St. Francis of Assisi and the ONE Vote 08 Campaign

(Originally published in Bread Blog, August 23, 2007)

By Elaine VanCleave and Carlos Navarro

"Preach the Gospel every day, and if necessary use words," Sen. Tom Daschle told participants packed into St. Mark's Episcopal Church on Capitol Hill, at the launch of the ONE Vote 08 rally in the nation's capital on a pleasant afternoon in June.

In case you didn't recognize that statement, it came from one of the most quotable personalities in history, St. Francis of Assisi.

And it's true that politicians and other public figures are fond of quoting St. Francis. But Sen. Daschle's decision to bring the venerable saint into this event is much appreciated. Many of us often get caught in the "mechanics" of social justice and forget that our motivation is to do the work in the light of the Gospel.

There is another saying from St. Francis that applies in this case: "It is no use walking to preach unless our walking is our preaching."

Which brings us to the rally itself. It has been almost three months since ONE launched the ONE Vote 08 campaign with the purpose of ensuring that all the candidates (whether Democrat, Republican or independent) make global health and extreme poverty foreign policy priorities of their campaigns in the 2008 presidential election. And thanks to ONE activists around the country, almost everywhere a candidate has spoken during the past few weeks, he or she has had to discuss how to address the problem of global poverty (See ONE blog).

We intended to write this blog post several weeks ago but time got away from us.

Anyway, we think it is still very timely to share fond memories of the rally. After all, we played hooky from the Bread for the World National Gathering just so we could go to this event.

On that day, St. Mark's was bursting at the seams, not only with people but with a level of energy that we can only describe as "electric hope." And why not? Several key high-level operatives from both the Democratic and Republican parties were present, not only to endore the goals of ONE Vote 08 but to lead the effort in making global poverty and disease a key topic of discussion during the presidential campaigns.

There were other celebrities and very important people at the rally, including the actress Connie Britton, who once starred in the TV sitcom Spin City, and more recently as the mom in the drama Friday Night Lights.

Ms Britton reminded us, in this time of fierce partisan politics, that ending hunger and poverty are American values that unify us all. She described ONE Vote as "an opportunity to deepen the unifying process of our elections." She said, as Americans, "in whatever party, we can unite with each other and with people around the world in our dedication to a world without hunger, without poverty, without these treatable and preventable diseases, and without suffering. These are American values that can truly make us proud as voters."

Pastor Brian McLaren's remarks were especially moving, particularly his comments about the transforming experience of meeting face to face the people whom we help. He said, "Something happens when you actually encounter people and they stop being a statistic and start being a neighbor." Wow! How often do we quote grim statistics when speaking about ONE? The figures are staggering, can be quite overwhelming, and sometimes, even paralyzing.

But, in that very room, just moments before Pastor McLaren (pictured at left) spoke, the African Children's Choir had performed. This spirited group of children are all orphans from Central Africa, children who represent the statistics. When the pastor spoke, we thought of these children, who are indeed our neighbors, as the reason why we will follow his lead and ask our presidential candidates "again and again. What are you going to do for our neighbors?"

That’s what The ONE Campaign is all about: to move our society to take common responsibility for solving the problems of global poverty and disease. St. Francis said it so eloquently: Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.

[Note: The picture of the statue of St. Francis was taken outside the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Rancho de Taos, N.M.)

Ecological Footprints & the Seventh Millennium Development Goal

Those of us involved in social justice have to pause sometimes to ask ourselves the question: Do we practice what we preach? In the context of The ONE Campaign, it's useful to look at the eight Millennium Development Goals and examine how we can apply them to our personal lives. Achieve universal primary education? Sure. I can support my local school system. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger? I can support my local food bank. Reduce child mortality? The answer: Support the WIC program. So there you have it. All token efforts.

But there is ONE goal where our personal habits can make a huge difference: The Seventh Goal, which is to ensure environmental sustainability. Our consumption habits (or dare I say overconsumption habits) of natural resources and energy have contributed to the devastation of Mother Earth. There are many practical personal steps we can take to contribute to making our global human habitat more sustainable. Do I drive to work every day or can I take public transport or ride a bike? Have I installed energy-saving light bulbs at home? Do I buy only the produce that is grown locally? Or do I make it even more local by growing my own fruits and vegetables? Am I aware that buying water in plastic containers is very damaging to the environment?

