1 Small Christian Communities (SCCs) as Agents of Change in the Fight against HIV/AIDS in Eastern Africa By Joseph Healey, MM 1. Introduction Today there are over 180,000 Small Christian Communities (SCCs) in the Catholic Church in the nine AMECEA 1 countries in Eastern Africa that have some kind of planned practical action, service and pastoral, social and mission outreach to local problems and challenges such as people with HIV/AIDS. SCC members are important agents of change and transformation in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The first goal of this paper is to analyze the reality of people with HIV/AIDS in Eastern Africa today. The second goal is to demonstrate that the active involvement of SCC members in reaching out to people with HIV/AIDS as responders, health care workers, caregivers, counselors, etc. is a pastoral and social priority. SCC members have a special opportunity to minister to families and couples affected by HIV/AIDs in Eastern Africa such as caring for millions of AIDs orphans and counseling discordant couples. Specific stories, case studies and examples are cited to illustrate these goals in the context of developing an African narrative ecclesiology. 2. Listening to the Reality of People with HIV/AIDS in Eastern Africa Today The AMECEA Study Conference in Mukono, Uganda in 2005 on “Responding to the Challenges of HIV/AIDS within the AMECEA Region” had one pastoral resolution that emphasized: "Active involvement of SCCs in reaching out to people with HIV/AIDS. SCC members as caregivers, counselors, etc." This can be extended to SCC members reaching out