The Effects of Absent Fathers in Spreading HIV/AIDS and the Role of the Church in Swaziland
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South African Theological Seminary
Johannesburg, South Africa
Abstract
The Nation of Swaziland is steadily losing its understanding of fatherhood as hundreds of thousands of children are born into this world not knowing what it is to have a real father. Sons,having no valid role model, look to the world around them for guidance. Enticed by the lure of wealth, power and prestige, they forsake their understanding of ubuntu and set out on a hedonistic, materialistic journey.Over time, they lose much of their cultural heritage. Yet one aspect remains –the Patriarchalaspect, which dominates their relationship with women.The blend of hedonism, materialism and male chauvinism mixed with female subjugation and poverty are a fertile breeding ground for HIV/AIDS. This thesis demonstrates that the loss of this loss of understanding by men is a major driving force behind the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Swaziland.The study explores the gradual shift that has taken Swazis from a strong cultural background to one that is steadily dying. In so doing, this investigation traces how Swazi men were forced through poverty-induced by big business (aided and abetted by the British, the Afrikaners and later the A.N.C.),as well as by their own personal greed-to leave the moderating restraint of their fathers. Generations of young men chose to leave Swaziland to go and work on the gold mines in South Africa. Far from their homes,living in single hostels,the men chose to drink in bars and sleep with prostitutes or girlfriends, and finally formed second families. Out of reach of the restraining influence of their fathers, the strictly moral Swazi culture was perverted through their interaction with foreign cultures –especially that of the West. The male domination mind set was merged with western “free love” understanding, producing a male chauvinist of extreme proportions. The discarding of a centuries-old cultural/moral structure of Ubuntu, together with the African Traditional Religious belief that there is no eternal judgment makes for a potent cocktail,which has resulted in a generation of self-destructing spiritual orphans.In the meantime, HIV/AIDS had been imported to South Africa from Central and Eastern Africa 11 HIV/AIDS appears to have originated in West Africa from where it was transferred eastwards and southwards to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the Congo. [Epstein 2007:41-42]via truckers, migrant labourers and guerrillas,where it found a fruitful home along the trucking routes and on the mines. The Swazis, along with the Tswanas, the Sothos and the South Africans would take the disease home. The combination of extreme male chauvinism, “widespread grazing”(a descriptive Ugandan term associated with sleeping around) [Epstein 2007:162]and no spiritual or cultural constraints have ensured that HIV/AIDS would spread like wildfire –the so called “HIV super highway”.[Epstein 2007: 58]The Church, the governments and the people themselves would spend decades denying the existence of the disease, and now it is almost too late.In an environment where “widespread grazing”is common, even amongst some Pastors, it is little wonder that the nation is dying.The pandemic is steadily bringing Swaziland to its knees. Life expectancy has been reduced to only 31.3 years in 2004 [White side and Whalley 2007: 6] and the quality of life for the vast majority of Swazis leaves much to be desired. The thesis closes with a call to the Church to lead the way by repenting,praying, preaching, living the life we are called to live,and addressing the need for those who are fatherless to be fathered within the Church.
The Nation of Swaziland is steadily losing its understanding of fatherhood as hundreds of thousands of children are born into this world not knowing what it is to have a real father. Sons,having no valid role model, look to the world around them for guidance. Enticed by the lure of wealth, power and prestige, they forsake their understanding of ubuntu and set out on a hedonistic, materialistic journey.Over time, they lose much of their cultural heritage. Yet one aspect remains –the Patriarchalaspect, which dominates their relationship with women.The blend of hedonism, materialism and male chauvinism mixed with female subjugation and poverty are a fertile breeding ground for HIV/AIDS. This thesis demonstrates that the loss of this loss of understanding by men is a major driving force behind the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Swaziland.The study explores the gradual shift that has taken Swazis from a strong cultural background to one that is steadily dying. In so doing, this investigation traces how Swazi men were forced through poverty-induced by big business (aided and abetted by the British, the Afrikaners and later the A.N.C.),as well as by their own personal greed-to leave the moderating restraint of their fathers. Generations of young men chose to leave Swaziland to go and work on the gold mines in South Africa. Far from their homes,living in single hostels,the men chose to drink in bars and sleep with prostitutes or girlfriends, and finally formed second families. Out of reach of the restraining influence of their fathers, the strictly moral Swazi culture was perverted through their interaction with foreign cultures –especially that of the West. The male domination mind