What kind of ecological footprint are you leaving? Take a quiz
After you've taken the quiz, perhaps you might want to take some actions. Dr. Bruce Milne, director of the Sustainability Program at the University of New Mexico, and his assistant Mariel Tribby have created a handy kit to help you move in the direction of greater sustainability. Click here to access the kit (in .pdf format).

One of the most dedicated advocates of environmental sustainability and ecospirituality is Sister Paula Gonzalez.

Sister Paula (pictured above) is the founder of EarthConnection, a center for learning and reflection about living lightly on Earth. The solar-heated and energy efficient office named La Casa del Sol is a revitalized chicken coop. The center has implemented a permaculture demonstration project and 16 raised garden beds that, with the help of volunteers provides fresh, organic vegetables for low-income residents in the area.

Sister Paula was wearing her ONE band when I caught up with her at the Center for Action and Contemplation's Great Chain of Being conference in August 2007. She proudly wears the white wrist band everywhere she goes, not only as a symbol of the Seventh Millenium Development Goal, but also to draw the connection that all eight goals are related. The truth is that if we take seriously the concept of sustainability, then we will consume less, which means that resources can be spread out more evenly, eventually making it easier to eradicate hunger and extreme poverty, fight AIDS and other diseases, and attain basic primary education for everyone.

Click here for a slightly different version of this piece

You Go, Guv!

While I was in Washington in June, I attended the most amazing rally, the launch of the ONE Campaign's ONE Vote 08 initiative. This is an unprecedented bipartisan effort to make global health and extreme poverty foreign policy priorities in the 2008 presidential election.

The ONE Campaign makes this goal clear:
"The next president will take office in a time of great hope: there are effective and affordable solutions that save lives. AIDS drugs can now cost as little as $1 a day. A $5 bed net can keep a child from dying from a mosquito bite. With the force of more than millions of members from all 50 states and a coalition of more than 100 non-profit, religious and charitable groups, ONE Vote '08 will educate and mobilize voters to ensure that the next American president is committed to using "strategic" power to end global poverty and keep America strong."

St. Mark's Episcopal Church on Capitol Hill, the site of the rally, was bursting at the seams, not only with people but with a level of energy that I can only describe as "electric hope." And why not? Several key high-level operatives from both the Democratic and Republican parties have not only endorsed the goals of Vote 08 but have also become involved in trying to make global poverty and disease a key topic of discussion during the presidential campaigns. In fact, Vote 08 is chaired by two former Senate Majority leaders, ex-Sens. Bill Frist of Tennessee and Tom Daschle of South Dakota.

The Vote 08 Camapign is keeping a running tab of comments that presidential candidates are saying about the Millenium Development Goals and The ONE Campaign. Click here to see. And here is a video of the rally on YouTube

Bread members and ONE activists at ONEVote 08 Rally
Many of us in New Mexico are well aware that one of those presidential candidates is our own Gov. Bill Richardson. I was extremely pleased when I learned that Richardson issued an entire press release endorsing The ONE Campaign last week!
I'm sure the Vote 08 Campaign was the major reason why he decided to make the statement. Nevertheless, we are extremely pleased at this decision. I cannot help but say, You GO Guv!

But please don't view this as an official endorsement of Richardson's candidacy. My hope that every single one of the candidates for both parties adopts such a clear position on the global poverty and the MDGs.

Governor Bill Richardson's
Open Endorsement of ONE Campaign
For Immediate Release: 07/11/2007

SANTA FE, NM -- Democratic Presidential candidate Governor Bill Richardson released the following statement today, praising the ONE campaign and calling for a sustained effort to eradicate poverty in the developing world:

"Millions dead from disease in the developing world, mothers who go to bed hungry every night, children who have never seen the inside of a classroom -- this is our burden. Our belief is that we can and must do better.

"I am proud to support the ONE campaign in its efforts to alleviate suffering and transform the developing world. Accomplishing these goals will require an enduring will and an abiding faith in the dignity of every human being. I am confident that we will be successful.

"As a former UN Ambassador and a diplomat, I know that just as poverty-stricken neighborhoods produce crime, poverty-stricken states produce terrorism. Ending world poverty is thus not only a moral imperative, it is vital to the security of the United States. ONE's specific targets -- fighting HIV/AIDS, improving education, providing housing, ensuring the health of mothers and children, and providing safe, clean water -- are critical for the developing world and America alike. Our next President must actively support these goals at home and abroad.

