As a couple, you can find romance just about anywhere. However, when you visit the Big Apple, romance can be taken to the next level. There are many treasures in New York City for couples, where they can be romantic and also enjoy some culture and heritage. This is one of the reasons that New York City is considered a city that is completely unique.
What would New York City be without Central Park? There are so many romantic things to do in this urban park that you will not get bored. And, that is why it should be in every couple's travel itinerary. You can enjoy a romantic carriage ride through the pathways of the park, and winter is one of the best times to take this ride. Or, head out for a leisurely stroll amidst the lush greenery. If you are visiting New York City in winter, be sure to hire skates and glide on ice at Wollman Rink. It attracts people of all ages.
Central Park is an urban park in the middle of New York City. It is 2.5 miles long, and one of the key factors that makes the city a beautiful one. It is home to the Central Park Zoo, Strawberry Fields and the stunning Belvedere Castle. You can sit near the lake and feed ducks or just get mesmerized by the shimmering water.
Rockefeller Center is perhaps the most popular shopping and entertainment complex in New York City. Located in Manhattan, this center is home to NBC TV and radio. As a couple, the best thing to do is head to the 70-story centrepiece – 30 Rockefeller Plaza – admire the art deco architecture of the towering building before going up to the iconic Top of the Rock Observation Deck. Located on the 67th, 69th, and 70th floors, the observation deck is worthwhile. Be prepared to be awed by the spectacular views of the city.
If you visit the city in winter, head to the Rockefeller Center to get into the festive spirit. Here, you will be greeted by the gigantic Christmas tree, which is erected in front of the outdoor skating rink after Thanksgiving. After getting your fill of the magnificent tree, do try your hand at ice skating and have some fun and frolic.
New York City is a melting pot of culture, and nowhere else is it better depicted than the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was founded in 1870. The museum showcases art spanning a 5,000-year period. While there are three sites that couples can visit, but the most popular is The Met Fifth Avenue site. Here, you will be able to marvel American decorative art, armor, arms, costumes, Egyptian art, musical instruments and more.
You can also visit The Met Cloisters, which is housed in Fort Tryon Park, and showcases medieval art of Europe. If not for anything, visit this museum for its amazing architecture. The structure is surrounded by cloisters and forts that are designed after the medieval architecture found in Europe.
Any visit to New York City is incomplete if you don't catch a Broadway show. The Theater District in the city is home to the Broadway, which is basically a long avenue with several theaters. It is the hub for American theater, where you can watch the latest plays as well as classics. Just make sure that you purchase your tickets in advance. It is one of the most Romantic spots In New York City.
It can be a pleasure to walk along the pedestrian-only alley in the Theater District, the Shubert Alley. The two most popular theaters, Shubert and Booth, are located on this alley. The district is always busy with people trying to catch shows. So, be ready to stand in a long queue with your beloved. Just imagine the excitement you will experience when you are waiting to catch one of the talked-about performances.
Empire State Building is one of the most famous attractions in the Big Apple. Soaring to 381 meters, this building has 102 stories. Its characteristic mooring mast for airships is iconic, and for a long time it had the distinction of being the tallest building in the world.
Take your loved one and head to the two observatories on top of the Empire State Building. You will be impressed with the views. If the sky is clear, you will be able to see New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Even the high-speed elevator ride to the open-air observatory deck can be an exhilarating experience.
If you are looking for one of the most romantic places in NYC as a couple, it has to be the River Cafe. Not only does the cafe offer spectacular view of the East River, but even the food is outstanding. You can expect a fine combination of attentive and unobtrusive service. it is one of the most Romantic Places In New York City at night.
The River Cafe is located at the base of Brooklyn Bridge. It can be a pleasure to see the lights of Manhattan glistening and shimmering on the surface of the water. What can be more romantic than this? Of course, when this view is accompanied by sumptuous food, you know that romance is going to be in the books for sure.
Music can always infuse romance into any relationship. So, why not do just that? Head out to the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts. It will make your romance blossom even further as you watch soul-stirring ballet performances, listen to arias and tenor of the New York Metropolitan Opera or enjoy the emotive performance of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
A visit to the Lincoln Center will surely give you one-of-a-kind romantic experience as you hear the bells and whistles in the background, taking your romance to a different level altogether! So, do make sure this unique location is part of your sightseeing plan when you visit the city.
Where in the world will you find a rail line that has been converted into a walking trail? The answer obviously is New York City, where the High Line has been transformed into an elevated public park that has glass railings and a wide range of plants and trees. Located on the West Side of Manhattan, the High Line runs from Gansevoort Street to West 34th Street.
As you walk along the route, you will see art installation and even have an opportunity to go through the Meatpacking District, where there are fine dining restaurants and chic restaurants. Using the access point at the 16th Street, you can get off the High Line and enjoy a romantic and leisurely stroll around Chelsea Market, which is housed in the former Nabisco factory building. Be sure to visit the food court where you can enjoy some unique delicacies.
This is the square where you can find huge electronic screens and advertising billboards. Times Square is also the place where the iconic New Year's Eve ball drop takes place at midnight. However, there is more to Times Square that this. It is constantly crowded because of its unique appeal. You can sit on bleachers and just while away time watching the people go by.
It is truly an iconic square and is unique to New York City. It is a truly historic site. Times Square is the first time the world witnessed display of headlines on a moving sign in 1928. So, spending time at the square is like being part of unique history.
The Brooklyn Bridge is renowned for its Gothic structure. This suspension bridge has been inspiration for poets, painters and songwriters. It stretches across the East River, connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn. When it was inaugurated in 1883, it was the first suspension bridge in the world.
It can be a romantic experience for couples to walk on the wooden plank walkway that run over the traffic lanes. Standing on the bridge you can get an awe-inspiring view of the Statue of Liberty. Access to the pedestrian and cyclist walkway is away from the waterfront, and at the first pillar, there is a viewing platform where you can see one of the granite towers clearly.
There are many things for couples to do in New York City. You will not spend a boring moment in the city, and by instilling romance, fun and adventure in your NYC sojourn, you can be certain your stay in the city will re-ignite the flames of love and passion. So, book your travel to New York City today and be prepared to get mesmerized by the sights and sounds that will greet you on arrival.


