This is true empowerment because the capacity to act is acknowledged, confidence is asserted, and participation has begun. What is actually happening with communities in Southern Africa is happening in other areas of the world, with people who understand the challenge involved in facilitating a potential community to become a functioning community. Africa can teach us this by example. For many in the first world this is unexplored territory because it is assumed that hope for community was lost long ago. This is far from the truth.
Community affirms choice and incorporates challenge.
It is the most effective tool we have to eliminate confusion and fear. If we are honest, we can acknowledge that we deny and avoid problems when they have a significant impact upon our lives. A syndrome of rejection and denial can be discerned in the reactions of people to HIV at the national planning level. Nations in Southern Africa have accepted malaria and other diseases as reality. HIV is very different from these other diseases but it needs to be realistically incorporated into everyday life, just as they are.