"We need a Marshall Plan for the 21st century. Developed nations, public organizations, and private companies must coordinate a sustained, focused, intensive effort to wipe out the developing world's most pressing problems. The original Marshall Plan lifted Europe from the ravages of war and established the United States as the dominant economic player in the world. I believe that during the coming century, our nation's economic security -- and the security of the world economy -- depends on replicating that success in the developing world.

"I applaud the ONE campaign for beginning the hard work that the world community must collectively finish. Only if we can work together will we have the strength to solve this problem."

A Lobby Day Buzz (a month later)

(Originally published in Bread blog, July 6, 2007)

What's that you hear? A Lobby Day Buzz? But it's been almost a month since Lobby Day. And the buzz doesn't appear to be coming from Capitol Hill.

What's that? Did I hear you right? The buzz is coming from the First Plaza Galleria office building in downtown Albuquerque? And on the day after Independence Day?

Yes folks. We managed to get a visit with Rep. Heather Wilson herself on July 5. We considered this a coup because our appointment in Washington was with an unresponsive aide. (And even though we had more responsive and engaging aides in our four other Lobby Day visits to the offices of New Mexico representatives and senators, none of those elected officials were present at our Washington meetings last month).

We felt our audience with our congresswoman went extremely well. There was a more relaxed feel about it. There's something about meeting outside the Beltway in our home turf (and dare I say the congresswoman's home turf). In fact, I wouldn't call it a meeting. It was more like a conversation. Rep. Wilson was very aware of Bread for the World's concerns regarding the Farm Bill. After all, she had received almost 300 letters from about a dozen offerings of letters in Albuquerque!

Another plus about having the meeting here in Albuquerque was that were able to invite a couple of friends who represent coalition partners (the Community Food Security Coalition and the New Mexico Association of Food Banks) to support our Bread for the World positions and add their two cents to the discussion.

Rep. Wilson listened closely to our requests to boost the Food Stamp program, promote rural development, support producers of specialty crops, strengthen nutrition programs and place a limit on subsidies for the five "big" commodities. In the end, she made no specific promises, although she nodded her head in agreement several times during our meeting. Of this we can be sure: that our requests will be prominent on her radar screen when farm-bill legislation reaches the floor of the House.

Now that we've had a taste of this outside-the-beltway "Lobby buzz," we are thinking that perhaps we should occasionally schedule other meetings on the home turf during future congressional breaks. (And not only with Rep. Wilson, but with Rep. Tom Udall, Rep. Steve Pearce, and Sen. Pete Domenici and Sen. Jeff Bingaman).

Read another version of this piece on the Bread for the World- New Mexico blog

A Tribute to Ann Sims (and her persistence)

"If you don't ask, it won't happen...

"Persistence pays off..."

"Sometimes righteous indignation can lead to good things..."

Okay, I'm paraphrasing these clichés. But in our case they hold true regarding the reason why we were able to hold a face-to-face meeting with Rep. Heather Wilson about the 2007 Farm Bill, which is the subject of our 2007 Offering of Letters"

And much of the credit should go to Ann Sims, who is one of our most passionate Bread for the World activists in New Mexico. We are proud to say that she is also a member of our organization's board of directors.

It's putting it mildly when I say that our visit to Rep. Wilson's office in Washington on Lobby Day (June 12) was extremely disappointing. We met with an unresponsive aide, who took few notes and kept looking at her watch. We felt disrespected.

Rather than shrug off the visit, Ann decided to take action. First she called Rep. Wilson's office to complain. Then she asked if there was a way we could meet with Rep. Wilson here in Albuquerque during the Fourth of July congressional recess. At first, she was told that since we'd already made our case on the Farm Bill in Washington, there was no reason to present the same information to the congresswoman. But Ann insisted. She reiterated the bad experience with the aide, hinting that we were not sure whether our message had gotten through to Rep. Wilson.

So on July 5 we gained a face-to-face audience with our congresswoman here in Albuquerque. Ann and I and two colleagues from coalition partners (Mark Winne from the Community Food Security Coalition and Laurel Wyckoff from the New Mexico Association of Food Banks) were present at the meeting. Ann set the tone for the meeting by pointing out that legislation on the farm bill was the single most important anti-hunger issue that she has lobbied on during her years as Bread activist.

