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Church hopes to help HIV/AIDS plight in Africa

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The problems of the people of Kenya seem a world away.

But by dishing up a few dishes native to Africa, members of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Lowcountry are hoping to provide a few solutions to the Kenyans' plight, closer to home.

The greater Bluffton church is hosting a dinner and fundraiser for Upendo Village, a nonprofit providing services to women, men and children with HIV/AIDS in Naivasha, a town about 50 miles northwest of Nairobi. Sister Florence Muia, the nonprofit's founder and a 2005 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, will talk about the project.

"For us, an event like this is very critical to keep the work of Upendo Village going because we're dealing with people who can't afford to pay for the services we give. We're talking about a country with a very poor healthcare system and no insurance," said Muia, who came in contact with the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Lowcountry through Beatrice Hernandez, executive director for Upendo Village. Hernandez's sister and mother live in Sun City Hilton Head. "This project reaches out to people who are infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS. We embrace the whole family, not only the sick person."

"Harambe for Upendo Village" is the theme for the May 10 benefit. "Harambe" is a Swahili word for "coming together as one."

Participants will unite over a buffet-style meal of authentic African dishes: homemade chapatis (a flat bread) with kachumbari, a salsa-like sauce made with cabbage, tomatoes, onions, peppers and seasonings; ugali, a corn meal porridge similar to grits; red kidney beans cooked in coconut milk; various vegetable curries; chicken cooked in peanut sauce; an oil and vinegar coleslaw; baked sweet potatoes; date cakes; and fresh fruit salad, featuring watermelon, pineapple, papaya, mango and bananas.

Members of the Unitarian Universalist congregation will prepare the meal, said Suellen Manning, one of the church's event organizers.

The dinner will be capped with a presentation and slide show by Muia, a member of the Assumption Sisters of Nairobi.

Muia (pronounced "moo-yah") spoke to the Unitarian Universalist congregation in Bluffton about Upendo Village last July. Since then, Kenya has held presidential elections, and violent ethnic clashes ensued after what Western observers labeled vote rigging affected the Dec. 27 election outcome, according to The New York Times.

The Roman Catholic nun will offer an update on the nonprofit, as well as on the current political situation in Kenya and the violence in the Naivasha area.

"Developing nations need a developing world, so we're trying to build a global village of love that helps people come to realize we are brothers and sisters regardless of where we are located," Muia said. "That's the only way we can transform this world. The sufferings of one nation should be felt by nations elsewhere."

Muia was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize as part of the 1,000 Peace Women project, which recommended 1,000 international women who work for peace for the prize in 2005.

For more information about Upendo Village, visit www.upendovillage.org.

Island Packet staff writer Maureen Simpson contributed to this story.

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