text:
The Approach of Churches and Church-Related Organizations to HIV/AIDS Programmes: Based on Case Studies in Ethiopia and Southern India
von Andrea Schirmer-Müller (Autor)
Masterarbeit 2005 117 Seiten
Politik - Internationale Politik - Thema: Entwicklungspolitik
Format: PDF – für alle Geräte
2 HIV/AIDS - Basic Facts and Problems
2.1 Basic Facts and Background on HIV/AIDS
2.2 Main Problems of the HIV/AIDS Disease
2.3 HIV/AIDS Globally - Epidemiological Data
3 Country Profiles of Ethiopia and India Regarding HIV/AIDS
3.1 Political, Demographic and Socio-Economic Characteristics of Ethiopia
3.2 HIV/AIDS in Ethiopian Context
3.3 Political, Demographic and Socio-Economic Characteristics of India
3.4 HIV/AIDS in Indian Context
4 Churches and Church-related Organizations and HIV/AIDS
4.1 The Role of Churches in the Struggle against HIV/AIDS
4.1.1 Churches and their Specific Advantages in the Struggle against HIV/AIDS
4.1.2 Churches and their Role in the Struggle against HIV/AIDS
4.2 The Churches and their Theological Perspectives on HIV/AIDS
4.2.1 HIV/AIDS in the Background of Biblical Statements
4.2.2 Ecumenical Theological Understanding of Sin Related to HIV/AIDS
4.2.3 Ecumenical Theological Understanding of Punishment and Forgiveness
Related to HIV/AIDS
4.3 Church as a Healing Community and Pastoral Care
4.4 Selected Ethical Perspectives on HIV/AIDS of the Ecumenical
4.5 Transmission of the Ethical and Theological Perspectives into the
4.5.1 Stigmatization and Discrimination
4.5.2 Respect of a Person – Confidentiality
4.5.3 Gender Issues
4.5.4 Children and Young People
4.5.5 Sex Education
4.5.6 The Use of Condoms
4.5.7 Poverty and Economic Justice
4.5.8 Human Rights on the Background of HIV/AIDS
4.5.8.1 Access to Anti-Retroviral Medication – a Human Right
5 Churches, Church Relates Organizations and Selected
Organizations Dealing with HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia and India
5.1 Ethiopian Churches, Church-related Organizations and
Secular Organizations Dealing with HIV/AIDS Issues –Table 1
5.2 Indian Churches, Church-related Organizations and Secular
Organizations dealing with HIV/AIDS Issues – Table 2
6 Implmented Strategies and Activities for Responding to the
HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia and India - Challenges and Limitations
6.1 Ethiopian Churches and Organizations Interviewed
6.1.1 Identified Advantages of Churches in Working with HIV/AIDS Compared
to Secular Organizations
6.1.2 Identified Disadvantages of Churches in Working with HIV/AIDS
Compared to Secular Organizations
6.1.3 General Objectives Mentioned by Churches and Church-related
Organizations Interviewed
6.1.4 Target Groups Mentioned by the Churches and Church-related
6.1.5 Practical Aims and HIV/AIDS Programmes and Strategies Mentioned
by the Churches and Church-related Organizations
6.1.5.1 Prevention Sector
6.1.5.2 Care and Support Sector
6.1.7 Mainstreaming HIV/AIDS
6.1.8 Advocacy, Lobbying and Networking
6.1.9 Monitoring and Evaluation (hereafter, M&E)
6.1.10 Identified Problems in General
6.1.11 The Role of Expatriates in the Churches
6.2 Indian Churches and Organizations Interviewed
Compared to Secular Organization
6.2.3 General Objectives Mentioned by the Churches and Church Institutions
6.2.9 Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)
7 Conclusion and Recommendations.
Dankesworte/Acknowledgements
Table 1 Ethiopian Churches, church-related Organizations and Secular Organizations dealing with HIV/AIDS
Table 2 Indian Churches, Church-related Organizations and Secular Organizations dealing with HIV/AIDS Issues
Table 3 Objectives of Ethiopian Churches and Church-related Organizations dealing
with HIV/AIDS
Table 4 Target Groups of Ethiopian Churches and Church-related Organizations
Table 5 Prevention Programmes of Ethiopian Churches and Church-related
Table 6 Care and Support Programmes of Ethiopian Churches and Church-related Organizations
Table 7 Objectives of Indian Churches and Church-related Organizations dealing
Table 8 Target Groups of Indian Churches and Church-related Organizations
Table 9 Prevention Programmes of the Indian Churches and Church-related
Table 10 Care and Support Programmes of Indian Churches and Church-related Organizations
The Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (hereafter, AIDS) pandemic has changed many parts of the world in just a short time despite efforts aimed at controlling it. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (hereafter, HIV)/AIDS is predominantly a sexually transmitted disease that causes illness and death. The groups most at risk are those between 15 and 49 years, often described as the "sexually active", who are the most reproductive people in society and the backbone of the productive forces of any country. The particularities of this disease are not only the large number of victims, but also the suffering of those affected. AIDS is related to two deep dimensions of the human existence: sexuality and death. The impact of HIV/AIDS is multi-dimensional as the disease affects social, economic, political, psychological, cultural, ethical and religious areas.
Additionally, the connection of sexuality and death is often linked to the questions of guilt and innocence, chance and causality. Wherever such deep dimensions of human existence are raised, religion may be called upon. The questions of the why and whereto are not purely questions of medical science but often involve transcendence and therefore religion. HIV/AIDS and the approach of churches and church-related organizations is a complex issue. In many countries, congregations and parishes are seen to be in the forefront of effective contributions to sexual education and prevention, especially in the form of care and support programmes. AIDS thus mobilizes churches as healing communities. On the other hand, churches are often accused of being a sleeping giant, of promoting stigmatization and discrimination based on fear and prejudices, of reducing issues related to AIDS to simplistic, rigid sexual and moral judgements. They are said to be hindering appropriate preventative measures and leaving those "out there" to the consequences of their own debauchery and sin. The German "Fachkreis Ethik", a working group of the German Action Campaign against AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis [1], states that churches should recognize that they cannot dissociate themselves from the HIV/AIDS problem, taking into consideration the fact that 25 to 30 million of the 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS (hereafter, PLWHA) are baptised Christians. Therefore, AIDS is a central problem of the church and cannot be considered as a problem of some people "outside", people living in poverty, some prostitutes or drug users, as has sometimes been claimed in the past. The slogans "we, the Christians – as well as the churches – 'have' AIDS" or "the body of Christ has AIDS"[2] indicate that churches are willing to focus on the global struggle against HIV/AIDS.[3]
This study examines the content and the implementation of church programmes on HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support, focusing on Ethiopia and Southern India. It is guided by the assumption that the approach to HIV/AIDS of parishes and church-related organizations might differ from the approach recommended by umbrella church organizations such as the World Council of Churches (hereafter, WCC). It is also assumed that church-related HIV/AIDS programmes differ somewhat from those of secular organizations, although this is not a comparative study. Additionally, this study attempts to answer the question of whether the church-based approaches are more or less helpful to the beneficiaries than other approaches. Finally, the study's investigation focuses on the question: Do the HIV/AIDS programmes of churches and church-related organizations contribute to an effective reduction of the pandemic, or, if not, what changes could be suggested?
The purpose of this study is to discuss the involvement and approaches of churches and church-related organizations in the struggle against HIV/AIDS on the basis of the following research questions:
- How do churches and church-related organizations approach the HIV/AIDS pandemic under the aspect of ethical, social and theological issues?
- What kinds of strategies, concepts and activities are being developed by churches and church-related organizations in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia and India?
How do they correspond with their theological framework?
- Through which measures can churches and church-related organizations improve their performance in the struggle against HIV/AIDS?
The research is informed by the following hypotheses:
The church and church-related organizations have a specific, theology-based approach to HIV/AIDS programmes.
The theology-based approaches may not correspond with the practical HIV/AIDS approaches of churches at grass-roots level.
The research was conducted in Ethiopia and India.
Ethiopia : Ethiopia was chosen for this study because nearly its entire population belongs to religious communities; just under 50 percent of Ethiopians are members of the so-called Christian mainline churches and newly appeared charismatic movements. One of the fastest growing churches worldwide can be found in Ethiopia, the Lutheran-based former mission church, the "Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus" (hereafter, EECMY), which is a national church operating in almost all regions of Ethiopia. The other half of the population belongs to the Islamic community, and few practise traditional religions, particularly in the South. The government tends to neglect the seriousness of the increasing HIV/AIDS prevalence, which was estimated at 4.4% in 2003. Due to this fact, churches and religious communities face a specific challenge in the struggle against HIV/AIDS.
India : India was selected for its contrasts with Ethiopia. Just 2.7% of its population of one billion belong to Christian churches. Christians are in the minority and therefore face specific challenges. Moreover, India is still influenced by the caste system. Most of the Christians belong to the Dalits.[4] Specific attention to this issue in relation to the stigmatization of PLWHA is needed. India has the largest total number of HIV/AIDS-infected people globally; the estimated number is five to six million. In relation to the vast population, the HIV/AIDS prevalence is, however, very low. Due to this fact, the Indian government has only just started to respond to the problems related to HIV/AIDS.
It was furthermore of particular interest to the researcher to study some of those churches which maintain partnership relations with German churches.
Instrumentation and Data Collection Techniques
This study makes use of both primary and secondary data. The methodological approach to the topic is a combination of qualitative research and literature analysis.
Data Collection, Arrangement of Interviews with Experts, Observations, and Analysis of Collected Data
The collection of primary data focused particularly on people in charge of HIV/AIDS desks. The data was collected using structured interviews with experts from churches and church-related organizations. The interviews were divided into two parts. A structured questionnaire constituted the first part, after which an informal discussion focused on the personal attitudes of the expert in charge of the HIV/AIDS desk towards HIV/AIDS programmes. The research results were analysed qualitatively, paying particular regard to the identities of persons responsible for the HIV/AIDS area.
The researcher also attended workshops and seminaries on the topic of HIV/AIDS conducted by churches and church-related organizations. This was done in order to collect information about the concrete content of the trainings, to find out if they corresponded with training manuals, and to study the implementation of HIV/AIDS programmes. Informal discussions with church leaders and managers of church-related institutions provided complementary information about the objectives and implementations of their HIV/AIDS programmes.
Review of Current Literature and the Development of this Research
A general increase in literature on HIV/AIDS issues can be observed; there is also an extensive coverage of the churches' response to the disease. Most of them have no scientific background. Some solitary studies can be found, edited by church-related organizations. However, most of them were published in the 1990s. However, the secondary data collections were mostly based on so-called grey literature, that is, studies, web pages, former research, magazines, newspapers, journals, and activity reports of churches. Internal assessments of churches or church-related organizations concerned supplemented the literature. Reports and studies by relevant UN agencies and the WCC provided secondary data. General literature on HIV/AIDS provided additional information on the topic under study.
"Our youth are dying like flies due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic", stated a Lutheran Bishop from Swaziland in 2004[5]. What began as a disease infecting homosexual men in the United States in the early 1980s has become a global crisis that is decimating populations – especially women, young adults and children, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, but also with steep increases occurring in East and Central Asia and Eastern Europe.[6]
AIDS is a syndrome with various symptoms and clinical pictures, caused by the weakening of the immune system as a result of an infection with one of the two types of the HI virus, HIV-1 and HIV-2. It is the final stage of the HIV disease and is characterised by the appearance of a multitude of opportunistic infections, resulting from the breakdown of the immune system.[7] These opportunistic infections include pneumonia, diarrhoea and skin diseases, Kaposi's sarcoma, and tuberculosis, the latter of which is mainly found in Africa.
All forms of HIV can be transmitted in four different ways:
- sexual intercourse (anal, vaginal, oral) through semen and vaginal discharge;
- contaminated blood or blood products;
- contaminated syringes and instruments;
- mother-to-child transmission (hereafter, MTCT) or "vertical" transmission from an HIV-infected woman to the baby in the uterus, during childbirth or through breastfeeding.
The risk of transmission lies substantially lower than is widely assumed. It is 0.01% for a one-time sexual contact from an infected person to a non-infected person.[8] The risk is higher, about 1%, when HIV is already in an advanced stage or when a person has another sexually transmitted disease (hereafter, STD). The risk of getting an HIV infection is up to 10-fold higher for people with STDs. Almost 87% of all HIV-infections in Africa are transmitted through heterosexual intercourse, while in industrialized countries, only 24% of all HIV-infections are transmitted that way.
2.2 Main Problems related to the HIV/AIDS Disease
In spite of intensive biomedical research, no cure has yet been found for the immune deficiency caused by the HIV infection. Continuing attempts to develop an effective vaccine or prophylaxis against the HIV infection have so far been unsuccessful till today.
However, there have been major advances in clinical treatment in regard to prolonging life and mitigating the disease. Since 1996, anti-retroviral therapies have been used when patients' CD4[9] cell counts fall and their immune systems fail. Anti-retroviral drugs (hereafter, ARVs) act specifically against the HI virus. The introduction of combination ARV therapy has resulted in declining mortality rates from HIV, but only among the rich in industrialized countries. High prices for drugs, patent protection for branded drugs, inadequate infrastructure and lack of training of healthcare workers can be seen as blocking access to ARV in many of the poor countries. Despite the increasing awareness of ethical and moral implications of inequalities in AIDS treatment between poor and rich countries and the substantial reduction of prices for ARVs, only 800 000 people worldwide take ARV drugs, around 500 000 of whom live in industrialized countries.[10] However, the demand to increase access to ARVs for PLWHA in developing countries has been voiced ever more clearly by AIDS activists, scientists and civil society.
Due to their weakened immune systems, PLWHA are more likely to catch various opportunistic diseases. The treatment of many opportunistic infections related to HIV/AIDS, which occur more easily without ARV treatment, is very costly and thus often not affordable to people in developing countries. Tuberculosis (hereafter, TB) is the most common opportunistic infection related to HIV/AIDS. In South Africa, approximately 50 percent of TB patients are infected with HIV[11], and the tendency is rising.
Another specific problem in connection with HIV/AIDS is the high percentage of AIDS orphans.[12] More than 14 million children under the age of 15 are AIDS orphans, 12 million of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa. USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development) and UNAIDS estimate that by the year 2010, the number of AIDS orphans will have risen to more than 25 million, or even 40 million.
