Hoosier Times. Bloomington Indiana. October 16, 2000

'We are still living in two worlds'

Kenyan priest overcomes cultural, religious barriers to educate homeland about AIDS

By David Horn,
Herald-Times Staff Writer

The Rev. Reuben Lubanga, of Bungoma, Kenya, is spending two weeks on Indiana University's Bloomington campus with Outreach Kenya Development Volunteers, a group of students who are helping his crusade against AIDS in western Kenya. Staff photo by David Snodgress

The Rev. Reuben Lubanga may be the only visiting scholar at Indiana University who has dragged a television eight miles in a wheelbarrow for a good cause.

In 1996, the 41-year-old minister from Bungoma, Kenya, launched a one-man crusade to close the information gap about the AIDS epidemic threatening his homeland.

Without a vehicle, he walked to neighboring villages pulling a television, VCR, electric generator and gasoline in his wheelbarrow.

The hum of the generator attracted villagers who remained to watch a video about AIDS prevention. It was the first television program some had ever seen.

In the summer of 1998, an IU student named Hank Selke visited Kenya and volunteered to help Lubanga push his wheelbarrow. With a budget of $150, the two shared AIDS information with about 4,000 villagers.

Returning to IU, Selke and fellow student Philip Roessler co-founded a campus club called Outreach Kenya Development Volunteers.

The club is small, but this summer Selke, Roessler and three other IU students journeyed to Kenya do what they could to help stop the AIDS virus from spreading. They lived with Lubanga on his sugar cane farm.

Limited to a $3,000 budget, students replaced Lubanga's wheelbarrow with a pre-owned Isuzu Trooper. There were 260,000 miles on the odometer but the vehicle was still able to reach remote villages in western Kenya where Lubanga and his IU volunteers brought AIDS information to 12,000 natives.

Lubanga is in Bloomington now to thank those who helped him and encourage support for Outreach Kenya Development Volunteers.

More than 50 students and faculty heard him speak at IU's International House last week, where he outlined the scope of the problem he faces.

The Rev. Reuben Lubanga, right, and Hank Selke listen to an introduction Friday at the International House on the Indiana University campus. Lubanga devotes much of his energy to distributing AIDS information around western Kenya. Staff photo by David Snodgress

"In Kenya, about 500 people die each day from AIDS," he said. "Two of eight Kenyan youths are HIV positive. In the western province where I live, six out of 10 villagers are HIV positive, and 50 percent of patients in hospitals have HIV-related problems."

Lubanga said Kenyan political, cultural and religious obstacles make AIDS information difficult to share.

The Catholic church opposes the use of condoms and does not let him speak in their churches or schools.

"I was originally an Anglican priest," he said, "but I was kicked out because of my work promoting safe sex." He is now Episcopalian.

Political problems sometimes occur when he enters a new village with his AIDS information program, he said.

"Some politicians think I may be trying to promote myself to run for political office," he said.

Full understanding of the cause of AIDS is also retarded by local cultural traditions. Some natives believe AIDS victims are merely bewitched.

"We may be Christians," Lubanga said, "but we are still living in two worlds. Instead of accepting the medical explanation of AIDS, some still believe it is just a bad omen, or caused by witchcraft."

Lubanga said his work is inspired by the anti-AIDS campaign now under way in Uganda, where grassroots efforts like his are officially sanctioned and encouraged and mortality rates are declining.

Roessler, who hosted the meeting, praised Lubanga for his courage and pioneering work.

Esther Mwangi agreed. She is an IU student from Kenya earning a graduate degree in public policy.

"I believe his greatest strength is working at the grassroots level," she said. "It is also good that he is connected with a church. In Kenya people take the church very seriously."

Lubanga said the ancient vehicle he and the students used last summer has broken down and needs repair. To expand his work, he needs three reliable four-wheel vehicles and funds to equip each vehicle with a television, VCR and generator.

For more information, call Outreach Kenya Development Volunteers at 333-1848, Ext. 538, or e-mail Lubanga in Kenya at rlubanga@hotmail.com.

Reporter David Horn can be reached at 331-4307 or by e-mail at dhorn@heraldt.com.