take the message of 1 Corinthians 10:31 to heart and do everything for the glory of God!

In June, Martinz Kampamba also attended a residential training course in Public Health in Ndola, Zambia. There, he learned how to administer and analyze the following tests, and how to counsel in the following areas :

• HIV /AIDS test
• Micro- organisms in food test
• Pregnancy test
• Malaria test
• Blood Pressure test
• how to sterilize clinical tools
• Temperature recording
• Alcohol and drug abuse
• Health concepts
• Health psychology
• Community health
• Community mobilization
• Health promotion
• Public speaking
• Overview of counseling theories and practices
• Medical aspects of treatment
• Monitoring the growth of a child born from an HIV positive mothe
• Health talks with mothers
• Attending to mothers in the labour ward
• Environmental protection

 Fellow LRPI member John Payne was able to visit Martinz during his stay to encourage him to stay focused and affirm that he was making a difference through his studies.  Martinz will continue his training in September, and will allow him to “do greater things in the lives of Zambia youths…and help [his] ministry achieve a lot of things in the future.” He is not wearying in doing good, and no doubt will reap a great harvest of hope in the future (Galations 6:9).

In May 2012, over 200 students and teachers from Butondo and Kantanshi High Schools put faith into practice and participated in a VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing) Program. The STS clubs partnered with the Zambia Ministry of Health, which provided HIV testing kits and 2 trained counselors from a local clinic to not only test the students, but to provide pre- and post- test counseling. Care was taken to provide a safe and comfortable environment for the brave students who volunteered to be tested despite the threat of stigma. To begin, the students were separated by gender, then divided into groups of 10 for a counseling program. Each person who wished to be tested then entered the testing room separately to receive individual counseling before and after their test. 

Historically, a thick cloud of stigma has surrounded VCT, especially among high school students. By God’s grace, through the hard work and dedication of the LRPI-Zambia and LRPI-US staff, and of course the STS clubs in the respective high schools, it appears that that cloud may be lifting from Mufulira. Many encouraging responses were noted on the monitoring forms passed out on the testing days, including a majority of students who reported

·    A more positive attitude toward testing

·    Using abstinence (only) to avoid HIV infection

·    Having been tested before

·    Requesting a personal follow up counseling

On top of that, other local schools saw the wonderful testimony of these brave students and are requesting a VCT program for their school as well. Pastors Terry and Martinz, as well as the many other members who work tirelessly in the STS Clubs, have turned these two high schools into cities on a hill, shining the light of truth that cuts through the darkness of stigma.

Female students waiting to be tested.