Education Projects Updates

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New dates for Healthy Church training

****UPDATE****

25th April is now fully booked. Places are available for 23rd May but will fill up fast.

We are delighted to announce new dates for our Healthy Church training. These training days, led by highly experienced facilitators, seek to equip church leaders to more effectively address HIV and other health issues within their congregations.

On Saturday 25th April and Saturday 23rd May (both 10:00am-4:30pm) we will host two identical training days. Both will take place at the Lucan Centre, Dublin.

For more details and to register please contact Richard Carson richard(dot)c(at)acet(dot)ie

 

 

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Stories of Belief from LGBT Christians

As part of our fedgling Project Emmaus, we are delighted to announce this upcoming symposium for church leaders:

Stories of belief from LGBT Christians 

 Saturday 7th March, 10am-3pm, Trinity College Dublin Chaplaincy. Lunch will be provided.

 The contemporary discussion about LGBT lives and stories in Ireland is often centred: 

a) on the upcoming referendum 
b) on whether or not LGBT people are a threat to marriage, the family and children. 
 
However, this upcoming event will explore some of the underlying themes, beliefs and stories in our current debate, the human cost of discussions about the causation and cure of being gay, as well the other side of contemporary discussions on the consequences of legitimising LGBT people in all aspects of society, inclusion and leadership. 
 
Our time together will include:
  • Hearing stories
  • Theological exploration
  • Group Discussion
  • Learning how to hear each other well. 
  • Practising the art of listening. 

Facilitators include:

Poet, theologian and group worker, Pádraig Ó Tuama is the team leader at the Corrymeela Community. His book of prose and poetry, In the Shelter, is published by Hachette Ireland and is available in all good bookshops.

Richard Carson is the Chief Executive of ACET Ireland and has 15 years experience training on the interactions of faith, sexual health and sexuality around Ireland and in 13 other countries around the world, including through an award-winning Masters degree in Trinity College Dublin. 

 This event is part of a fledgling project of ACET Ireland which explores the interface of LGBT and faith issues and is funded by the LGBT Communities Fund of the Community Foundation of Ireland. It is being held in partnership with the Corrymeela Community and the TCD Methodist Chaplaincy.

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World AIDS Day – Close the Gap

Check out this guest blog post by Richard Carson for VOX magazine on the occasion of World AIDS Day 2014:

Planning events for the last few World AIDS Days has generated an interesting dilemma for those of us working in the sector. The quandary is that, on the one hand, the brand of “World AIDS Day” remains popular with the general public. While, on the other hand, the good news emerging is that the annual day’s title is increasingly becoming an inaccurate description…..Continue reading.

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Healthy Church Training

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At the end of July, twelve church leaders from around Ireland gathered at the Lucan Centre for our Healthy Church event as part of Project Hope. The goal was to address health issues within our faith communities with a particular focus on the challenges that migrants to Ireland face in relation to overcoming barriers to health. In line with ACET’s ethos, the approach of the training was to explore the possibilities of raising a culture of empathetic listening in our faith communities rather than just passing on information or skills.  By focussing on areas such as HIV and mental health we sought to equip the leaders with all they need to bring about such change. In our post-event evaluation 100% of participants agreed that the members of their church would benefit from their leaders attendance at the event.

We are grateful to Prof. Adebola Adedimeji of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York for his support and expertise. Prof Adedimeji will continue to research this area so look out for publications in peer-reviewed journals in the near future. In addition, Vivienne Murtagh of ACET brought her gifted training and facilitation skills to the event, while Juliet Amamure of Diaspora Women’s Initiative added a profound personal touch to ensure that we remained focussed on who we are serving.  We are grateful to the Global Health Center of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the PA Foundation and Dublin City Council for their support. We are excited about entering the next phase of Project Hope with the support of Community Foundation Ireland and the MAC AIDS Fund.

Here’s what some of the participants had to say afterwards:

“The emphasis on building a culture of empathetic listening was the best part. I really benefitted from the listening skills.”

“You are doing a great work. Please don’t relent in your efforts.”

“Brilliant!”

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If you want to keep updated on when and where the next training will be taking place then click below on “Partner” with “Project Hope” in the comment and we will be in touch with more details.