AIDS is an infection with a high percentage (25 per cent, UNICEF) of mother-to-child transmission (hereafter, MTCT), also called vertical transmission. Around one half of the transmissions occur during pregnancy and birth, the other half during the breastfeeding period, if no medication is available.
In 2004, the total number of people living with HIV reached the highest level ever estimated, contradicting former assumptions that the HIV/AIDS pandemic had already crossed its peak. In December 2004, the "Global Summary of the AIDS Epidemic" of UNAIDS[13] released HIV data on global, regional and national levels for 2004. That year, approximately 39.4 million (35.9 – 44.3 million) people in total were living with HIV worldwide. Of those, 37.2 million (33.8 – 41.7 million) were adults[14] and 2.2 million (2.0 – 2.6 million) children under 15 years. Women accounted to 17.6 million (16.3 – 19.5 million). In 2004, 4.9 million (4.3 – 6.4 million) people were newly infected with HIV, out of whom 4.3 million (3.7 – 5.7 million) were adults and 640 000 (570 000 – 750 000) children under 15 years. In the same year, 3.1 million (2.8 – 3.5 million) people in total were killed by the global AIDS epidemic, comprising 2.6 million (2.3 – 2.9 million) adults and 510 000 (460 000 – 600 000) children under 15 years.
Ethiopia is located in the Horn of Africa. In terms of population, it is one of the most populous countries in Africa. Ethiopia represents a melting-pot of ancient Middle Eastern and African cultures, reflected by its religious, ethnic and language composition. In 2004, the Amhara and Oromo population groups represented the majority; they accounted for about 60% of the total population of 73 million[15], of which 54.4 million (85%) people lived in rural areas. The annual population growth rate is about 2.4% in 2005; 44% of the population is below 14 years, while 43% are between 15 and 49 years of age[16]. In 2003, the adult literacy rate was around 42% and primary school enrolment was less than 27% in 1999. 31% of the entire population lived on less than one US-dollar a day; the GNI (Gross National Income) per capita amounted to US$ 110.00 in 2004[17]. Ethiopia belongs to the world's least developed countries according to the Human Development Index, ranking 170th of 177 countries in total. Agriculture dominates the Ethiopian economy, accounting for about 50% of the GDP, 65% of all exports and 85% of employment. The main cash and industrial crops are coffee, oil seeds, pulses, cotton, sisal, tobacco, fruits and sugar cane. The manufacturing products are textiles, foodstuff, beverages, cement, leather and leather products, wood, metallic products and others.
The National Health Service coverage is below 51% with wide disparities between rural and urban areas and between different regions. Fewer than 20% of Ethiopians live within a two-hour walk of a modern healthcare facility. One fifth of Ethiopian children die before their fifth birthday, often due to communicable diseases such as diarrhoea, measles, malaria, or respiratory infections. Only 12% of the rural and 26% of the urban population have access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation facilities. 47% of children under five years are underweight. The mortality rate of children below five years of age is 9.7%, one of the highest in the world, and a mere 2% of all deliveries are attended to by trained health personnel. Life expectancy at birth is 52 years.
Since 1996, a national report entitled "AIDS in Ethiopia" has been published by the Ministry of Health (hereafter, MOH) every two years. It provides a useful overview of the current situation in Ethiopia in addition to the "Epidemiological Fact Sheets on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections - Ethiopia" by UNAIDS, UNICEF and WHO. The true number of AIDS cases is unknown, mainly because they are not being properly reported. Some people have no access to health services or hospital HIV/AIDS care. As a consequence, people with an HIV infection may die of an opportunistic disease before they are diagnosed as having AIDS. Patients' records are also not kept properly. Finally, a little-developed reporting culture in the country is one of the reasons why information about HIV/AIDS patients cannot be kept properly.
In 1989, the prevalence of HIV among adults was 2.7%. It increased rapidly in the 1990s. In 2001, the estimation of the national HIV prevalence rate was based on data from 34 sentinel surveillance sites of which 28 are urban and six rural. The national HIV prevalence rate was estimated to be 10.6%, representing more than two million people. In 2002, the prevalence rate indicated 6.6%. Out of the more than 23.000 national sentinel surveillance samples obtained 8.2% (4.1% rural and 12% urban) were found to be positive in 2003. The estimated national adult HIV prevalence in 2003 was 4.4% (2.8% - 6.6%), 1.5 million.[18], perhaps an indication for a possible stabilization of the epidemic, or a result of more extensive surveillance data. In 2002, the urban HIV/AIDS prevalence rate was 13.7%, while that for rural areas was 3.7%. The prevalence rate for Addis Ababa is 15.6%. The highest prevalence of HIV occurs among people of 15 to 24 years of age, representing "recent infections". The age and gender distribution of reported AIDS cases shows that about 91% of infections occur among adults between 15 and 49 years. The data also show that the number of females infected between 15 and 19 years is much higher than the number of males in the same age group. In 2001, 1.2 million orphans were being reported. The major avenue of transmission of HIV infections in Ethiopia is heterosexual intercourse. Exact figures are lacking.[19] Various contributory factors to the spread of HIV/AIDS can be observed: Poverty and low health status of the majority of the population give fertile ground for the spread of HIV/AIDS. A high unemployment rate, low return from informal sector income-generating projects, and economic migrants lead to high-risk behaviour such as prostitution. Moreover, a study of the urban population found that 22% of adult men and 8% of adult women are engaged in sex with multiple partners[20], which increases the risk of acquiring the virus. Unprotected sex is very popular and contributes to the spread of HIV. Until today, the Ethiopian government as well as the population tend to deny the extent of the epidemic. Denial and ignorance lead to silence, and silence supports the spread of HIV/AIDS. According to the "Baseline Survey on Harmful Traditional Practices in Ethiopia", the prevalence of female genital mutilation in the country accounts to 78%. This harmful tradition practised for a long time has a high potential of spreading HIV. It is only since 2004 that female genital mutilation is forbidden by law in Ethiopia. Consequently, women at a reproductive age are normally circumcised. Dry sex, which increases the risk of HIV transmission for women, is very common among circumcised women. The presence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) increases the risk of HIV/AIDS transmission. The risk is about 1% when HIV is already in a further stage, or when one person has a sexually transmitted disease. The risk of getting an HIV infection is up to 10-fold for people with STDs. The unadjusted syphilis prevalence among ANC attendees in 2003 was 1.8 percent.[21] Women are more vulnerable to HIV infections. The subordinate position of women in Ethiopia, the inability to negotiate on safe sex, the young age of girls at first marriage, violence, abduction, and female genital mutilation all enhance the vulnerability of women in Ethiopia. Furthermore, the Ethiopian society tends to be very mobile for various reasons, for instance to search employment. Commercial sex workers (hereafter, CSW), truck drivers, seasonal workers, traders and members of the military belong to these very mobile groups. Urbanization, war and conflicts as well as recurrent droughts contribute to mobility; internal displacement, migration and extended families, traditional behaviour patterns and social control mechanisms do not function on the same level as in the past. Migrants, however, have a higher risk of getting HIV-infected. Additionally, the months-long absence of men from their family contributes to a risky behaviour and finally to the spread of HIV in the villages when migrant workers come back home to their partners and often do not know that they are HIV-positive.
In response to HIV/AIDS, the Federal Government of Ethiopia has developed important policy and strategic instruments to curb the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS on human and social capital development.[22] Two medium-term plans (1987-1992 and 1992-1997) focused on public awareness, the establishment of laboratory services, surveillance of HIV and training of health workers, put emphasis on interventions to stop the spread of HIV, and adopted a multi-sectoral approach to mobilize a widespread effort against AIDS through the decentralization of AIDS/STD prevention and control activities. The federal government of Ethiopia has produced and implemented guidelines on sentinel surveillance and counselling, and also launched a national policy on HIV/AIDS in 1998. The policy includes the following:
encouraging people to maintain faithful sexual relations with only one partner;
promoting the use of condoms in situations with a risk of HIV transmission;
minimizing other unsafe practices such as illegal injections, harmful traditional procedures and drug addiction;
ensuring safe medical practices to protect against HIV transmissions from patient to patient and from patient to healthcare provider;
ensuring the human rights of PLWHA.
The National AIDS Council was established in 2000 to intensify and coordinate the multi-sectoral response to the epidemic. The council is chaired by the Ethiopian president and consists of members of sector ministries, regional states, NGOs, religious bodies and representatives from civil society and PLWHA. Later, a National AIDS Council Secretariat will be established under the prime minister's office, and the government has developed a strategic framework for the national response to HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia that covers the period 2001-2005. The major areas addressed are: prevention of the transmission, development of voluntary counselling and testing, alleviation of personal and social impact of HIV/AIDS development, and promotion of HIV/AIDS operational research and monitoring. Finally, AIDS councils have been established at the national, regional and sub-regional levels with secretariats supporting them.
India has an area of 3,287,263 sq km. The capital of India is New Delhi with around 9.8 million inhabitants; the country's largest city is Mumbai (formerly Bombay) with around 12 million people. Chennai (formerly Madras) has 4.2 million people, according to the Indian Census 2001.[23] India is one of the world's most populous countries, with a population of 1.06 billion estimated for 2003[24], and an average population density of 325 persons per sq km in 2001. An estimated 72% of India's inhabitants live in rural areas. The estimated annual population growth rate in 2003 was 1.6%[25]. 32.2% of the population are below 14 years, while 63% are between 15 and 64 years of age. The average age was 24.1 years in 2002[26]. 47% of the children under the age of five are malnourished. The life expectancy at birth is 63 years. The illiteracy rate in total is 39%. 46% of the women are illiterate and the gross primary enrolment of school age population is 99%[27]. 29% of the population live on less than one US$ per day; an estimated total number of 291 million of the population live in absolute poverty. The GDP per capita was around US$ 540 in 2002. India ranks 127th of the Human Development Index.
There are 28 States and seven Union Territories in India. The main ethnic groups are Indo-Aryan (72%), Dravidian (25%) and Mongoloid (3%). India is a multilingual society with 18 principal languages recognised by the constitution. A large share of people speaks Hindi (38%), while English is the predominant business language. Religion – deeply rooted in history – is very important in India; Hinduism and Buddhism both originated here. The major religious groups are Hindus (81.3%), Muslims (12%), Christians (2.6%), Sikh (1.9%) and others, including Buddhist, Jain and Parsi. The social and economic framework for the life of the people in India is historically formed by the caste-system. The values of the caste system are still adhered to, particularly in rural areas. The caste system encompasses a complex order of social groups on the basis of ritual purity in which the social and economic rights of each individual caste are predetermined by birth. A person is born into a caste and remains within it until death. There are four principle castes: the Brahmins, the Kshatrias, the Vysias and the Sudras. At the bottom of the system are the outcastes, the untouchables. The outcastes mostly work for the other groups.
Since independence, the Indian economy has struggled hard to improve its pace of development. Notably in the past few years, the cities have undergone tremendous infrastructural up-gradation. In most parts of rural India, the situation is, however, very different.[28] More than 58% of the country's population depends on agriculture, a sector producing just 22% of the GDP.[29] India is the largest producer of tea, jute and jute-like fibre. The industrial sector of India produces 26.4% of the GDP and the manufacturing sector 15.6% of the GDP[30]. The main export commodities are textile goods, agricultural goods, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, software services and technology, chemicals, and leather products. The service sector is the highest contributor to the total GDP with 50.7%. India's large number of English-speaking, skilled manpower has made the country a major exporter of software services and software workers.
The National AIDS Control Organization (hereafter, NACO), the Ministry of Health and others have been updating HIV estimates for the country every year since 1998. The number of HIV infections in India is, however, difficult to determine and subject to ongoing controversy. India's prevalence estimates are solely based on sentinel surveillance conducted at 455 public sites in 2003.[31] The country has no overall national information system to collect HIV testing information from the private sector, which provides 80% of health care in the country. Therefore, figures out of the "Epidemiological Fact Sheets on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections - India"[32] by UNAIDS, UNICEF and WHO are additionally used to give an overview about the HIV/AIDS prevalence in India.
The first case of AIDS in India was detected in a female commercial sex worker in 1986 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. In the initial stage, there was a sense of denial and complacency in India's response to HIV/AIDS. India was considered to be "immune" to HIV/AIDS due to its cultural, moral and religious norms.[33] However, in 1987, NACO launched programme activities covering surveillance, screening of blood and blood products and health education, as well as the formulation of policies, prevention and control programmes. The government launched a strategic plan for HIV/AIDS prevention under the National AIDS Control Project in 1992. The project established the administrative and technical basis for programme management and also set up state AIDS bodies in 25 states and seven union territories. The project improved blood safety. India has had a sharp increase in the estimated number of HIV infections, from a few thousand in the early 1990s to 3.6 million in the late 1990s. In 2003, it was estimated that 5.1 million (2.5 million – 8.5 million) children and adults were living with HIV/AIDS. Of these, around 600 000 are in need of antiretroviral therapy (hereafter, ART) but less than 30 000 are currently receiving it. The government of India launched the national antiretroviral programme in April 2004[34]. In South and South-East Asia, 30% of adults (up from 28% two years ago) and 40% of young people living with HIV are women and girls. In 2004, women accounted for more than one quarter of new HIV infections in India, according to estimates, and 90% of those who test positive at antenatal clinics say they are in single, long-term relationships.[35] Around 38% of PLWHA were women. In 2001, the number of orphaned children was estimated at 1.2 million. Although children are not yet being orphaned by HIV/AIDS on a large scale in most cities, studies have shown that the problem of orphans in some urban slum areas of India is already severe.[36] The UN estimates that there were 2.7 million AIDS-related deaths in India between 1980 and 2000.[37] The national adult HIV prevalence is 0.9%; India continues to be in the category of low prevalence countries with an overall prevalence of less than 1%.
