Browsing by Author "Tamirepi, Farirai"

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    Going back to my roots : a critical understanding of the interplay between Christian faith and Shona tradition in the quest to find meaning within the HIV pandemic
    (Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2011-03) Tamirepi, Farirai; Thesnaar, C. H.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Practical Theology and Missiology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: During the study there was an attempt to understand the interplay between Christian faith and Shona tradition in the quest for meaning within the HIV and AIDS pandemic. It was revealed that HIV/AIDS has caused unimaginable suffering among all segments of society in Zimbabwe but impacts more on women and children. The suffering caused by HIV and AIDS has inevitably raised the question of meaning which is urgent and widespread, making people turn to the Christian faith or to Shona tradition for answers to their suffering. During the study there was an attempt to find out why Shona Christians revert to Shona traditions in quest for meaning within the HIV and AIDS scourge. It has been revealed that one single answer does not exist and that the quest for meaning as the sum total of answers does not exist. The quest for meaning is about discovering a God-image which is appropriate to give meaning in suffering by being involved and engaged with the existential realities of people within the HIV and AIDS pandemic. It was made clear during the study that the quest for meaning within the HIV and AIDS pandemic has greatly challenged both belief systems to the extent that the Shona Christians, not only revert to tradition in quest for meaning but move back and forth, in and out of both belief systems and remain confused about who God is. The dilemma for the Shona Christians in quest for meaning therefore is a crisis of faith, a personal crisis of identity and a continuous search for meaning. In light of this devastating pandemic, it is an undeniable fact that the quest for meaning among the Shona Christians within the HIV and AIDS pandemic challenges the SDA church to reinterpret and reframe pastoral theology in a way that is relevant to discovering a God who can be trusted to give meaning in suffering.
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    HIV and AIDS within the primary health care delivery system in Zimbabwe : a quest for a spiritual and pastoral approach to healing
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013-12) Tamirepi, Farirai; Thesnaar, C. H.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Practical Theology and Missiology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This qualitatively oriented Practical Theological research journey, informed by the philosophical ideas of postmodern, contextual, participatory and feminist theologies, postmodern and social construction epistemologies was based on a participatory action research through the therapeutic lens of narrative inquiry. The thesis is about the spiritual problems and spiritual needs of people living with HIV and AIDS and how they can be addressed as part of a holistic approach to their care within the primary healthcare delivery system in Zimbabwe. The research curiosity was prompted by the HIV and AIDS policy in Zimbabwe that advocates for a holistic approach to the care of HIV and AIDS patients within the primary health care delivery system. The recognition that healthcare has to be holistic for the best outcome for patients creates an expectation that spiritual care will also be incorporated into clinical practice. However there is a puzzling blind spot and a strange silence about the spiritual problems and spiritual needs of people living with HIV and AIDS within the HIV and AIDS policy. This has had the effects of reducing intervention programmes to purely medical, psychological and sociological. This research sought to correct such an approach by highlighting the role of spiritual care in the healing process of people living with HIV and AIDS as part of the holistic approach to their care. The core information, on which this research is based, comes from the experiences of people living with HIV and AIDS who are receiving care within the primary health care delivery system in Zimbabwe. It sweeps away statistics and places those questing for spiritual healing at the core of the study. All the participants in the study affirmed that the why me questions as a summation of their indescribable and unimaginable spiritual pain felt in the spirit were directed to God. They confirmed that their spiritual problem was spiritual pain and their spiritual need therefore was spiritual healing from the spiritual pain of which God is believed to be the healer. The belief that God is the ultimate healer of the spiritual pain stood out from the midst of problem saturated narratives of spiritual pain and suffering as the unique outcome to reconstruct the alternative problem free stories of healing. The research opted for an approach that is informed by the experiences of people living with HIV and AIDS. In the light of the stories shared by the participants in this study, it became evident that there is an existing need within the Primary Health Care delivery system in Zimbabwe to provide spiritual care to people living with HIV and AIDS. The research aimed at co-creating a spiritual care approach in which those living with HIV and AIDS as well as those working with them can be empowered to re-author the stories of patients‟ lives around their self preferred images. The narrative approach was explored in this research as a possible therapeutic approach that could be used to journey pastorally with people living with HIV and AIDS in a non-controlling, non-blaming, non-directive and not knowing guiding manner that would permit the people living with HIV and AIDS to use their own spiritual resources in a way that can bring spiritual healing to their troubled spirits. The research also emphasizes the position of the people living with HIV and AIDS which they can inhabit and lay claim to the many possibilities of their own lives that lie beyond the expertise of the pastoral caregiver. The strong suggestion emerging from this study is that a spiritual care approach to healing must of necessity be integrated into the holistic approach to the care of people living with HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe. The wish of participants that their spiritual well-being be considered in their health care adds momentum to this suggestion. Hence the research argues for the inclusion of a spiritual and pastoral approach to spiritual healing which links the patient‟s spirituality and pastoral care. The research does not claim to have the solutions or quick fix miracle to the complicated spiritual pain of people living with HIV and AIDS and neither claims to have the power to bring any neat conclusions to the spiritual healing of people living with HIV and AIDS. However, the research has the potential to stimulate a new story of spirituality as a vital resource in the healing process of people living with HIV and AIDS and ignoring it may defeat the purpose of a holistic approach to the care of people living with HIV. The re-authoring of alternative stories is an ongoing process but like in all journeys, there are landmarks that indicate achievements, places of transfer or starting new directions or turning around. Hence this research process may be regarded as a landmark that indicated a new direction in the participants‟ journey towards spiritual healing.