I'm happy to say that our meeting with Rep. Wilson went extremely well. There was a more relaxed feel about it. There's something about meeting outside the Beltway in our home turf (and dare I say the congresswoman's home turf). In fact, I wouldn't call it a meeting. It was more like a conversation. Rep. Wilson was very aware of Bread for the World's concerns regarding the Farm Bill. After all, she had received almost 300 letters from about a dozen offerings of letters in Albuquerque!

Rep. Wilson listened closely to our requests to boost the Food Stamp program, promote rural development, support producers of specialty crops, strengthen nutrition programs and place a limit on subsidies for the five "big" commodities. And Mark and Laurel were able to add their two cents to these issues, as well as bring up related concerns of their own. In the end, she made no specific promises, although she nodded her head in agreement several times during our meeting. Of this we can be sure: that our requests will be prominent on her radar screen when farm-bill legislation reaches the floor of the House.

My thoughts after the meeting were that we probably wouldn't have achieved as much were it not for Ann's persistence.

Read another version of this piece on the Campus Bread blog

(Note: the above photo of Ann was taken by fellow Bread for the World activist Elaine VanCleave from Birmingham at the 2007 National Gathering in Washington)

Blisters on Lobby Day

(originally published in Bread blog, June 23, 2007)

Can you get blisters on Lobby Day? Sure you can. (And I don’t mean those kinds of “blisters” you get on your ego after a disappointing visit with an uninterested or combative congressional aide). I’m talking about the blisters that torture your feet when you wear the wrong type of shoes as you scurry from one appointment to another at Longworth to Cannon office buildings on the House side and then to Hart office building on the other side of Capitol Hill and back to Longworth. (OK, we took the Metro from Union Station back to the House side).

It happened to one member of our party during Lobby Day 2007. She made the mistake of wearing the wrong type of shoes to our congressional visits and at times had to walk barefoot on the hot sidewalk. But she was a good sport, and dutifully went along on all five of the appointments with our U.S. representatives and senators from New Mexico. (Not to mention the frequent re-enactment of the visit to Rep. Udall's office for a camera crew working on a video about Bread for the World).

And fortunately, there was relief. Another member of our party came prepared with a handful of band-aids. And all were used. But like so much of the legislation our Congress approves, a band-aid is just a “band-aid.”

The best solution to our dilemma came when another member of our party discovered that she wore the same size of shoes (comfortable shoes) as the one who had the uncomfortable shoes. So she offered to trade for a little while. And isn’t this the spirit that we want Congress to adopt when considering anti-hunger and anti-poverty legislation?

Seeds of Hope, Seeds of Change (and environmental stewardship)

In 1998, our Bread for the World offering of letters had the word "seeds" as part of the name of the campaign. In that case it was "Seeds of Hope," an effort to redirect U.S. development assistance for sub-Saharan Africa toward small-scale farmers and struggling U.S. rural communities.

Does that theme sound familiar? Our offering of letters this year, "Seeds of Change. Help Farmers. End Hunger," also advocates for small farmers, both in our country and in poor countries. Our efforts this year seek to cap subsidies on major commodities (which in the end could help farm economies in poor countries) and directs funds for rural development, conservation and so-called specialty crops (fruits, nuts, lettuce, and all the nutritious stuff).

So what was the result of "Seeds of Hope" in 1998? The initiative was approved in both houses of Congress and signed into law by then President Bill Clinton.

In Albuquerque, we try and commemorate the offering of letters in other ways. Often our celebration has taken the form of an ecumenical worship service.

Our service in 1998, which we named "Seeds of Hope" after the offering of letters, was very memorable. We partnered with Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, Iglesia Congregacional Unida and the Sisters of Charity to put together a fabulous multicultural worship and celebration.

In addition to celebrating our commitment to small-scale farmers in Africa, the theme of the service was environmental stewardship and simplicity. Our guest speaker was Paula Gonzalez, a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati. Paula spoke about many of her projects involving energy conservation, ecospirituality and healing the Earth. At that time, we did not know that we had the future recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the environmental organization Green Energy Ohio in 2005.

Paula is very deserving of all recognition and accolades. Among the projects she developed is La Casa del Sol, a 1,500 foot super-insulated passive solar house with recycled materials and volunteer help. (The cost was $10 per square feet)!

Another major project was EarthConnection, a center for learning and reflection about "living lightly" on Earth. The center features a solar-heated model of energy efficiency.