set was merged with western “free love” understanding, producing a male chauvinist of extreme proportions. The discarding of a centuries-old cultural/moral structure of Ubuntu, together with the African Traditional Religious belief that there is no eternal judgment makes for a potent cocktail,which has resulted in a generation of self-destructing spiritual orphans.In the meantime, HIV/AIDS had been imported to South Africa from Central and Eastern Africa 11 HIV/AIDS appears to have originated in West Africa from where it was transferred eastwards and southwards to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the Congo. [Epstein 2007:41-42]via truckers, migrant labourers and guerrillas,where it found a fruitful home along the trucking routes and on the mines. The Swazis, along with the Tswanas, the Sothos and the South Africans would take the disease home. The combination of extreme male chauvinism, “widespread grazing”(a descriptive Ugandan term associated with sleeping around) [Epstein 2007:162]and no spiritual or cultural constraints have ensured that HIV/AIDS would spread like wildfire –the so called “HIV super highway”.[Epstein 2007: 58]The Church, the governments and the people themselves would spend decades denying the existence of the disease, and now it is almost too late.In an environment where “widespread grazing”is common, even amongst some Pastors, it is little wonder that the nation is dying.The pandemic is steadily bringing Swaziland to its knees. Life expectancy has been reduced to only 31.3 years in 2004 [White side and Whalley 2007: 6] and the quality of life for the vast majority of Swazis leaves much to be desired. The thesis closes with a call to the Church to lead the way by repenting,praying, preaching, living the life we are called to live,and addressing the need for those who are fatherless to be fathered within the Church.
The Nation of Swaziland is steadily losing its understanding of fatherhood as hundreds of thousands of children are born into this world not knowing what it is to have a real father. Sons,having no valid role model, look to the world around them for guidance. Enticed by the lure of wealth, power and prestige, they forsake their understanding of ubuntu and set out on a hedonistic, materialistic journey.Over time, they lose much of their cultural heritage. Yet one aspect remains –the Patriarchalaspect, which dominates their relationship with women.The blend of hedonism, materialism and male chauvinism mixed with female subjugation and poverty are a fertile breeding ground for HIV/AIDS. This thesis demonstrates that the loss of this loss of understanding by men is a major driving force behind the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Swaziland.The study explores the gradual shift that has taken Swazis from a strong cultural background to one that is steadily dying. In so doing, this investigation traces how Swazi men were forced through poverty-induced by big business (aided and abetted by the British, the Afrikaners and later the A.N.C.),as well as by their own personal greed-to leave the moderating restraint of their fathers. Generations of young men chose to leave Swaziland to go and work on the gold mines in South Africa. Far from their homes,living in single hostels,the men chose to drink in bars and sleep with prostitutes or girlfriends, and finally formed second families. Out of reach of the restraining influence of their fathers, the strictly moral Swazi culture was perverted through their interaction with foreign cultures –especially that of the West. The male domination mind set was merged with western “free love” understanding, producing a male chauvinist of extreme proportions. The discarding of a centuries-old cultural/moral structure of Ubuntu, together with the African Traditional Religious belief that there is no eternal judgment makes for a potent cocktail,which has resulted in a generation of self-destructing spiritual orphans.In the meantime, HIV/AIDS had been imported to South Africa from Central and Eastern Africa 11 HIV/AIDS appears to have originated in West Africa from where it was transferred eastwards and southwards to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the Congo. [Epstein 2007:41-42]via truckers, migrant labourers and guerrillas,where it found a fruitful home along the trucking routes and on the mines. The Swazis, along with the Tswanas, the Sothos and the South Africans would take the disease home. The combination of extreme male chauvinism, “widespread grazing”(a descriptive Ugandan term associated with sleeping around) [Epstein 2007:162]and no spiritual or cultural constraints have ensured that HIV/AIDS would spread like wildfire –the so called “HIV super highway”.[Epstein 2007: 58]The Church, the governments and the people themselves would spend decades denying the existence of the disease, and now it is almost too late.In an environment where “widespread grazing”is common, even amongst some Pastors, it is little wonder that the nation is dying.The pandemic is steadily bringing Swaziland to its knees. Life expectancy has been reduced to only 31.3 years in 2004 [White side and Whalley 2007: 6] and the quality of life for the vast majority of Swazis leaves much to be desired. The thesis closes with a call to the Church to lead the way by repenting,praying, preaching, living the life we are called to live,and addressing the need for those who are fatherless to be fathered within the Church.
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