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By Lucy Wambui Kangara
Introduction
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| A
member of the clergy and an AIDS activist: “For
the church to remain relevant, it has to be
in touch with young people’s needs and
realities” Photo Credit:
USAID Photo Gallery |
In Kenya, issues of sexuality are not dealt with
openly despite the increased sexualised mass media.
Sexuality is shrouded in silence and secrecy and it
often elicits feelings of shame and embarrassment
rather than joy [1]. For decades sexuality, just like
death, has been wrapped in silence. Yet, many studies
in Kenya have shown that sexual activity starts during
adolescence [2]. Much of this activity is risky and
it is characterized by unwanted pregnancy, school
dropout, unsafe abortions, sexually transmitted diseases,
HIV/AIDS and reduced employment opportunities. In
several studies in Kenyatta National Hospital, 53
percent of abortion seekers are under 25 years, 15.3
percent under 20 years and often are single and still
in school [3].
Church and Sexuality in Kenya
Despite the social changes that have occurred in the
lives of Kenyans, religious institutions continue
to celebrate an era of chastity and sexual conservatism.
In an era of sexual freedom, many religious institutions
still hinder the implementation of sexuality education
programmes that can guide and assist its members survive
in today's global sex culture. In a world that is
characterised by technological advancement and increased
connectivity, people are confronted with sexuality
issues on a daily basis - through television, radio,
music, newspapers, magazines, advertisements, and
the dress culture -making it impossible to escape
the invasion. Without adequate information about their
sexuality, people face a risk of being swallowed up
by a culture that does not rhyme with the doctrine
they receive in religious institutions. While churches
need to preserve the sanctity of marriage, such an
objective can only be attained if people possess adequate
knowledge of their sexuality and how to express it
within a changing society.
Challenges
Sexuality issues are seen and understood as largely
private activities, subject to varying degrees of
social, cultural, religious, moral and legal norms.
As a pastor in Kenya puts it "we do sex; we do
not talk about it. If you want me to drive people
out of my church, I'll preach about it." Adolescent
sexuality exists side by side with a prohibitive silence
to the extent that some parents offer contraceptives
and even arrange abortions for their daughters but
deny these at the public level [4]. Another key challenge
for all sex and sexuality research is how to generate
unbiased information from the respondents. Very few
people are willing to talk about sensitive and sometimes
socially censured attitudes or behaviours; especially
in the rural areas. Issues of sexuality are shrouded
in taboos and myths. For example, boys are told that
abstaining from sex will result in serious backache
caused by accumulation of sperm in the backbone. In
certain ethnic groups that regard fat women as beautiful,
girls are made to believe that frequent sex will broaden
their hips, lighten their skin colour and make them
fatter [5].
Rationale for the Study
During the Inaugural meeting of the advisory council
of Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre in June
2003 in Nigeria, one of the issues that was identified
as a key sexuality issue for the Kenyan sub-region
was, Addressing sexuality in "silenced spaces"
especially young people's access to factual and positive
information about their sexuality [6]. Many social
institutions in Kenya continue to embrace silence
rather than open dialogue in dealing with young people's
sexuality. There has been a culture of "passing
the buck" with regard to the social institutions
that ought to undertake sexuality education. The family
passes the responsibility to the school, the churches
to the family and the school passes it back to the
family. It is with this backdrop that my research
investigated what Christian churches are doing to
create space and a conducive environment for young
people to discuss sexuality issues openly without
fear or guilt.
Research Objectives
The study examines the role played by Kenyan churches
in supporting sexuality information dissemination
and how the churches' doctrines about sexuality influence
the sexuality of young Kenyans. This study also sought
to determine whether young people in Kenyan churches
receive factual and positive information about sexuality.
Study Design
My research employed qualitative methodology which
was found to be more appropriate because the main
focus of the study was to describe the ways respondents
define, experience, and constitute their world of
sexuality [7]. Since human interaction provides the
basis for data collection, this method has been hailed
as providing rich, in depth knowledge about beliefs,
attitudes, values and norms related to people's behaviour.
The study targeted Christian adolescents from Catholic,
Anglican and Pentecost churches who are in and out
of school in Mukinduri village in Kirinyaga district,
Kenya. The study area is a rural setting. The village
is located approximately 150 kilometres north of Kenya's
capital city of Nairobi. Two focus group discussions
were conducted, each with eight participants. Each
group consisted of four girls and four boys from different
church denominations. The study used focus group discussions
with the adolescents and informal interviews with
some pastors. To obtain information on topics such
as sexuality and religion it is important to engage
with respondents' lived experiences and perspectives
as well as the feelings and perspectives of other
persons [8]. In addition, two in-depth interviews
were conducted with the young people and three individual
interviews with the pastor/priest/church elders.
