ELCA NEWS SERVICE July 15, 2008 Women of ELCA, GME Guest Endures Immigration Process, Arrives in U.S. 08-121-JB SALT LAKE CITY (ELCA) -- Azur Riki was one of several international guests invited to the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Seventh Triennial Gathering here July 10-13, to share stories about her life and church. But getting here was an endurance test for Riki, who worked through the complexities of the U.S. immigration system, made even more complex because she is living with HIV. Riki, a member of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria, lives in Jos, Nigeria. She arrived here July 12 after she was granted a visa by the U.S. embassy in Abuja, Nigeria. Riki had traveled to the U.S. embassy three times to get a visa beginning with her first visit June 18, and was denied each time, she said in an interview with the ELCA News Service. She was notified on July 10 that her visa was granted, after she and others thought her visa request would not be approved. ELCA staff helped arrange her trip to the United States. Riki will also be a guest and speaker at the ELCA Global Mission Event, July 17-20, at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. Riki is a widow with two children, ages 5 and 11. Her husband was HIV positive and died in 2002. She is supporting herself and her family today, thanks to the programs of the Mashiah Foundation, Jos. The foundation operates a holistic HIV/AIDS education, prevention, testing, counseling and health program ministry, including the Women of Hope Program, which serves 140 women who are HIV-positive. The foundation is supported by gifts from ELCA congregations and through ELCA Global Mission. The Mashiah Foundation receives funds from the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program initiated under U.S. President George W. Bush. The ELCA supports PEPFAR, which must be reauthorized this year, and has advocated for increased funding and policies in a new bill. This week the U.S. Congress is expected to take up global AIDS reauthorization, said Kim Stietz, director for international policy, ELCA Washington Office. One of the improved policies in the proposed PEPFAR reauthorization is repeal of the permanent travel ban against people living with HIV, she said. The ELCA, through its Washington Office, and 16 other churches and church organizations signed a letter last week urging U.S. Senators to repeal the travel ban. People living with HIV, such as Riki, can be considered for certain types of visas to enter the United States, but the process is laborious and complicated, Stietz said. In Riki's case, she traveled to Lagos, a 12-hour journey, and to Abuja, a three-hour journey, multiple times to secure the proper documents but was denied an entry visa, she said. That is until staff of the U.S. State Department apparently intervened, following efforts by ELCA staff and others working on Riki's behalf. Riki is not the only Nigerian who has faced this difficulty with visas, said Bayo Oyebade, director, Mashiah Foundation. "The irony is that individuals like Riki are literally alive because of the AIDS treatment they received through PEPFAR, yet they're being denied the opportunity to tell Americans how good the program is because they're HIV positive," Stietz said. "There's no public health justification for placing travel restrictions on HIV positive people." "It (the law) only increases stigma and discrimination against people who are HIV positive. We know how to prevent the spread of the disease -- it's through education and prevention not border control," Stietz said. After many unsuccessful efforts to get Riki to this summer's ELCA events, no one is entirely sure why Riki was suddenly granted a visa to enter the United States, Stietz said. But she is grateful. "I'm really happy to get myself here," Riki said. "I never dreamed I would be in this country. It's not easy for a woman living with HIV. But I thank God because of the Mashiah Foundation. That is how I got to America today. I thank God for PEPFAR. They have provided the drugs for us to take, and to take care of our health." --- Information about the Global AIDS bill reauthorization is at http://tinyurl.com/6oybtb on the ELCA Web site. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog