2008 International AIDS Conference

When it Comes to Churches, Pernessa Seele is the Balm

By Denise Rolark Barnes and LaGloria Wheatfall

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MEXICO CITY -- Perneesa C. Seele, founder and CEO of Balm in Gilead, which takes its name from Jeremiah 8:22. The Old Testament verse reads: “Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?”

Seele has become the modern-day answer to that question, helping improve the health status of people in the African Disapora, especially around the issue of HIV/AIDS.

“Church has a major role to play regarding the sexual behaviors of all of us,” said Seele, who relocated the organization to Richmond, Va. after 30 years in New York City. “The faith community has a major role to play in the prevention and care of sexual beings and that’s ostensibly who we are. ”

Sometimes it’s a matter of leaders getting over their lack of knowledge and initial reservations.

“There are many different strategies that we use,” she explained. “During the Week of Prayer, which has been very successful in the African American community, pastors pray about the healing of HIV/AIDS. …We all have the same problem and we all have to come together to address that problem.”

The Balm in Gilead works to improve the health status of people of the African Diaspora by building the capacity of faith communities to address life-threatening diseases, especially HIV/AIDS. Seele appeared at the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City where she joined Black AIDS activists called together by the Black AIDS Institute to demand a national action plan to end the epidemic in America´s Black community. She reported that three African American congregations – including the African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AMEZ), the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) and the Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) – have launched extensive HIV testing and education campaigns in each of their districts across the country. The AMEZ’s are also providing help for people with HIV.

The Balm in Gilead is helping each denomination by providing training and technical assistance to the organizations.

“If you get them [faith leaders] effective education, they will find their own space and way to address the problem of AIDS, comprehensively. Over time, they will come to grips with their own stigma; they will repent for the damage they have done to people. I have seen it time and time again. It requires persistence, it requires patience; it requires the understanding that that a faith leader is responsible for a whole lot of folks and a whole lot of history stands on his shoulders.”

That history notwithstanding, much work lies ahead.

“As we move forward in this fight against AIDS, let us be mindful that it is the silence, denial and stigma of AIDS that continues to cripple our community's response to AIDS education, HIV testing and treatment,” she stated. “The involvement of all churches in this battle against AIDS is imperative if we are to conquer this epidemic here at home and throughout the global village.”