Findings
Positive Steps by Churches
The United Church has developed programmes aimed at
educating youth about sexuality issues. Working in
collaboration with the Kenyan Alliance for the Advancement
of Children's Rights (KAACR), children have been encouraged
and supported to form rights clubs facilitated by
teachers. Through such clubs, the United Church and
its partners have been able to organise discussions
with youths about puberty, sexually transmitted diseases,
and HIV/AIDS.1 Through drama and other enter-educate
techniques, youths have been assisted to understand
sexual maturation and its implications.
In 2000, the African Inland Church in Kenya (AIC)
endorsed the introduction of HIV/AIDS lessons in all
Kenyan primary and secondary schools. Catherine Anyona,
the AIC's HIV/AIDS project coordinator maintains that
it is imperative for all religious institutions to
help the youth towards eradicating the scourge. She
contends that church involvement in AIDS and sexuality
education constitutes a necessary step towards equipping
the youth with the necessary ammunition to fight the
disease. This view is also held by the Kenyan Christian
Students Fellowship, that maintains that the introduction
of classes on HIV/AIDS in Kenyan learning institutions
would save many Kenyan youths by encouraging them
to avoid careless sexual behaviour2 . Currently, Medical
Assistance Programme (MAP-International) has developed
a programme targeting the clergy (in Kenya and Ivory
Coast). In collaboration with the United States Agency
for International Development (USAID), and Family
Health International, (FHI), MAP initiated the project
- Integrated Action Against AIDS in Kenyan Churches
to address the training needs of Kenyan church leaders,
so as to better equip them to support the church community
as they face various aspects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.3
Conservatism
Currently, some church denominations refuse to marry
couples unless they have undergone an HIV test and
have both emerged negative. This is to also reduce
the work of the clergy, says the Rev. Simon Onyango
of the Anglican Church, Homa Bay Cathedral in Nyanza
province. He maintains that the church cannot preside
over short-lived marriages only to be called upon
to perform burial rites when the couples die after
a few years in the union.4
The major weakness of the above initiatives is the
fact that such have not been extended to the more
rural areas of Kenya. The churches in the rural areas
face a dilemma. On the one hand, they risk losing
their congregations if they bring issues of sexuality
and HIV/AIDS into the pulpit and on the other hand,
if they keep quiet, the church will continue to lose
its members to HIV/AIDS.
Findings from the focus group discussions showed
that young people are still very conservative (especially
those from the Catholic Church) in talking about sexuality
issues. Being Christians, the topic was more of a
no-go area for them. From the responses it was quite
clear that sexuality issues were defined within the
parameters of sexual relationship.
Respondent D, a boy from Pentecost Church commented
that "if a girl starts a topic about "those
things" I will definitely know she is loose and
I will try to avoid her". Another respondent
B a Catholic indicated "if a church elder sees
or knows that you are spending a lot of time with
a boy, you are labelled as 'immoral' and others will
be discouraged from associating with you. It is not
easy to speak about sexual issues within the church.
Where can one start? And whom do you talk to?"
For all the participants in the FGDs, issues of sexuality
are only discussed in the Church when young people
are being warned about the ineffectiveness of condoms.
For example, one participant, a Catholic boy said
"we are told that condoms are only 70 percent
safe, are best used by couples with HIV/AIDS, contraceptives
should only be used by married couples for family
planning and that some contraceptives cause cancer".
None of the young respondents mentioned church leaders
or their parents as being the source of information
about sexuality issues. Relationships between boys
and girls are highly censored, as they are labelled
"immoral".
On whether they can embrace sexuality discussion
within the church, a girl from an Anglican Church
said "as long as it is conducted by somebody
from outside our Church because we will be a bit free
to ask some questions".
Church Elders' Views
The widely acknowledged source of sexuality information
was the magazine, television and teachers. When I
asked a Pentecost elder what we should do, he said
"I think we should let young people talk about
these things among themselves because personally,
I cannot talk about sex to young people". From
the elder's response, one can see that they feel there
is need to address sexuality issues but feel uncomfortable
to talk about sex.
Church leaders are still battling on how to approach
sexuality issues without offending their congregations.
As a church elder from Pentecost Church said: "I
have been an elder in this church for many years.