The spread of HIV within the country is as diverse as the societal patterns between its different regions, states and metropolitan areas. In fact, India's epidemic is made up of a number of epidemics, and in some places they occur within the same state. The epidemics vary from states with mainly heterosexual transmission of HIV, to states where injecting drug use is the main route of HIV transmission.[38] Of the 35 states of India, six states, four in southern India (Andra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka) and two in north-eastern India (Manipur and Nagaland), have generated epidemics with HIV prevalence rates of above 1% among pregnant women. These six states account for nearly 80% of all reported AIDS cases in the country. In the southern states, heterosexual transmission accounts for the majority of the reported cases, whereas in the north-eastern states of Manipur und Nagaland, injecting drug use is the predominant mode of transmission, where the prevalence among intravenous drug users (hereafter, IDUs) was 56% in 2003. More than 50% of the CSWs in urban southern states are infected.[39] In total, the epidemic is primarily (85.69%) spread by sexual contacts, both homo- and heterosexual, 2.7% of the transmissions are MTCT, 2.57% occur through blood and blood products, and about 2.4% through IDUs in 2003.[40] Around 60% of PLWHA suffer from opportunistic infections, of which the number one is tuberculosis.
It is estimated that 70% of the CSWs in Mumbai are HIV-positive. Although HIV/AIDS is still largely concentrated in at-risk populations, including CSWs[41], IDUs, and truck drivers, the surveillance data suggests that the epidemic is moving beyond these groups in some regions and into the general population. It is also moving from urban to rural districts.[42]
A National Behavioural Surveillance Survey (hereafter, BSS) was conducted by an external agency amongst 3832 people aged 15-49 years from all over the country in 2001.[43] Overall, 76.1% (82.4% males, 70% females) had heard of HIV/AIDS before. More than three out of every four respondents were aware that HIV/AIDS is transmitted through sexual intercourse. The awareness rates were higher among the urban residents. 46.8% in the entire country were aware of the two important methods of prevention of transmission, i.e. consistent condom use and a sexual relationship with a faithful and uninfected partner. The proportion of respondents aware of both methods was lowest among rural females. In general, the findings of BSS show that there are significant differences concerning the awareness levels regarding HIV/AIDS/STDs. In most instances, females and rural residents were more disadvantaged compared to their counterparts.[44]
In India, AIDS is perceived as a disease of "others" - of people living at the margins of society, whose lifestyles are considered perverted and sinful. Discrimination, stigmatisation and denial are the outcomes of such values, affecting life in families, communities, workplaces, schools and health care settings.[45] Social reactions to people with AIDS have mostly been negative. For example, in one study, 36% of the respondents felt it would be better if infected people killed themselves; the same percentage believed that infected people deserved their fate. Also, 34% said they would not associate with people with AIDS, and one fifth stated that AIDS was a punishment from God.[46] The health care sector has generally been the most conspicuous context for HIV/AIDS-related discrimination, stigma and denial. Negative attitudes from health care staff have generated anxiety and fear among many people living with HIV and AIDS. As a result, many keep their status secret, fearing still worse treatment from others. Women are often blamed by their parents and in-laws for infecting their husbands, or for not controlling their partners' urges to have sex with other women. On 16 February 2005, "The Hindu" released an article under the headline "HIV-positive women killed". An HIV-positive woman had allegedly been killed by her relatives at Dharasana village in Gujarat's Valsad district, reported the police.[47]
People in marginalized groups (CSWs, transgender and gay men) are often doubly stigmatised if they have a positive HIV status.[48]
It is impossible to mention in this thesis all theological directions and trends of different churches concerning their approaches to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The focus therefore lies on the theological and ethical framework of the HIV/AIDS study "Facing AIDS, The Challenge, the Churches' Response", published in 1997, reprinted in 2001 by the WCC, which comprises more than 340 member churches in about 100 countries. The publication is based on a three-year, broadly-based study with the aim to examine the theological and ethical issues raised by AIDS, to research an appropriate response to church members who are directly affected, and to identify issues of human rights directly related to the spread of HIV/AIDS. The study is commended to the churches for reflection and appropriate action.
The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church of the WCC, but works closely together with the WCC council. Nevertheless, most of the Ethiopian and Indian churches mentioned in the following section are member churches of the WCC. In addition, some theological statements of a consultation on "HIV/AIDS: A Challenge to Theological Education", held by medical personnel, theology teachers, and pastors of various Indian Christian churches in Bangalore in the end of 2003 will be used to complement the theological and ethical framework regarding AIDS.
Churches and church-related organisations have a unique possibility to contribute to the struggle against HIV/AIDS.[49] They constitute a microcosm of society and are an integral part of life and society in many parts of the world. Church networks cover even remote areas in rural regions in all countries worldwide; they are rooted in local structures and additionally have an autonomous organizational structure, and therefore a good opportunity for social mobilization. Like no other institution, they have the possibility to reach the people on a weekly basis through their Sunday services. They have the largest constituency of people and an enviable infrastructure, extending from the international community to the marginalized. Their credibility is very high because of their presence at grassroots level and their involvement with the people at nearly every aspect of their lives. There is a strong social trust and confidence in churches. The influence of church leaders is considerable. Churches have a particular resource in their parishes, namely the voluntary lay people who care e.g. for the sick and for orphans. Churches provide a holistic ministry for those infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS, addressing the physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being of the individual and the community.[50]
Therefore, churches have a high potential in community mobilization. Churches and church-related organizations operate alongside governments, providing the same major services and often filling the gaps where governments fail to act. In addition to spiritual care, counselling, community and social life, and the provision of preaching places, churches provide an immense field of social services. Their outreach projects cover the medical sector and social welfare, education from primary education to university level, justice, environmental protection, and peacekeeping. Additionally, churches are involved in development programmes such as agricultural projects, poverty alleviation schemes, feeding projects, empowerment and capacity building projects, and homeless shelters. A UNICEF report summarizes the role of churches in developing countries: "Religion plays a central, integrating role in social and cultural life in most developing countries … there are many more religious leaders than health workers. They are in closer and regular contact with all age groups in society and their voice is highly respected. In traditional communities, religious leaders are often more influential than local government officials or secular community leaders."[51] Therefore, churches are able to cover all fields in the struggle against HIV/AIDS, in the prevention sector through education, information and awareness, and in the care and support sector through medical care, testing and spiritual counselling. Finally, advocacy and lobbying for PLWHA is an important area in which the church is able to operate.
Despite the opportunities of the churches in the combat against HIV/AIDS, "AIDS and the churches" is a complex subject. Many questions still have to be answered. Are churches, especially at the grass-roots level, really committed to the topic HIV/AIDS, or do they get stuck in their often rigid sexual morality and the rejection of preventative measures? Is the pandemic a problem which comes from the outside, or is it part of the church? Does the church debate the theological and ethical background of HIV/AIDS-related issues? For many, churches are part of the problem rather than of the solution. Churches often understand themselves as keepers of rigid sexual morals, so that to many church members, confronted with the HIV/AIDS topic, not diseases come to mind in the first place, but sin, debauchery, homosexuals, and promiscuity. Consequently, a fruitful soil is being created for prejudices, stigmatization and discrimination of affected people. On this background, topics related to HIV/AIDS were a taboo. Thus, the study by the WCC on HIV/AIDS states that the response of the churches has by and large been inadequate, and in some cases has made the problem even worse.[52] Churches, especially at the grass-roots level, have indeed significant difficulties in dealing constructively with the topic HIV/AIDS.
4.2.1 HIV/AIDS against the Background of Biblical Statements
Although HIV/AIDS is no disease of ancient history, various biblical statements are cited here to back up the commitment on HIV/AIDS issues of churches. One important of these might be: "If one part is suffering, all parts are suffering" (1. Cor. 12:26). The verses in Isaiah 58:6ff emphasize that people who care for the poor and show solidarity stand under a particular blessing of God[53]. Jesus' openness to people of all kinds, without barriers of class, race or gender, is emphasized in the WCC study.[54] God's commitment towards all people is underlined in the WCC study by the following quotation: "Just as God in love accompanies all creation, so Jesus went among the poor, telling them that they were loved by God even if they had not been able to keep the law scrupulously… He healed Jewish lepers and a Roman soldier's child… and unlike many holy men he did not shrink from the touch of a prostitute… Jesus incarnated the accessibility of God, who shows no partiality (Act 10:34, Rom. 2:11), but is open to all – rich and poor, sick or healthy, old or young."[55] M. Kurien characterizes Jesus' earthly ministry[56] while describing few typical actions. Churches are called to follow his example. Christ healed all diseases unconditionally (Mark 1:29-34), forgave sins (John 8:1-12, Luke 7:36-49; 15:11-32), and broke the stigma associated with leprosy by touching people with leprosy and restoring them to physical and social health (Mark 1:40-45; Luke 17:11-19). Here, leprosy is being compared to HIV/AIDS, as far as untouchability and taboo are concerned. Furthermore, the WCC study prompts the churches to stand in the tradition of Jesus, who "… was open for the religious establishment of his time".[57] He attended the synagogue and went to places where people were. All this has something to say to the churches about human being-in-relation. It speaks powerful against churches who declare that "nothing separates us from the love of God" (Rom. 8:39) – and then go on to set up barriers of their own between themselves and other people.[58]
In the Christian tradition since Augustin[59], sexuality and sin have been closely associated. So the church discourse on a disease which is often sexually transmitted requires some reflections on the concept of sin and the ethical consequences to be derived from such a concept.
Churches and theologies express their acknowledgement of human sinfulness in various theories. The WCC study describes sin as distortion of being in a relationship with God or other human beings. Sins are actions which harm others or the natural world, and Christians bear their share of responsibility for them.[60] The study argues that biblical faith understands sin relationally, namely as the breaking of our essential relatedness to God, to one another and to the rest of the creation. Sin, therefore, is alienation and estrangement, and infects everybody. Whether somebody has HIV or not, in the biblical sense all are sinners.[61]
The orthodox churches stress that in dependence of God's grace and humans' will the human perfection is possible by spiritual growth. This theological theory is called "theosis", which comprehends salvation from sin and the call to become holy and seek the union with God.
The protestant churches understand sin as the distortion of a right relationship with God, with other persons and the natural order, which can be only overcome through justification, the restoration of a right relationship with God, and through Jesus Christ. The WCC study stresses that the recognition of the common sinfulness makes spiritual growth possible, which leads to mutual forgiveness. First of all, Jesus was the one who forgave sins. When he died he took all human sins with him and "thus Christians see in his death the great affirmation that God forgives us"[62] and set us newly in-relation. Concerning HIV/AIDS, the WCC study stresses that "there were many situations related to the spread of HIV/AIDS in which relationships have been hurt and may take time to recover."[63] True forgiveness does not mean "cheap grace" like D. Bonhoeffer called it, but "it is gracious and it does make continuing relationships possible."[64] The WCC study summarizes that churches have to become communities of the freely forgiven – communities of the healed which thus serve as places for healing others. Churches of the forgiven are not in a position to reject or withhold relations with others.[65]
Sin and its association with sickness are often understood in an individualistic, moral sense in Christian communities. K.M. George, a principal of the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kottayan, Kerala[66], stresses that the often sexually transmitted and contagious HIV/AIDS that has moralistic connotations in ordinary human communities, and cancer that is not contagious and has no usual moralistic undertones, are both conditions of sickness and disintegration, and as such they are both the consequence of the sinful alienation of humanity from its source of being. He himself sees sin in a broader perspective and not on an individual level, and maintains the connection between sin and sickness at the level of entire humanity, similar to the description of the sin-sickness relation in the WCC study. G.M. Nalunnakkal[67] succinctly says in his article: "The cause of AIDS is a virus, not sin."[68]
4.2.3 Ecumenical Theological Understanding of Punishment and Forgiveness Related to HIV/AIDS
The WCC study states that God forgives sins unconditionally; consequently, he is not the one who is concerned to punish. "Neither the biblical account of creation nor the understanding of God gives any basis for attributing to God the desire for punishment."[69] Beate Jabob from "Fachkreis Ethik"[70] stresses that already the story of Job, which is described in a younger epoch of the Old Testament, has overcome the old oriental thinking of coherence between the acting of humans and what will happen to them consequently (e.g. an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, Exodus 21:24). Job declines all theories of his friends who try to explain his bad situation as consequence of his personal guilt. Job is not aware of any personal guilt, on the contrary he accuses God. Jesus' message emphasizes the responsibility of human action. However, two biblical stories in the gospel of Luke 13:3 and John 9: 1-3 describe that Jesus was invited to link sin with disaster, but he clearly refused. It is important to distinguish between punishment for an action and the natural outcome, the consequences of an action.[71] In connection with HIV/AIDS it must be stressed that actual events always involve a complex constellation of causes and consequences, rather then a single cause and effect.[72] A 13-year-old commercial sex worker who was sold by her parents due to poverty can neither be accused of being HIV-positive nor of spreading the disease. Labelling consequences as "punishment" is inappropriate. The complexity of societal structures, the economic condition, the cultural background as well as the ethical norm clarify why there is no simple process of cause and effect. Already in 1987, the WCC's executive committee emphasized in a statement the need for affirming "that God deals with us in love and mercy and that we are therefore freed from simplistic moralizing about those who are attacked by the virus". According to the WCC, "the terminology of punishment should be rejected in favour of an understanding of God in omnipresent, constant, loving relationship, no matter how much some of the actions of every one of us may grieve God."[73] To put the blame on PLWHA, which is often done in charismatic churches, should be condemned for theological reasons. Consequently, the WCC wishes that "Christ's community of care is an environment in which risks can be taken; all members accept mutual vulnerability and stories may be shared in trust and commitment to each other."[74] The assumption for such a community is described as acceptance that the virus concerns the whole community. It is stressed that then the mutual relationship with those whose bodies are infected grows, and healing can begin. The study concludes that this process leads to real conversion for all involved.