Paula Gonzalez, SC, to speak at Environmental and Simplicity Conference
Even though she lives in Cincinnati, we are proud to claim Paula as a native New Mexican. And we are very fortunate to have her in our midst again this summer. She will be one of two guest speakers at the Center for Action and Contemplation's summer conference, The Great Chain of Being. Click here for information about the conference)

The title of the conference is connected to ecospirituality.
Ecology is a modern word for what medieval Franciscan scholars called “The Great Chain of Being,” describing the interconnectedness of all: God, angels, humans, animals, plants, water, and the Earth itself. They predicted that if we stopped seeing God in any one link of the chain, the whole chain would fall apart. This conference will offer spiritual, global, and practical direction to help each of us discern our place, and how we can work together to re-link the chain.

Appropriately, Bread for the World and The ONE Campaign will have a small role (through displays) in promoting not only the "Seeds of Change. Help Farmers. End Hunger" campaign, but also the U.N. Millennium Development Goals, an effort to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015. The Seventh Millennium Development Goal suggests that all efforts against global poverty should include environmental sustainability, and that this should be achieved in partnership between developing and developed countries.

We urge you to consider attending the conference, which will also feature host Father Richard Rohr, OFM, and Tiki Küstenmacher, German author of the best-selling book "How To Simplify Your Life."

Click here for registration information.

The Offering of Letters from a New Mexico Farmer's Point of View; Lobby Day Report

When medium and small family farms growing commodity crops receive payments, we look to see which tractor can be repaired or what seed or fertilizer bill will be paid. A large corporate farm is looking to see which medium-sized farm is going broke so they can buy or rent more land to increase the subsidy payment they receive, or buy new larger equipment to farm more acres. Gene Watson, a farmer in southern New Mexico

When LaVerne Kaufman and members of her committee at Peace Lutheran Church in Las Cruces, N.M., asked local farmer Gene Watson to address the congregation the week before the Offering of Letters, he readily agreed. After all, Gene is a member of the congregation, and the topic of the Offering of Letters, the 2007 Farm Bill, is dear to his heart. Gene is a third generation New Mexico farmer, who with his brother grows crops on 425 acres of irrigated land.

During his presentation to members of the congregation, Gene spoke about how our system of farm subsidies--which go primarily to corn, wheat, soybeans, rice and cotton-- is skewed toward the larger farmers. In many cases, these huge farms are owned by corporations, which have easy access to government payments. Often these huge corporate farmers exploit loopholes in the farm law to get funds beyond the legal limits. "If you are a corporation or conglomerate, the $360,000 max subsidy does not apply to you because you can hire a lawyer who finds a loophole to allow you to receive $360,000 for each commodity crop you grow," says Gene. "In other words, a corporation with sufficient land, some acquired from nearby farmers who went bankrput, could conceivably get as much as $1.8 million for growing the five crops."

Bread for the World's Offering of Letters, seeks to put a cap on these payments and close some of the loopholes. Some of the money would redirect some of the money to other crops, which in many cases are grown by small- and medium-sized farmers like Gene and his brother. "Eight years ago my brother and I decided to look for specialty crops to expand into. We were tired of growing lettuce, onions, cabbage and selling them for the harvesting cost, trucking cost and broker fees," said Gene. "In other words we received nothing for growing the crops, or very little in return. We had to hope for bad weather in other farming areas to make a profit, which isn't a very good Christian attitude."

TAKING GENE'S CONCERNS TO CONGRESS
A handful of Bread members from New Mexico took Gene's fight to Capitol Hill on June 12. We were particularly impressed by the willingness of several congressional aides to really listen to the concerns of farmers like Gene. Our visits turned ihto cordial conversations about the farm bill and US food and agriculture policies. In particular, I would like to single out Tim Charters, the legislative director in Rep. Steve Pearce's office, who happens to be Gene's congressional representative. We were also pleased with our visits with Dan Alpert at Sen. Jeff Bingaman's office, Zane Vaughn at Sen. Pete Domenici's office, and Jeannette Lyman at Rep. Tom Udall's office. (Unfortunately, we did not have a positive experience at Rep. Heather Wilson's office).

