"Remembering our story"

"This iniquitous enemy which will not go away - yet there is hope, there is a future..."

Those were words of the Dean of Southwark, the Very Rev. Colin Slee at the London Ecumenical AIDS Trust Annual Service held on 25 November to mark World AIDS Day.

Over 300 people were at the Cathedral to see the Memorial Quilt and Memorial Book brought in, accompanied by Bishop Tom, Rabbi Mark Solomon, representatives of organisations working in the field of HIV/AIDS, and children affected by the illness.

The theme of the Service "Remembering Our Story" revolved around five positive people, charting their stories from the first appearance HIV/AIDS in the UK in 1981 to the present time. There was the story of the young man training to be a priest, experiencing the trauma of seeing his peers succumb to the illness and then falling victim to it; the young mother, HIV positive and pregnant, and the dilemma of whether to sustain the pregnancy; the wife, fighting her illness claiming, "my only fault was in getting married".

Poetry, drama, music led by a male voice choir from Sierra Leone, all formed part of the remembering but also of celebrating all that has been achieved including greater awareness and new therapies.

Name cards placed on the Memorial Quilt at the altar of Southwark Cathedral

About LEAT

LEAT was formed in 1993 to mobilize Christian and Jewish communities towards more compassionate and constructive attitudes and to highlight areas of concern and need.

In 2001, LEAT held Study Days and Workshops and managed two main projects. There has been extensive work with the African-led churches with encouraging responses.

LEAT hopes this year to develop it's training programme, extend its projects and continue to identify and support other areas of need and suggest innovative ways of tackling them.

Requests for information should go to The Director, LEAT, St Paul's Church, Lorrimore Square. London 5E17 3QU Tel/Fax: 020-7793 0338. Donations are welcomed

Cathedral Holy Week preacher

The Rev. Dr Nyameko Barney Pityana, Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of South Africa will be Southwark Cathedral's Holy Week preacher.

Barney and his wife Dimza, who will also be coming to Southwark, were imprisoned (frequently) under apartheid. He escaped to the UK and was given a place at King's College London. He graduated with a BD and after training at Cuddesdon he was a curate in Birmingham where his suffragan bishop was Colin Buchanan.

He was appointed to a major job with the World Council of Churches in Geneva returning to post-apartheid South Africa. Under Nelson Mandela he was appointed chairman of the South African Human Rights Commission where he has achieved notoriety not least for his criticisms of some of the government and his defence of human rights in all respects. He was appointed to UNISA - the University of S Africa - last September.

More next month...