The National Council of Churches in India (hereafter, NCCI) published the book "HIV/AIDS - A Handbook for the Church of India"[75] for inter-church HIV/AIDS education in 2004. Manoj Kurian[76] focuses on combating stigma and discrimination. M. Kurian underlines the interpretation implying that HIV/AIDS is punishment for sin, thereby pushing people who live with AIDS out of the "holy" community. Consequently, it is argued that this attitude not only contributes to "stigma and alienation but also makes the community sweep the issue under the carpet."[77] M. Kurian concludes that the truth is that we are all made in the image of God which means that discrimination is sin, and stigmatising any person is contrary to the will of God.[78] M. Kurian underlines that the church has to accept that the virus affects the church as community, and that the church is not simply called to offer charity, but that it is challenged to see that as it belongs to the body of Christ the suffering caused by HIV/AIDS affects all of the church. He continues that the church must recognize that the crisis of AIDS is the church's crisis and as such, "our church has AIDS".[79]
In sum, the WCC study stresses that the churches, by their very nature as the body of Christ, call on their members to become healing communities.[80] What does this mean, taking into account that HIV/AIDS cannot be cured? Churches see their task as being an effective healing witness towards those affected. "The experience of love, acceptance and support within the community where God's love is made manifest can be a powerful healing force"[81], the WCC study underlines. Love is meant here not as an option for the community and individual, but a requirement, a demand due to the biblical background. On the basis of love and acceptance, "the HIV/AIDS pandemic is regarded as a unique opportunity to revive and reinforce the values of responsibility, sexual integrity, healthy relationship, human dignity and mutual respect."[82]
This love can be expressed through worship, which is a time to remember that humans are created in God's image and can also help to remove barriers and prejudices and express God's presence amidst his creation, the WCC study explains.
Furthermore, pastoral care and counselling are understood as a process of empowering the person to make own decisions. The goals of counselling are seen in helping infected persons to cope with their situation and to promote strategies for preventing and reducing HIV transmission. To create an environment of a healing community through pastoral care and counselling, the churches are asked to offer a healing space, an atmosphere of openness and acceptance.
In sum, it is stressed that the churches exercise a vital ministry through encouraging discussions and analysis of information, helping to identify problems, reflecting theological and ethical aspects, providing pastoral care and a healing community, recognizing the linkage between AIDS and poverty, and, finally, helping to safeguard human rights of PLWHA at national and international levels.
4.4 Selected Ethical Perspectives on HIV/AIDS of the Ecumenical Community
In comparison with the theological perspectives, which are mainly based on biblical statements and theological doctrines, the ethical perspectives are based on common as well as on Christian ethical concepts. Churches are confronted with many ethical questions concerning the HIV/AIDS pandemic. They are called to contribute to justice-oriented ethical perspectives in relation to HIV/AIDS. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is fuelled by certain structures of oppression and injustice. When people live in unjust structures, the chance to be infected by HIV is much higher than for people living in just structures. The former often do not have the ability to fight for their rights concerning education, health, work, social security and gender equality. Bishop Kamphaus from Limburg, Germany, formulates the responsibility for social justice and ethical perspectives in the following parable out of the New Testament: It is not enough to care for the one who was robbed and injured by thieves on the way to Jericho; it is more important to make the way safe to Jericho.[83] In other words, a reflection on the issue of HIV/AIDS from a justice-oriented ethical perspective is demanded. The structural change for justice is essential for a sustainable fight against HIV/AIDS; solidarity instead of sympathy is needed.
The WCC study claims that "Christians make ethical choices in accordance with certain principles, which follow from their understanding of the biblical witness and their faith convictions."[84] These ethic perspectives differ in various ways amongst the different church denominations, but they are likely to include the following aspects:
- "because all human beings are created and beloved by God, Christians are called to treat every person as of infinite value;
- because Christ died to reconcile to God, Christians are called to work for true reconciliation – which includes justice – among those alienated one from another;
- because we are "members one of another", being built up by the Spirit into the body, Christians are called to a responsible life within the community."[85]
[1] Most of the mainline churches are members of the "German Action Campaign against Aids, Malaria and Tuberculosis"
[2] Kevin Kelly in Catholic Ethicists on HIV/AIDS prevention, 2000. p. 324
[3] Jacob in Fachkreis Ethik, 2004
[4] India's caste-system divides its population into thousands of social groups, placing the Dalits at the bottom of social hierarchy. Dalits, in common parlance also called untouchables, belong to the "Scheduled Class".
[5] Bishop Magagula from the Eastern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Southern Africa during a partnership visit at Kirchenkreis Bremervörde-Zeven in September 2003.
[6] UNAIDS, (2004), AIDS Epidemic Update
[7] Weinreich et al., (2003), p.2
[8] Gray et al. 2001 in Weinreich et al., (2003), p.3
[9] CD4 are helper cells, a subgroup of the white blood cells. The standard value lies between 600 – 1300 cells/µl of blood. ARV should be given in the AIDS stage, and/or when the CD4 cell count has fallen below 200/µl (Weinreich et al., 2004), p. 79
[10] ITAC, (2002)
[11] Faith in Action, (2002)
[12] UNAIDS defines an AIDS orphan as a child who has lost one or both parents due to AIDS. An AIDS orphan might be HIV-negative or -positive.
[13] UNAIDS together with the World Health Organization (hereafter, WHO) issues epidemiological reports on an annual basis. The global collection and surveillance of data on HIV/AIDS is a joint undertaking of UNAIDS and WHO in cooperation with the national data collection systems and other organizations. In many countries such as Ethiopia, data collection is not very accurate. All data are estimates and not precise counts of infections. The methodology used has been improved over the years. For some years already, UNAIDS has published data with an average estimate, a low estimate and a high, e.g. 1 500 000 (950 000 – 2 300 000). The data give figures and estimates for HIV prevalence. Prevalence is the number of existing cases at a given point in time related to the population.
[14] "Adult population" in the UNAIDS data collections is defined as people between 15 and 49 years.
[15] The World Factbook (2005), Ethiopia
[16] ibd.
[17] The World Bank Group (2005),Ethiopia Data Profile
[18] Ministry of Health (2004), AIDS in Ethiopia
[19] Ministry of Health (2002),AIDS in Ethiopia
[21] Ministry of Health (2004): AIDS in Ethiopia
[22] Mulonzya, 2003
[23] Census India (2001)
[24] The World Bank Group: India at a Glance, (2004)
[26] Indian Churches (2003)
[28] Indian Economy Overview
[31] Philip Kurvilla, (2004): HIV/AIDS: A Handbook for the Church of India
[32] UNAIDS; UNICEF, WHO (2004): "Epidemiological Fact Sheets on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections – India"
[33] Philip Kuruvilla: HIV/AIDS: A Handbook for the Church in India
[35] Cohen, (2004) in AIDS epidemic update: December 2004, p.8
[36] Frederiksson, Jenny, (2005), HIV & AIDS in India
[41] Although sex work is legal in some states, associated activities including soliciting and brothel keeping are being penalised. Women often get involved with sex work because of poverty or marital break-up, or they are forced into it.
[43] Philip Kuruvilla, (2004): HIV/AIDS: A Handbook of the Church of India, p. 44 f
[46] UNAIDS (2001): "India: HIV and AIDS-related discrimination, stigmatization and denial"
[47] The Hindu. front-page, 16 February 2005
[49] Parrey (2003)
[50] Statement by Faith-Based Organizations facilitated at the World Council of Churches for the UN Special General Assembly on HIV/AIDS, June 25 – 27, 2001
[51] UNICEF (1995): Religious Leaders as Health Communicators, New York
[52] WCC (2001), p. 5
[53] I use the common scientific notation with the capital letter of theological literature
[54] WCC (2001), p. 23
[55] ibd., p. 23
[56] M. Kurien (2004), The Threat of HIV/AIDS: Some Theological Considerations in HIV/AIDS: A Challenge to Theological Education
[59] Aurelius Augustin (354-430) is a central figure both within Christianity and in the history of Western thought. His doctrin influences the dogma of the Christian churches till today. Augustine was important to the "baptism" of Greek thought and its entrance into the Christian, and subsequently the European intellectual tradition.
[61] A Report on HIV/AIDS from an International Workshop in HIV/AIDS: A Challenge to theological Education, p. 141
[66] The Threat of HIV/AIDS: Some Theological Considerations in HIV/AIDS: A Challenge to theological Education, p.6
[67] Director of Indian Centre of Social Change
[68] HIV/AIDS: Towards an Ethic of "Just Care", in HIV/AIDS: A Challenge to theological Education, p. 35
[70] Jacob, Beate: "Kann Krankheit eine Frage von individueller Schuld sein?" in Fachkreis Ethik, 2004, p. 5
[73] ibd., p. 28 f
[75] Kuruvilla (2004): HIV/AIDS
[76] Kuruvilla (2004): HIV/AIDS, p. 140
[77] ibd., p. 140
[78] quoted from the "Plan of Action", formulated at the "Global Consultation in Ecumenical Responses to the Challenge of HIV/AIDS in Africa", Nairobi, Kenya, 25-28 Nov. 2001in Kuruvilla (2004): HIV/AIDS, p. 140
[79] adapted from "Facing AIDS in the context of Vulnerability" – module on Vulnerability, published by WCC 1999 in Kuruvilla (2004): HIV/AIDS, p. 141
[80] WCC, (2001) p. 77
[83] Luitgard Fleischer, "Warum trifft die Pandemie arme Länder überproportional?" in: Fachkreis Ethik, 2004, p. 17
Institution / Hochschule
Approach Churches Church-Related Organizations HIV/AIDS Programmes Based Case Studies Ethiopia Southern India
Andrea Schirmer-Müller (Autor)
1 Titel veröffentlicht
Impact of HIV/Aids on the workplace. A case study on selected organisations in Ndola, Copperbelt Province
HIV/AIDS im Kontext menschlicher Sicherheit
Präventionskonzept für HIV/AIDS für das Nebas Children Centre, Likoni, Kenia
Verringerung von Kosten und Schnittstellen-Problemen. Ambulante Leistungserbringung im Krankenhaus am Beispiel einer Akut-Therapie für HIV/Aids-Patienten
Conception of Vulnerability Forces to HIV/AIDS Infections among Secondary Schools Students in Tanzania
Design and Implementation of a Service-oriented Information System Architecture Based on a Case Study
Street Children and Structural Factors Exposing them to HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia
HIV/AIDS Education in selected urban schools of Malawi
HIV/AIDS in Latin America - The Feminization of HIV/AIDS
Die HIV/AIDS-Epidemie im südlichen Afrika - Auswirkungen auf die Arbeitsproduktivität aus Unternehmersicht
Alter und HIV/AIDS - Existenzsicherung, Moralität und Rollenwandel im Mwanga District Nordtansanias
Towards Achieving the Kenya National HIV/AIDs Communication Strategy
The Relationship between HIV/AIDS and Maternal Mortality: The Zimbabwean Case
HIV/AIDS und der Einfluss auf Bildung in Afrika
HIV/AIDS-Prävention in Entwicklungsländern als globale Herausforderung: Eine institutionenökonomische Analyse
Welche Faktoren beeinflussen die Meinung der Gatekeeper über HIV/AIDS-Prävention und Sexualaufklärung in Uganda?
HIV/AIDS in South Africa
Role of NGOs in promoting Human Rights in Ethiopia: A Case Study on Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
the triketora press
Observations from an impromptu user research session on the streets of Huxton
by triketora
A middle-aged Black woman — from what I could glean, an overseas transplant here in London as a caretaker for the elderly — came pattering up to me and asked for my help finding her way to her destination, the address of which she pointed out at the bottom of a paper printout.
She had an iPhone 5 or 5S: a decent phone, but at least a couple years old, and a little worn. She showed me the screen of her phone, where she had put the address into Google Maps, but it wasn't returning a result and she was clearly feeling a bit frantic about getting where she needed to go.
Google Maps has a lot of issues with UK addresses; apparently the key is to strip the addresses down to the postal codes which are uniquely identifying. Putting in the street address in addition to the postal code often doesn't work; it's gotta be just postal code.
I told her this and she tried to search for the postal code: watching her engage with the UI / UX was the ultimate in cringeworthiness. She struggled a few times to delete the street address from the search input field because the box was too small and she couldn't get the cursor in; and then when she switched tacks and tried to hit the "x" to clear everything and re-enter the postal code it was too small of a tap target so she missed many times before she got it. Although Google Maps is case-insensitive, which I take for granted (and I would posit most tech-savvy people do too), she wanted to make sure she got the postal code exactly right and kept hitting the Shift key to make sure she was capitalizing her input. Which she ended up mis-entering anyways because it's hard to type with thumbs on a small screen. I asked her if she wanted me to help her on the phone and she was so relieved and grateful to hand it over to me.
Google Maps was happy to return a result for just the postal code, but she had it set on walking directions; so she was happy at first to see a result but then immediately worried when she saw the estimated time to be 44 minutes. I switched it to public transit directions by tapping on the walking man icon, but I also realized how completely non-intuitive it is to have to do that. From there, she was still squinting to figure out where she needed to go, and asked me to read the instructions and tell her. I scrolled down to see which Tube line, direction, and exit she had to take; read them aloud and pointed out to her where on the screen she could see that information, which was fine, but also frustrating to me to see how difficult it was for her to figure it out on her own.
As creators of technology, we still aren't doing a good job serving people who aren't us. "Us" usually being young, mostly male, mostly White and Asian, tech-savvy urban professionals with disposable incomes and the latest shiniest devices and apps, with a strong geographic bias to SF / Bay Area and maybe NYC. It's still very impressive that this woman will eventually get where she needs to go… But we still have so much room to improve if even some of the best of what the tech industry has produced — the Apple iPhone, Google Maps — is so deficient.
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Luke Owen was last seen on Friday, 25 May.
Gardaí in Bray, County Wicklow are appealing to the public for assistance in locating 17-year-old, Luke Owen.
Owen was reported missing to Gardaí on Friday, 25 May, and is known to frequent Dublin City Centre.
He is described as being approximately 5 foot 8 inches in height, with blue eyes and short blonde hair.
When last seen, he was wearing an all-black tracksuit.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Bray Garda Station 01-666 5300, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station.


