| dc.description.abstract | The thrust of this study is to highlight and expose the effects of HIV and AIDS on the
traditional Ndau woman in Chipinge District. This thesis emphasises how much the
woman in Chipinge has sacrificed in terms of providing care to people living with HIV
and AIDS (herein after referred to as PLWHA). Apart from examining this and the other
diverse burdens that women carry, this project highlights how Ndau women in Chipinge
have been key to the overall response to HIV and AIDS. This is achieved through
application of cultural hermeneutics of the Ndau religion, the traditional religion of
Chipinge. I apply a hermeneutic of suspicion to assess the role played by some Ndau
traditional practices which fall into the category of Harmful Cultural Practices
(HCPs).Most of these, as analysed, are embedded in most traditional marriage practices
as is explained in chapter 2. Furthermore, I employ a hermeneutic of commitment and a
hermeneutic of liberation as I argue that not all Ndau practices affect women negatively
with regards to HIV and AIDS: there is still a silver lining in the ‘not so dark’ cloud. I
look for alternative ways in which Ndau practices and custom can be re-interpreted and
contextualized in a helpful way to fight the epidemic. This purpose is achieved especially
in chapter 4. This research is motivated by feminism, and in particular, liberal feminism.
In this project I strongly argue that though most African traditional practices have been
assessed negatively, and most are known to victimise women, their liberation can still
happen within their own traditional societies. Though I do not argue against any other
means such as new religious ideologies and westernisation, my argument is that though
most Ndau traditional societies victimise women, there still exists redemptive beliefs and
practices for women within the traditional setting of the Ndaus. I look for liberating
resources that can be tapped from folklores, myths and other forms of oral literature in
Ndau religion. I argue for the silver lining in the dark cloud presented by some harmful
cultural practices (HCPs) that present African Traditional Religions (ATRs) as oppressive
and ruthless to women. In this thesis, I deliberate on how the roles of women should not
be looked down upon, and why maleness should not be a means to power if the response
to HIV and AIDS is to be effective. Ndau traditional culture presents women mostly at
the receiving end, particularly in the era HIV and AIDS. It is key to understand that this
thesis therefore becomes a microcosm of the macrocosm. What this study comes up with
can have basic information on women, HIV and AIDS, and many other traditional
societies. As such, this thesis provides a social framework on how such cultures and
customs can be contextualised, reinterpreted, remodeled, adapted and adopted in the
framework of HIV and AIDS. Apart from cultural hermeneutics as a method, sociology
of religion is key in this project. Interviews particularly snowball sampling gives results.
However, the overarching methodology employed in this study is phenomenology of
religion, as suggested in the topic. I gather information for this project through such ways
as mentioned earlier, but central is the idea that ‘the believer is always right’, which is
key in phenomenology. The results of my research try as much as possible to present
what the believer presents to the researcher, trying by all means to be unbiased.The
effects of HIV and AIDS on women are ruthless, but however, there are some positive
effects which are not so much talked about as the negative effects. | en_US |