Will our visits make a difference? You bet they will. We ensured that the concerns of Bread for the World and other anti-hunger and anti-poverty organizations are part of the conversation as Congress debates the 2007 Farm Bill over the next several weeks. Not only did we reinforce the message about subsidies, but we also urged Congress to strengthen the food stamp program, support rural development, help small- and medium-sized US farmers, and promote conservation. By limiting subsidies, our country can also help poor people in developing countries. By not sending our surplus commodities (resulting from the overproduction due to subsidies), we'll ensure that agriculture markets in poor countries have the opportunity to thrive.

(Photos: The top image is a display of produce in front of the altar at the Interfaith Convocation, which was part of the National Gathering. The lower image shows four of our five members who went on visits to Congress on Lobby Day. They are (left to right) Ruth Hoffman, Vicky Scheidler, Emily Thorn and Ann Sims).

A Different Setting for Writing Letters

Bread members in New Mexico had managed to get almost 1,500 letters written to Congress about the farm bill through mid-June, and we expect a few dozen more letters by this fall.

While the majority of these letters came via the traditional method (setting up tables after a service or mass), some letters were written in other kinds of settings.


Sharon Barefoot (pictured above), a volunteer at Trinity Catholic Worker House in Albuquerque, used one of the Thursday evening gatherings to encourage letters.


















Mary Singleton had the women's group from Smith Memorial Presbyterian Church in Truchas, N.M., write letters at its Wednesday gathering, hosted by Ki Holste and Kai Harper in Peñasco, N.M. on May 15. (Pictured above are Sharon Adee, Sandra Holzman and Clorinda Romero)

Estella Gahala-Lange at First United Methodist Church and Terese Rand Bridges at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church organized letter writing as part of an education forum on the farm bill. Laurel Wyckoff of the New Mexico Association of Food Banks spoke at the St. Michael and All Angels forum. Marilyn Novak and Susan Tomita at St. Bernadette Catholic Community also had their letter-writing event through their Peace and Justice Committee.










Emily Thorn, a teacher at The Menaul School in Albuquerque had students and teachers sign a banner (with the anti-hunger message of the farm bill) to present to Rep. Heather Wilson as part of Lobby Day in Washington on June 12. The banner was signed by 22 students and teachers. (See above post for short account of Lobby Day).

Nutrition & The Farm Bill

It's great to learn about the many different ways that various organizations are involved in promoting a more equitable and fair farm bill. The other day someone told me about an initiative promoted by the Farm Food and Policy Project (FFPP) to support farmers markets, nutrition and conservation. These are all principles are supported by Bread for the World, the National Catholic Rural Life Conference and the Religious Working Group on The Farm Bill.

Anyway, here is the FFPP initiative. Scroll down to the bottom for a link to a site where you can take action.

Current farm and food policies create an unfair playing field – one that works at the expense of local markets, family farmers, and the environment.

By providing communities with access to affordable locally-grown food, the 2007 Farm Bill can:

• Improve the freshness and nutritional quality of American meals
• Encourage schools to provide our kids with healthy food choices
• Create new opportunities for family farmers and local businesses
• Ensure fair access to agriculture programs for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers
• Expand farmers markets and community food projects, especially in underserved neighborhoods
• Help combat diet-related disBeases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer
• Protect the environment

Congress needs to hear from you. Click on this link http://www.healthyfarmbill.org/ and fill out the form that appears on the right.

Building a House for Christ

By Emily Thorn

We have come to Juarez to build a house for a family. It is Lent, and the disciplines of prayer, fasting and almsgiving motivate us toward actions of peace and justice. We are seventeen people, total, traveling by car: sixteen Catholic young people and one Evangelical. Tired. We have been hammering all day, cutting wood, laying cement foundation, stuttering in Spanish. We have come, literally, to build a house for Christ. This is Casas por Cristo, after all.

It is others' physical need that has brought us down to Juarez; but just as much, it is our own spiritual needs that carried us this whole way. I believe deeply in the social teachings of the Church, in meeting the physical needs the poor; yet, at the end of a day of physical labor, I realize that my participation in short-term missions changes me more than I change anything else. It is God’s love that infiltrates the hearts of people, whose lives become agents of peace.

Development is not an act of one-sided giving- the rich giving to the poor- but an equal reciprocity that recognizes we not only need to give, but must receive from the very people we desire to serve. If we are to be true agents of the Gospel of Peace, we must be recipients as well as workers. Christ came to us a poor man, and received from his friends many gifts. He gave eternal life. The physical and the spiritual are intricately connected, and inseparable, both in my life and in the family whom we went to serve and in the two dozen children who played in the street, eagerly talking to us as we build walls.