text:
Q: iterating through a linkedhashmap but over a certain range So i know how to iterate through a whole linkedhashmap from the beginning, but what if I want to only link through a certain portion from it? IE: i want to start from the end and go only 4 elements back. How would I do that and is it possible?

A: What you are searching for is a ListIterator which would allow you to iterate backwards in a list. Unfortunately, LinkedHashMap does not hold a reference towards the previous element, and thus does not provide this iterator.
So, you end up with two solutions. One, you implement the method to find the X last elements: you hold, let's say an array (a circular buffer) of size X and keep there the last X elements you have seen. This solution is rather inefficient if you call this method frequently and for X much smaller than the size of your map.
A second solution is to keep a HashMap instead of a LinkedHashMap and an extra List to maintain the insertion order. E.g. an ArrayList or a LinkedList which provide a ListIterator and thus, backwards iteration.

A: You have to extend standard implementation and override methods that return appropriate iterator to your own.
Iterator<K> newKeyIterator()   { return new KeyIterator();   }
Iterator<V> newValueIterator() { return new ValueIterator(); }
Iterator<Map.Entry<K,V>> newEntryIterator() { return new EntryIterator(); }

LinkedHashMap.Entry is a doubly linked list, so you can go forward and backward as well.
LinkedHashMap.LinkedHashIterator is a base iterator for LinkedHashMap. Make what you need based on it.

