Extracts from Hazel Addy's presentation: My trip to southern Africa

I did a lot of travelling:

• Fly to Cape Town overnight 10 hours
• Bus to Eastern Cape 9 hours
• Bus to J’Berg and Maputo overnight and then all next day!
• Fly out of Maputo to LHR via J'berg overnight.

Carol, the Coloured minister with whom I was staying, travels great distances by car to visit neighbouring churches. I spoke at this women’s meeting and led a discussion about the church and AIDS, together with a woman named Clementine who runs all the HIV projects in the area. She had often tried to get churches involved, she said, but as soon as she approached the ministers, that was where things came to a halt. It was noted that the ministers were usually male. These women knew all about the realities of AIDS in their community, wanted to get involved but felt uncomfortable about taking the first steps. Carol talked to me about a woman in her church who, it had been whispered to her after the death, had died with HIV. Carol had been shocked to hear this and wondered why the woman had not felt able to confide in her. Moments like that reminded me so much of when I was HIV adviser for the URC and I found myself saying the same thing, maybe it involves the congregation examining its own prejudices.

What do you think is happening here? The parents of the children being confirmed come for a rehearsal on the Sat evening. Notice, no fathers. And the mothers are looking rather puzzled as to what this is all about.

And here is the confirmation, and the end of the 2 ½ hour communion service. I’m wearing her cassock. I have never worn black to conduct worship and so next to her with her flamboyant red hat and stilleto heels, I felt quite dull. I wrote a prayer for the confirmation service, helped in the dist of communion and also produced a hymn sheet for the conf service in Afrikaans! We did a lot of pastoral visiting during my week with Carol, though I think we would call some of those social visits. In fairness Carol recognised this.