I wonder after the lives of these children whom we meet on the street here in Juarez. My grandmother, who grew up in the Depression, would tell brave tales of growing up poor. She reiterated that her childhood was happy- she had nothing, but neither did anyone else she knew. These children in Juarez are happy, open, welcoming. Poor. Yet at what point their poverty will cease to be beautiful, and they will begin to be broken under the strain of poverty and oppression. Henri Nouwen writes, “The poor are called blessed not because poverty is good, but because theirs in the kingdom of heaven.”

As a teacher, I think about the lives of all the children I know, but especially of the poor young women, who often have no option in marriage, childbirth, or occupation. Will their lives be better than their mothers’ lives? Their grandmothers’ lives? What afflicts them when they go home to closed houses at night? Are they loved? Will they be loved? Will their minds, bodies, and souls be regarded as the true children of God they are? Will they know God?

Standing under the eave of the newly-built house, the product of four days, with the children, eating sweet corn tamales and feeling a little drunk in the expression of joy on each face, I think of what will happen in that house tomorrow and the next day, and the next week, year, and decade. I think of my own life, and the lives of my friends who traveled here for the same purpose. And I pray:

Lord Jesus Christ, teach us to love like you, a selfless, giving, and hopeful love. Teach us to die with those who are dying in our midst, in order to bring new life to your creation. Be with the little girls here in Juarez, in Albuquerque, and in the world. Love and protect them. Work through your people to create a world where they might live with hope and peace. Amen.

[The author, a science teacher at Menaul School in Albuquerque, is involved with Bread for the World and Aquinas Newman Center campus ministry at the University of New Mexico. She was part of a delegation that went to Ciudad Juarez during the week of March 11-16 to build a house through the Casas por Cristo program. Emily also took the two photographs used for this piece].

Thomas Merton's Reflection About Bread

From the moment you put a piece of bread in your mouth you are part of the world. Who grew the wheat? Who made the bread? Where did it come from? You are in relationship with all who brought it to the table. We are least separate and most in common when we eat and drink.
Thomas Merton

Lettuce seeds

Lettuce seeds are tiny. Really tiny. Mere specks on the palm of your hand.

This is something that I think about every spring as I start to plant my salad greens. The delicious leaves of green and purplish red that grace our salads started out as tiny, almost insignificant specks.

While it takes fertile soil, a little water and daily care to make the salad garden thrive, one can still marvel at how it all started with a bunch minute seeds. (Yes, this is a picture of my garden taken just this morning).

My other thought is that you don't have to be an expert to plant these seeds. All it takes is the will to plant the garden.

This brings me to David Tichnell, a teacher at Holy Ghost Catholic School in Albuquerque, who decided he wanted to plant some seeds among student at Holy Ghost. He and other faculty members decided to involve pupils from kindergarten to eighth grade in a program called Kids Against Hunger.

One of the main purposes of the program is to involve school children in a global feeding effort. The children raise money, helping in the packaging of commodities, and learn about the people and regions they are helping. "Knowing that everyone can have an impact, the Kids Against Hunger program has been created to give people an opportunity to have a hands-on experience in feeding the world," the organization says in its web site.

The school's efforts to raise consciousness about hunger among its students were featured in the Albuquerque Journal, in an article entitled, Youngsters Raise $9,000 for Kids Against Hunger.

The kids at Holy Ghost not only helped with packaging of rice, dried soy and dried vegetables into plastic bags for shipment to poor countries, but Tichnell and other faculty members used the occasion to have the kids in the school think about their lifestyles and how a few changes could go a long way in helping in the fight against hunger.

The children collected spare change--coins as well as dollars bills--and brought it to school in plastic jugs. The money probably came from their allowances.

"We asked them to rethink how they spent their money," Tichnell told the Albuquerque Journal. "We said, 'instead of buying that new CD, use that money to feed the hungry.' ''

During one lunch period, students were also exposed to a Hunger Banquet, an excercise used by Oxfam and other organizations to illustrate the extreme inequities in distribution of food and resources at the global level.