I have brought up my children in the ways of God but
I don't know where I went wrong. My first daughter
decided to get married even before her fourth form
results were out. My second-born is pregnant and at
home. The shame is too much on me. Where did I go
wrong? Can the church allow me to continue being an
elder or will I just move to another church?"
When I asked him whether sexuality issues were discussed
in his home, his response was: "Everyone knows
about AIDS, the TV talks about it the whole day. I
never thought my daughters could even think about
sex because they were born-again Christians and they
were still very young and very active in Church affairs.
And how can I talk about sex to my own daughters?
It is not possible. I am a Christian".
Silence and Denial
While I was carrying out my research I attended two
funerals for two different women whose spouses had
died two years earlier. In one funeral there was absolute
denial and the deaths of husband and wife were associated
with witchcraft because the couple seemed to have
been doing very well financially. The Catholic priest
performed the rites and the lady was buried.
The second funeral was for a very close family friend
and on one occasion when funeral arrangements were
being discussed a member of the family of the deceased
commented that "this disease is going to finish
my family, what sin have we committed?" Yet during
the funeral, the Anglican pastor performed the funeral
rites without any reference to the cause of death.
In both instances the sermons only concentrated on
the virtues of the two ladies who were referred to
as committed Christians whom God had called home.
Unfortunately, as the research has shown, denial
and silence is not only on the part of the church
leadership. The laity also live in denial. A church
elder explained to me: "I have been preaching
to young people about dangers of sex before marriage
and HIV/AIDS and I had even started talking about
AIDS in the funerals;, now come to the church, the
young people have all moved to join the new churches".
Conclusion
The findings of this research indicate that sexuality
within the church is still an uncomfortable topic
and it is only mentioned in passing. Most adolescents
who were interviewed indicated that they have many
programmes within their churches, but they have never
attended a sexuality discussion forum. They also indicated
that most of what they know about, for example, teenage
pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, STDs is mostly from school, their
friends and the media.
Christian churches have done very little to create
space for young people to discuss their sexuality
freely. Sexuality information has been censored and
we are having young Christians in the rural areas
making wrong decisions about their sexuality because
influential institutions such as the churches have
not taken up the responsibility to offer direction.
For the church to remain relevant, it has to be in
touch with young people's needs and realities and
sexuality is one area young people are crying out
to be helped and the church is continuing to ignore
their plea on "moral" grounds. The church
should create conducive environments for young people
to discuss their sexuality without guilt.
Notes
1 Daily Nation on the Web, "Kenya:
Fighting AIDS with Education" (http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/31082000/News/News21.html
on 19/10/2004)
2 Daily Nation, August 31st, 2000, "AIC
backs AIDS lessons for schools"
3 Culled from the MAP HIV/AIDS Pastoral
Counselling Training in Africa Project web portal
(http://www.fhi.org/NR/Shared/enPrinterFriendly.asp
20/10/2004)
4 Daily Nation, Friday July 30th, 1999, "Clergyman's
stand on AIDS and marriage stirs debate" (http://www.nationnews.com
on 19/10/2004
References
1. Irvin, A. (2000). Taking steps of Courage.
Teaching Adolescents about Sexuality and Gender in
Nigeria Cameroon. New York : International Women's
Health Coalition.
2. Balmer DH. (1994). The Phenomena of adolescence.
An ethnographic inquiry. Nairobi : NARESA monograph
No. 4.
3. Lema VM, Kabeberi MJ. (1992). A review of abortion
in Kenya. Nairobi : Centre for the study of adolescents.
English press.
4. Ahlberg B.M. (199) Women, Sexuality and the
Changing Social Order: The Impact of Government Policies
on Reproductive Behavior in Kenya. New York:
Gordon and Breach, p 274.
5. Kimega, G.M., "Traditions, Myths & Youth
Culture" a summary of video titled the City of
Hope by Teenage Mothers & Girls Association of
Kenya found on website -
http://www.afrikapamoja.org/temak/video_summary.htm
( Viewed on 02/04/2005)
6. Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre (2003)
Annual Report Lagos: ARSRC
7. Vries, H; Weijts, W; Dijkstra, M; Kok, G. (1992).
"The utilization of qualitative and quantitative
data for health education program planning, implementation
and evaluation: a spiral approach." Health
Ed Q; 19: 101-15.
8. Ssewakiryanga, R. (2001)."Sex worker and the
Identity Question: A study in sex work in Kampala
city. Kampala" CBR Working Paper. Kampala
* Lucy Kangara is a postgraduate
student and teaching assistant at the University of
Botswana.
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