A: You could use the ListIterator for this, by doing something like this.
List list = new ArrayList<>(map.keySet());
ListIterator li = list.listIterator(list.size());
while (li.hasPrevious()) {
    System.out.println(map.get(li.previous()));
}

Since the LinkedHashMap maintains the order, you could simply create a list from the keys which are going to be in order as well. Get a ListIterator from the last index, so that you can traverse backwards having a counter(which I've not shown) to iterator till the no. of elements required.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The Grand has incredible bay and city views and year-round bay breezes, plus it is just minutes away from everything Miami has to offer. This impressive 42 story waterfront building is located directly across the Biscayne bay from South Beach in Miami's Arts District. The building provides an array of dining options, including fresh seafood at Casablanca On The Bay, Chinese cuisine at Tony Chan's Waterclub, authentic Italian dishes at Primo's and the flavorful menu at Los Gauchitos Argentinean Steak House. The usage of Gym & Sauna is free of charge to all our guests. Building Amenities: - Heated Pool & Jacuzzis (with Poolside Bar) - Four Restaurants - 24-hour Security - Deli, Grocery Store, Spirits - Doubletree Grand Hotel - Hair & Beauty Salon - Barber Shop - Concierge & Limo Services - Fitness Center - Business Center - Retail Shopping Mall with Boutique - Shops - Medical Spa - Pharmacy - Dry Cleaning - Car Rental - Newsstand & Sundries - Accounting Services - Night Club - Marina - Valet Service - Guest access This building is only a few miles from MIA airport and on the Biscayne bay. Long before you arrive, you'll get a welcome letter from us. We have office in the same building and there is 24 hour concierge and doormen. There is plenty of public transportation as well, but we recommend taxi, supper shuttle, or rental car. We have parking as well that is in doors and well secured. Guests will have the best location, within minutes from anywhere, by walking, public transportation, bike, or car. Global Grand Management has an on-site office and our staff is there to serve 6 days a week. Office is located on the 2nd floor of retail area (suite 240). There is also a concierge service 24/7. The neighborhood The Grand is located at 1717 North Bayshore Drive in the Miami Midtown Arts District, within walking distance of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, the American Airlines Arena, Downtown Miami and the shops of Bayside Marketplace. It takes only a 10 minutes of drive across the bridge to get to the South Beach. Just 3 minutes of walk takes you to a Publix Super Market and Wells Fargo Bank on Biscayne Blvd. Guests can enjoy the new park next to the building with lighted basketball, tennis and a volleyball courts. This waterfront building is perfectly located next to Sea Isle Marina — home to the Miami International Boat Show. Enjoy scenic charter cruises and proximity to downtown Miami and South Beach from our welcoming Biscayne Bay location. Apartments open up to different views of Biscayne Bay, South Beach, the Atlantic Ocean and Downtown Miami's skyline. NOTA: AS PER CONDO REGULATIONS, ALL TENANTS AS WELL AS THEIR GUESTS SHALL PROVIDE A COPY OF THEIR ID TO GLOBAL GRAND MANAGEMENT AT LEAST 3 BUSINESS DAYS PRIOR TO CHECK-IN. RESIDENTIAL PARKING IN THE BUILDING IS AVAILABLE AT $75/STAY BUT NEEDS TO BE REQUESTED AT BOOKING. ONLY ONE PARKING AVAILABLE PER UNIT.


Milly Thompson is a fellow Bernardelli agent and friend and assistant to Meryl. Despite physically towering over Meryl, Milly looks up to her and always refers to her as "senpai," or "Ma'am" in the English Version, as a term of respect for a senior. Although physically very strong, she appears rather simple and ditzy, but has an extremely kind heart and also reveals a strength of character and genuine optimism. However, Milly can be just as hotheaded as Meryl if someone is disrespectful towards their family (or wasting food, especially pudding). She can seem somewhat dim, but she has some amazing skills (chess playing, for one) which hint at a deeply buried intelligence. She does have a tendency to go a bit overboard when drinking. She seemed to pick up on the fact that Vash is the notorious Stampede before Meryl, but she is apparently still somewhat surprised upon realizing that she was correct. Milly comes from a very large family, and writes letters to them constantly (known as "The Milly Monthly"). Somehow Milly manages to hide a very heavy concussion gun (referred to as a "stun-gun") under her coat. The shots, which pop out into the shape of an X-shaped claw, are so powerful they can even knock over trucks. At one point Milly refers to herself as "Stun-gun Milly".


Two weeks ago the frame on my Toyota 4-Runner broke when one tire bounced through a pot hole. I wasn't angry for the truck was a 2000 model and I had put nearly 250,000 miles on the odometer. The truck took me through rivers to get to bird hunting coverts, down the beach in search of pods of blitzing bass or blues, and many points in between. In looking at new/used vehicle prices I am happy to report sticker shock. It's not that new rigs aren't worth it, they are. It's more about the fact that I hadn't bought a truck in such a long while that I couldn't believe how much they cost.
Fishing vacations are similar, too. Sure you can splurge on a deluxe trip where you live high on the hog and break the bank. But if you're looking at other rising expenses as I am, then my fishing trips are going to have to be scaled back. Way back….
But I live to fish, so that concept isn't sitting well with me. And so, camping is the perfect way for me and my family to get away from home, spend time outdoors, and catch some fish in between. Compared to a hotel or a lodge, campsites are inexpensive, with many of them offering waterfront spots. Some sites are equipped with bath houses with hot running water while others offer fire pits, grills for a BBQ, and even family entertainment and activities. The combination of inexpensive lodging as well as home cooked meals keeps costs down considerably. If you chose the right place then there is no shortage of good fishing.
But there is much more to a camping/fishing trip than price. Look for the value in the sounds and smells. In the morning you'll enjoy the wood smoke from a campfire. Bacon, eggs, and coffee won't be far behind. In the evening is the smoke accompanied with a grilled steak and fire-roasted potatoes. If you're inland you might smell spruce and if you're on the coast you might enjoy the briny salt. Those sounds and smells match up with a gurgling river or crashing waves.
But we're here to go fishing, and it's wonderful to wake up early, walk for a few minutes and find trout rising to a BWO hatch. It's the mid-day jon boat launch where, after a few strokes on the oars you'll cast soft plastics to bass cruising through the lily pads. And it's the evening stroll down to the beach where the bluefish rip into butterfish as the sun sets. The campground is the place where we hang our hats. And what a place it is.


