Nurse has a mission for HIV/AIDS

On 7 March Joyce Eribu, a nurse from YWAM Uganda, visited Norwich to speak about her call to help people with HIV/AIDS.

Last year many Christians in Norwich supported Joyce through the Act Justly appeal, which was part of the Lent Course organised by Transforming Norwich.

Joyce is the wife a Pentecostal pastor. She is programme manager for FACE - Facing AIDS with Compassion and Education. The project is based in Soroti, a small town in northern Uganda, and trains health workers to visit people with HIV/AIDS in their homes.

The picture shows a FACE worker counselling a women who is caring for HIV/AIDS orphans.

Soroti has been a key town in the battle between security forces and the Lord's Resistance Army. Because of rape, abduction and maiming by the rebels, thousands of young people have been commuting to the town at night for safety. The war has greatly increased the HIV/AIDS rate in the area.

Joyce describes herself as "a Ugandan, aged 41 years, married to one man, a mother to one son, but also a caretaker of six orphans. I am a nurse by profession, but now serving as part of Youth with a Mission after getting a burden and a vision to work with people affected by HIV/AIDS."

One person who has benefited from her project is Margaret. In 2001 she tested positive for HIV and began attending a support group. When her husband died of an HIV-related illness in 2002, FACE started paying the secondary school fees for one of her four sons. Margaret says that the project has helped her to trust God.

"God builds me and strengthens me," she said. "Also my son would not have been able to go to secondary school. But I trusted God and he touched the hearts of the people in your country to give, and now my son goes to school."

A reception for Joyce will be held at St Luke's Church, Aylsham Road, Norwich, at 7.30pm on Wednesday 7 March. This open meeting will be of particular interest to those who have done, or are considering doing, the Act Justly video course. More information from Christian Aid on 01603 620051.