This pilot project will investigate connections between involvement with different types of organized religion and knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to HIV/AIDS in urban and rural areas of southern Mozambique. The project will focus on religious congregations representing the following religions and denominations: mainline Christian churches (Roman Catholic and mission-based Protestant), the rapidly proliferating evangelical and Pentecostal churches that emphasize charismatic prophesying and divine healing, and Islam. It will comparatively examine how HIV/AIDS-related messages are framed and articulated by congregation leaders and how these messages are received and interpreted by congregants. It will also compare the doctrine, organizational structure, social composition, and patterns of social networking and control within the different types of congregations in order to understand how these characteristics may hinder or promote the spread of HIV/AIDS. In addition to prevention, the project will look at how different congregations are involved in the provision of care and support to AIDS patients and their families. The fieldwork for this project will take place in Maputo, Mozambique's capital, and in rural areas of the Chibuto District (Gaza Province) in southern Mozambique. The fieldwork will involve a small survey at selected urban and rural congregations, and semi-structural interviews with congregation leaders and members. The analyses of the data to be collected will contribute to the efforts aimed at enlisting various social actors in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Mozambique and other sub-Saharan countries. At the same time, the proposed project will generate baseline data that will lay the groundwork for a larger, household-based study on the importance of faith-based institutions in dealing with the HIV/AIDS crisis in Mozambique.
| Agadjanian, Victor; Sen, Soma (2007) Promises and challenges of faith-based AIDS care and support in Mozambique. Am J Public Health 97:362-6 |
| Agadjanian, Victor (2005) Gender, religious involvement, and HIV/AIDS prevention in Mozambique. Soc Sci Med 61:1529-39 |
