Latest News #235 - South Africa
March 03, 2003

Living in Hope Portion
launched in Zulu

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — The Bible Society of South Africa is continuing its outreach to HIV/AIDS patients and their families with the launch of an audio cassette in Zulu of the Portion Living in Hope: Help From the Scriptures for Coping with HIV/AIDS.

The Portion was launched by the Bible Society in printed form in 1999 at the request of churches and Christians involved in HIV/AIDS work. It is now available in all of South Africa's 11 official languages and a further eight African languages. Recognising that at least 12 million South Africans are functionally illiterate, however, the Bible Society also launched an audio cassette version in English on December 1 (see Latest News #224).

The second language in which the Living in Hope cassette is being made available is Zulu, which is spoken by almost nine million South Africans. The Zulu version, Ukuphila ngethemba, was presented by Bible Society General Secretary the Rev Gerrit Kritzinger to King Goodwill Zwelithini at a ceremony in Empangeni, on South Africa's eastern coast in KwaZulu-Natal Province, on February 12. The king emphasised the importance of all South Africans working together to combat the impact of HIV/AIDS on society and said that, as well as physical care, HIV/AIDS patients "need to be loved and they need real hope". He also thanked the Bible Society for its strong commitment to the fight against HIV/AIDS.