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God Loves Uganda film event at Dublin Pride

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On 21st June we were delighted to partner with the National LGBT Federation (NXF) for a Dublin Pride showing of God Loves Uganda. The Irish Film Institute in Temple Bar, Dublin was the venue for this provocative and disturbing documentary. In the film Oscar-winning (Music by Prudence) director Roger Ross Williams  examines the role of US evangelical groups in the development and passing of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda.
After the showing a panel which included ACET Ireland CEO Richard Carson, Juliet Amamure of Diaspora Women’s Initiative and Patrick Lynch formerly of Evangelical Alliance Ireland and NXF discussed the film including the challenge of identifying appropriate responses. Over 60 people from a range of backgrounds from church leaders to LGBT community leaders to Uganda diaspora members turned up on a sunny Saturday to be part of the event.
Earlier in the month we also had a showing of the documentary for staff of faith-based international development agencies and we are grateful to Pádraig O’Tuama for sharing with us his experiences and expertise. This event was part of Project Emmaus, our fledgling work exploring the interface of faith and LGBT issues in Ireland and was funded by Community Foundation Ireland. God Loves Uganda can be purchased on Amazon or contact us by clicking on ‘Partner” below and mentioning the movie in the comment box for details of future educational showings.

 

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New partnership with M·A·C AIDS Fund UK & Project Hope

!cid_D8AEAE47-026F-42DE-8182-C43FDE7A4C3DWe are delighted to announce a new partnership with the M·A·C AIDS Fund UK. They will be supporting Project Hope as we seek to transform the story of HIV in Migrant-Led churches across Ireland through the training of leaders. These churches are important and positive community supports for many people living with HIV. It is broadly acknowledged though that the experience of those living with HIV within these settings has been mixed in terms of leadership, pastoral support and health promotion.This partnership will allow us to deliver training that will change this and allow these churches to further flourish in the values of faith, hope and love that are central to their existence.

The  M·A·C AIDS Fund is the largest corporate non-pharmaceutical donor in the area of HIV. They join with Community Foundation Ireland, the PA Foundation and Dublin City Council by supporting Project Hope. If you want to keep updated on when and where this training will be taking place then click below on “Partner” with “Project Hope” in the comment and we will be in touch with more details.

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Worrying increase in HIV cases in Ireland

Is HIV still an issue in Ireland? Are there still new cases of this preventable infection? Most people in Ireland are unsure how to answer this question. However for the past few years we have had almost one new case per day in this country and this figure is rising significantly. Data from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (www.hpsc.ie) shows that in the first 15 weeks of 2014 there were 126 new cases of HIV. That’s a 50% increase on the same period last year. We are waiting to hear from the HPSC on the possible routes of transmission of these cases but we know that Men who have sex with Men and Heterosexual transmission continue to be areas of concern.

Recently Richard Carson, CEO of ACET Ireland, was among the first 12 HIV experts in Europe trained in Succeed, a quality improvement tool developed by Quality Action, the World Health Organisation approved agency tasked with improving quality in HIV-prevention across Europe. At the training Richard heard that “we will not treat our way out of the pandemic” – a statement that reflects that while we are delighted that treatment for HIV continues to improve, we need to continue to focus on prevention. Does the incidence of HIV in Ireland surprise you? How do you think we should respond? We would love to hear your comments. 

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Project Hope gets international recognition as ACET Ireland is published.

Our project working to equip migrant-led churches to promote health and address HIV within their communities has received international recognition through a peerreviewed journal. Richard Carson and Philip McKinley contributed to the paper Increasing HIV Testing Among African Immigrants in Ireland: Challenges and Opportunities which appeared in this month’s edition of the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health. The lead author is Prof. Adebola Adedimeji of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine New York. Staff from University College Dublin and the Mater Hospital Dublin also contributed. The paper looks at some of the barriers that exist in Irish society to addressing HIV among migrants. It highlights the importance of faith communities and the need to deliver training that engages with the theological and social framework of faith community leaders. This is precisely what Project Hope seeks to achieve.

Are you a church leader or do you know faith community leaders who would value training in how to address HIV and other health issues within their settings? If yes then please get in touch with us and SIGN UP for more information. Read the abstract and order the full paper.

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