Principal Noreen Duffy Copeland told the Albuquerque Journal that this was an effort to show the students at Holy Ghost what it like to be hungry when others have plenty to eat. A very small number of the 200 students (perhaps fewer than 10) were assigned to a table that featured grilled chicken, vegetables and ice cream. A few others were assigned to a table with rice and beans. The majority of the students ended up at an empty table.

The excercise appears to have worked. Many students who sat at the empty table were not happy about the situation. Perhaps this awareness planted a "lettuce seed" that will blossom into further action on behalf of the hungry in the world

The "lettuce seeds" also appear to have taken root in a positive form. "It gives us pride and respect for our teachers and our community to be able to do this," 14-year-old Katie-Jane Widner told the Albuquerque Journal.

Join us for Hunger Awareness Day at UNM

Thursday, April 19
University of New Mexico
Student Union Building Ballroom A
10:30 AM-4:00 PM
Join us for a day of awareness on poverty and hunger issues in New Mexico

HUNGER...

IT’S CLOSER THAN YOU THINK

DID YOU KNOW?

New Mexico has the highest rate of food insecurity in the United States. We rank 5th in child poverty and 9th for elderly in poverty. These are our neighbors, our classmates, our grandparents, the person sitting next to you on the bus. Maybe it’s you.

PROGRAM

11:00-12:30

Panel Discussion with local hunger and poverty experts
Lisa LaBrecque, Coalition to End Homelessness
Mary Oleske, Family Nutrition Bureau (State of New Mexico)
Janet Page Reeves, NM Association of Food Banks
Larry Waldman, UNM Bureau of Business and Economic Research
Mark Winne, Community Food Security Coalition

2:00 PM
N.M. State Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino discusses the working families tax credit.

Throughout the day
Watch informative films and talk to representatives from student and community organizations, who will discuss different programs to alleviate hunger and poverty in New Mexico.

Come learn the facts, find out what's happening in your community and how you can help or get help....

Panza llena, corazon contento (Full belly, happy heart)

Sponsored by:
UNM Nutrition Club
NMPIRG Student Chapter
Bread for the World-New Mexico

Bicycles for Kenya (and a fundraiser for Kisesini Health Clinic)

 
By Laura Casselman

What if you built a health clinic in a rural community and your health workers could not get to the clinic? We'll get to that point later.

First, let's talk about the clinic.

Global Health Partnerships, a new non-profit organization based in Albuquerque, is working on a project with a women's basket-making cooperative in the Kisesini region of Kenya. The partnership is building a health center centrally located within one day's walking distance from several rural villages.

In Kenya more than 50% of the population lives in extreme poverty, defined as less than $1 per day. One of every nine children dies before age 5, mostly from preventable causes like malaria, pneumonia and diarrhea. There are simple and inexpensive ways to prevent and treat these maladies: mosquito nets and medicine for malaria, antibiotics for pneumonia, and oral rehydration solution for diarrhea. Since one third of the children also suffer from malnutrition, improving nutrition and sanitation are also being addressed.

The Kisesini clinic is just one of many possible projects for GHP. The organization, comprised of medical professionals and other volunteers, will be looking for opportunities to work in partnership with local health providers and grassroots community organizations to improve the health and well being of the poor and marginalized peoples throughout the world. GHP provides direct medical services, delivers medical supplies and equipment, and trains local health workers.

Fundraiser on June 23
On Saturday, June 23, there will be a fund raiser for GHP and the Kisesini clinic at the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice, 202 Harvard SE. It should be a fun and informative evening. Still in the planning, there will be African entertainment and Kenyan speakers.

Dr. Angelo Tomedi, the founder of GHP, will speak about the clinic's progress. He and other medical professionals have already gone to Kisesini to begin the training of the health workers. Donations will be used to finish the clinic (exterior walls are up), purchase supplies and medicine and continue the training. Tickets for the event will be sold at Peacecraft starting in June.

How else can you help? Donations are already being collected and sent to Global Health Partnerships, PO BOX 4385, Albuquerque, NM 87196.

Is Your Old Bike Going to Kenya?
Now, here's the answer to the question about transportation for health workers. Besides training and medical supplies there is one other thing the health workers need: bicycles to travel between the villages and the clinic. If you would like to send your bike to Kenya so a health worker can get around, just bring it to PeaceCraft at 3215 Central NE. Of course bikes and other donations are tax deductible and you will be sent a receipt.

My old bike is going to Kenya. How about yours?

The author is involved with The ONE Campaign in Albuquerque.