text:
Prisoners and detainees by nationality •
Japanese prisoners and detainees
Japanese people convicted of crimes against humanity •
Japanese prisoners sentenced to death •
Japanese people who died in prison custody •
Japanese people imprisoned abroad •
Japanese prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment •
Japanese people convicted of manslaughter •
Japanese people convicted of murder •
Japanese prisoners of war •
Japanese people convicted of war crimes
Japanese people convicted of crimes against humanity
Japanese prisoners sentenced to death
Japanese people who died in prison custody
Japanese people imprisoned abroad
Japanese prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
Japanese people convicted of manslaughter
Japanese people convicted of murder
Japanese prisoners of war
Japanese prisoners of war - Wikipedia
Takashi Sakai
Lieutenant-General Takashi Sakai (酒井 隆, Sakai Takashi, October 18, 1887 – September 30, 1946) was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, known for his rol...
Takashi Sakai - Wikipedia
Jōsei Toda
Jōsei Toda (戸田 城聖, Toda Jōsei, February 11, 1900 – April 2, 1958) was an educator, peace activist and second president of Soka Gakkai from 1951 to 1958. Imprisoned for two years during W...
Jōsei Toda - Wikipedia
Rie Fujii
Rie Fujii (藤井 理絵, Fujii Rie) (born 1978 in Tsuwano, Shimane) is a Japanese woman who abandoned her two infant children in an apartment in Calgary, Alberta while she visited her boyfriend. On h...
Masao Baba
Masao Baba (馬場 正郎, Baba Masao, 7 January 1892 – 7 August 1947) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, commanding the Japanese ground forces of the Borneo Campaign of 1945 in the closing...
Masao Baba - Wikipedia
Haruo Wakō
Sadamichi Hirasawa
Sadamichi Hirasawa (平沢 貞通, Hirasawa Sadamichi, February 18, 1892 – May 10, 1987) was a Japanese tempera painter. He was convicted of mass poisoning and sentenced to death, though he is s...
Sadamichi Hirasawa - Wikipedia
Alberto Fujimori Fujimori ([alˈβeɾto fuxiˈmoɾi] [fuʝiˈmoɾi] [ɸuʥiꜜmoɽi]; Japanese: 藤森藤森アルベルト Fujimori Fujimori Aruberuto; born 28 July 1938) was a Peruvian politician. He was President of Peru fr...
Alberto Fujimori - Wikipedia
Hitoshi Imamura
Hitoshi Imamura (今村 均, Imamura Hitoshi, 28 June 1886 – 4 October 1968) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II.
A native of Sendai city, Miyagi Prefecture, Imamur...
Hitoshi Imamura - Wikipedia
Seishirō Itagaki
Seishirō Itagaki (板垣 征四郎, Itagaki Seishirō, 21 January 1885 – 23 December 1948) was a General in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II and a War Minister. Convicted of war crimes, he was ...
Seishirō Itagaki - Wikipedia
Akihabara massacre
The Akihabara massacre (秋葉原通り魔事件, Akihabara Tōrima Jiken, lit. "Akihabara random attacker incident") was an incident of mass murder that took place on Sunday, June 8, 2008, in the Akihabara sh...
Akihabara massacre - Wikipedia
Kurumizawa Koshi
Kurumizawa Kōshi (胡桃沢耕史, 26 April 1925 - 23 May 1994) was the pen-name of a writer of detective fiction in Shōwa period Japan. His real name was Shimizu Masatarō.
Born in the Mukojima neighbor...
Kurumizawa Koshi - Wikipedia
Iwane Matsui
Iwane Matsui (松井 石根, Matsui Iwane, 27 July 1878 – 23 December 1948) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and the commander of the expeditionary forces sent to China in World War II. He ...
Iwane Matsui - Wikipedia
Sada Abe
Sada Abe (阿部 定, Abe Sada, May 28, 1905 – after 1970) was a Japanese woman who is remembered for erotically asphyxiating her lover, Kichizo Ishida (石田 吉蔵, Ishida Kichizō), on May 18, 19...
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Yoshie Shiratori
Yoshie Shiratori (白鳥 由栄, Shiratori Yoshie, July 31, 1907 - February 24, 1979) was a Japanese national born in Aomori Prefecture. He had one daughter. He is best known for having escaped from p...
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Yoshio Kodaira
Yoshio Kodaira (小平 義雄, Kodaira Yoshio, January 28, 1905 – October 5, 1949) was a Japanese rapist and serial killer. He killed one person in 1932 and was later sentenced to death after being co...
Jirō Minami
Jirō Minami (南 次郎, Minami Jirō, 10 August 1874 – 5 December 1955) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and Governor-General of Korea between 1936 and 1942.
Born to an ex-samurai f...
Jirō Minami - Wikipedia
Shunroku Hata
Field Marshal Shunroku Hata (畑 俊六, Hata Shunroku, July 26, 1879 – May 10, 1962), was a field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. He was the last surviving Japanese mil...
Shunroku Hata - Wikipedia
Kuniaki Koiso
Kuniaki Koiso (小磯 國昭, Koiso Kuniaki, March 22, 1880 – November 3, 1950) was a Japanese general in the Imperial Japanese Army, Governor-General of Korea and 41st Prime Minister of Japan from Ju...
Kuniaki Koiso - Wikipedia
Japanese escapees
Japanese escapees - Wikipedia
Yoarashi Okinu
Yoarashi Okinu (夜嵐 おきぬ, ca.1845 - March 28, 1872) is the moniker of Harada Kinu (原田 きぬ), who was a Japanese female poisoner and geisha and lived from the end of the Edo era to the beginning of the...
Shigenori Tōgō (東郷 茂徳, Tōgō Shigenori) (Korean: 박무덕, Hanja: 朴茂德, Park Moo-Duk, 10 December 1882 – 23 July 1950) was Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Empire of Japan at both the star...
Shigenori Tōgō - Wikipedia


The three-day literary event, which kick-started on Saturday has been jointly organized by Assam government and Pramod Kalita, Secretory Publication Board of Assam. Actress Manisha Koirala known for films like Khamoshi, Dil Se, Mann and many more was present for the 3rd edition of Brahmaputra Literary Festival today which is happening in Guwahati, Assam.
Recently, seen in Sanju and many other films, she even added that she is ready for new projects and wants to do good work.


Milwaukee native and educator Nakeysha Roberts Washington founded Genre: Urban Arts in 2016.
Nakeysha, who is an English teacher, always had a passion for Hip-Hop, poetry and writing.
"I remember as a kid I would pretend to be sick so I could stay home and make books," said Nakeysha.
Starting a magazine was always a goal for Nakeysha. Creating Genre: Urban Arts was in the back of her mind for years. Suddenly, she took the plunge.
"As I'm getting older, I don't want to look back and say 'well, I should've done this thing," said Nakeysha.
What began as an online blog with a few local contributors sparked into a published magazine with global contributors. Nakeysha recruited students and friends to contribute to the blog.
They also tracked down people who would be interested in getting their work published. Instagram became the best recruitment and marketing tool for Genre: Urban Arts.
This recruitment method brought in artists from all over Europe, even reaching South Africa. Stefania Morgante, an artist from Italy, designed the cover of Genre's first magazine.
The magazine is currently published seasonally, but Nakeysha is working towards making Genre: Urban Arts her full-time job.
The second magazine is set to release November 1, and will be tackling the topic of double standards. The magazine can be found online as well as Riverwest bookstore Woodland Pattern.
Nakeysha is working on selling her magazine at other local shops. Nakeysha and her team are also creating social media and marketing plans that will bring their local contributors and global contributors together.
On November 18, Genre: Urban Arts will host a release party for the release of volume two of the magazine. The party will include an art exhibition, an open mic, an art presentation with featured artist Kevin Boatright. The party will be hosted at Muse 33 in West Allis from 6 to 10pm.


Curtain Express offers an excellent collection of fabrics and a choice of many designs and styles. Curtains and Roman Blinds made to your exact sizes, with a selection of linings plus the selection of pencil pleat, pinch pleat, tab top and eyelet headings. The fabric styles used are available in a range of colourways from neutrals to bold and vibrant reds and oranges plus muted blues and mustard yellows with gorgeous silvers and deep burgundies. Curtain fabrics both contemporary and bright in design. We also offer a full Made to Measure Curtain Service along with Roman Blinds, and this service can be found while browsing your chosen curtain fabric. If you can not find the fabric your looking for? or have seen any Curtain Express fabrics cheaper elsewhere? Then give us a call now for a price.


International forum "Army" has become a new outstanding event among the exhibitions of weapons and military equipment in the world with record-setting exposition and saturation of congress and demonstration programs.
The leaders of the Russian Federation together with the Russian and foreign enterprises of the military-industrial complex, the business community and the delegations of foreign countries have shown unprecedented interest in the Forum.
Exhibition program of the Forum was attended by 818 exhibitors, by over 200,000 visitors including representatives of the 73 states and members of official delegations from 38 countries.
The International military and technical forum ARMY-2016 will take place in the new and modern pavilions of the "Patriot" congress and exhibition centre. The exposition will have the total area of over 200,000 sq. m. Conference halls of total capacity from 50 to 1000 places will be arranged for the activities within the business and scientific programme. Participants will have a unique opportunity to demonstrate their production within the demonstration programme at the Alabino range and at the Kubinka airfield.


Todays card falls in, yet again, with the theme of mercury retrograde which is personal discovery and renewal. The seven of knives tells us that it is time to put your problem-solving skills to work! Use your better judgment paired with wit and, at times, cunning to work through certain problems. Are you being taking advantage of? Use your intuition to discern who loves you for you, and who just wants something from you. The card of today is telling you to turn into word on your individuality. Take time away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. However, while taking time for yourself is a must, avoid extensive separation from others and incorporate others into your life while still maintaining healthy boundaries.
Dont freak out at this card, haha. This deck is very confronting but not without just cause. The Five of Skulls reversed talks to us about our shadow sides. Anxiety, loss, worry, and despair resonate with this card. Upright, it offers a glimmer of hope, here however, hopelessness is found. I want to tell you that you are NOT hopeless! You are going to make it through whatever you are facing. You feel utterly helpless and paralyzed by fear. But that's not true. You are brave and powerful!!!
Hello lovelies!!! I was inexplicably drawn to use the 'Tarot of Vampyres' Deck today. I had no idea why until I actually read the symbol section in the guidebook about this card. The Eight of Knives card tells us that we may feel constricted or tied down. We may feel like there is no way out, or that we are waiting on circumstances that aren't within our control. However, as I looked more into this card, I saw that the Author lists kindred spirits that are attached to each card. In this case, we have 2 Angels, Vembael and Yahohel. Now, you may be wondering why these are important. I am about to tell you. As I researched these Angels and found their specialties, I have to say that it goes perfectly with this card. Vembael is the Angel who helps us when we feel that our lives are going nowhere. When we feel this way, we tend to mistrust others because the human nature wants to blame others. Vembael can lead us away from this behavior and guide us to love and trust. Yahohel, which has noticeable similarities to YAHWEH, is the angel who helps anyone who has copious amounts of anger in their lives. He can break the cycle of evil and put us back where need to be. So Anger and mistrust due to our own human nature can be the very things are holding us back or tying us down. Ask these angels to help you overcome any feeligns like the ones mentioned above. This card also talks about tremendous will to press on and finish what you started. I know the imagery is dark, but it's the lesson, not the image that is important.
Today we have the 'Fortune' card from the 'Tarot of the Vampyres'! This is such a wonderfully beautiful card! I was shocked when I first saw it! This card is telling us that the wheel of the Universe is in constant motion, never changing or stopping. It is the wheel of destiny and fate. When we see the Fortune card, it tells us that change and movement are inevitable. Life is full of endings that lead to beginnings and then the end of those beginnings. It is up to us to keep up with this particular movement of the Universe, and adapt to our ever changing culture, thoughts and ideas. Nothing stays the same for long. That is something we have to accept. Change is always for the better, even when we don't see it like that. This card can also talk about unexpected gifts and opportunities! One thing that sticks out to me is that there is the Wheel, but thorns are behind it. This tells me to tell you that the wheel is still spinning during those thorny times in our lives and to never lose hope that things are still working in your favor, even if you are in a garden filled with thorns. When I looked at the Symbolism section in the book about this card, so much is drawn out!! There are 3 Vampyre creatures on this wheel, the serpent to the left who represents the negative force of retrospection and dissipation or decay (winter), the panther to the right which represents the positive creative and active energy that initiates the fires of life (summer), and the Sphinx-like creature at the top of the wheel that is made up of the four elemental animals whose particular role is the preserver and connecters of the other polarities, allowing the wheel to churn out everything into existence. All in all, this is a card rich with symbolism to the point that it is just absolutely mind blowing.