Rick Steves Addresses Structural Poverty, Climate-Smart Agriculture

I innovated a way for me to be a more ethical travel company by giving myself my own carbon tax...I'm creating a portfolio...What I want to do is empower development in the hungry world...to be able to develop in a way that would not be impactful in a negative way to climate change....  -Rick Steves, travel writer and television host

Rick Steves was a surprise guest speaker at the Bread for the World Lobby Day reception on June 11. Steves happened to be in Washington lobbying Congress on another topic, and by coincidence found himself on Capitol Hill on the same day that a few hundred Bread advocates were meeting with their members of the House and Senate to advocate for global nutrition initiatives.

So Steves, a very close friend and supporter of Bread for the World, came to our reception.  His presence was serendipitous because it gave him a chance to tell us more about the television special on hunger that he plans to release later this year, entitled Hunger and Hope: Lessons Learned from Ethiopia and Guatemala.

Ending Structural Poverty
"I went down there not to do a tour show on Ethiopia and Guatemala...We didn't even go to the famous places..We can use those countries as a classroom for why there is poverty," Steves told dozens of people gathered in the  It's structural. Bread for the World tackles the structural underpinnings of poverty and hunger."

As an example, Steves mentioned the global debt relief campaigns, that Bread and other organizations supported in 2000. "Bread for the World spearheaded this. We led the way in forgiving the debt of the more heavily indebted nations on this planet.  That's structural poverty. And we took away that bit of structural poverty."

Climate-Smart Agriculture
In his comments at the Lobby Day reception, Steves spoke of the need to take climate change seriously when creating development programs for poor countries. 

"I want to empower development in the hungry world, to be able to develop in a way that is less impactful in a negative way to climate change. There are a lot of desperate people in desperate countries,..so that just to live, they have to deforest,  they have to abuse their soil."

Steves spoke of the need to develop "climate-smart agriculture," which would allow people to produce food and at the same time not contribute so much to the carbon problem on the planet.

To this end, Steves has pledged $200,000 for Bread for the World to support climate-smart agriculture in the hungry world. He is raising these funds by giving himself a carbon tax applied every time he travels to Europe or other destinations to produce his popular programs. Steves outlines his commitment in an article on his website.

This video contains about six-plus minutes of Steves' comments at the Lobby Day reception.

Celebrate World Refugee Day in #ABQ

The Weather Channel: Drought in Northern Somalia

The plants are the first to die. Then the grazing animals from both thirst and starvation. Next, drought, famine and disease take the children and the elderly. Healthy adults generally fare the best. The pastoral economy here, where wealth is determined by livestock and the search for pastures is a way of life, depends on the rain. But for the third spring in a row, rain hasn’t come.

Photo: The Weather Channel

The first thought that comes to mind when you say The Weather Channel is the 10-Day forecast for my travel destination or the hourly forecast in my hometown over the next day.  I did not expect to find a comprehensive feature about the drought in East Africa. And yet, it makes sense that The Weather Channel would be covering a weather-related topic and how a lack of rain has contributed in a major way to a crisis in northern Somalia.  

The feature Life on the Edge contains descriptions, photographs and videos of the plight of people living in northern Somalia. "The region is Somaliland, a would-be breakaway state in northern Somalia, unrecognized on the world stage and certainly not recognized by Somalia’s central government in Mogadishu," said the article by Tim Freccia and Nicole Nicole Bonaccorso. "Somaliland is a place of relative stability, but the drought has frayed the region’s ability to care for itself. And while the drought is natural, the severity has been linked to human-induced climate change."   Read full article

Somalia is one of four regions of the world currently facing a famine because of climate factors and conflict.  Some governments, including the U.S., have stepped up with financial assistance for the U.N. and other agencies involved in famine relief.  Private citizens and church and civic groups can also provide support with prayer and financial donations.  Charity Navigator provides a partial list of Agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations providing assistance to victims of famine in Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and Nigeria.

Alliance to End Hunger Thanks Congress for Funding Famine Relief

Earlier this  year, the Alliance to End Hunger launched a campaign to urge Congress to provide emergency relief to four areas experience or at risk of famine: South Sudan, Somalia, northern Nigeria and Yemen. In part because of efforts by the alliance and other anti-hunger advocates in our country, Congress took the appeal to heart and approved $1 billion for this much-needed effort.

In this tweet from the Alliance, the group's executive director emeritus Tony Hall offers his gratitude to Congress and to everyone who reached out to their representative to include the famine-relief funds in a recent budget decision. Hall, a former member of Congress from Ohio and ex-ambassador to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), also discussed the issue during an address to a Congressional-Diplomatic Dialogue.

WATCH: Tony Hall thanks Congress, Alliance members, & others for making nearly $1B in #budget for #famine relief possible! pic.twitter.com/7rKJlPTl81

— AllianceToEndHunger (@toendhunger) May 5, 2017

Note: If you would like to send a donation, Charity Navigator provides a partial list of Agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations providing assistance to victims of famine in Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and Nigeria.

Highlighting Crises in South Sudan, Yemen

South Sudan and Yemen are two of a handful of countries that are suffering a crisis, due to a combination of war, a collapsed economy and weather-related factors that have decimated food production. Two agencies are working (to the extent allowed) to help alleviate the problem: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Doctors Without Borders (Medicins Sans Frontiers). While we highlight South Sudan and Yemen as just two of the countries, conditions are just as bad in Somalia, Nigeria and other nearby countries.

Urgent Need in South Sudan

Photo: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Famine and violence in South Sudan have created the worst crisis in Africa. Children are starving to death. The vast majority of those on the run are women and children. They need urgent food, shelter, protection and safety. You can help rush critical supplies like medicine, clean water, food and tents to desperate children and families. Your tax-deductible monthly gift to USA for UNHCR (The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) will save lives from South Sudan to Yemen from Syria to Ukraine – wherever refugees are in need of help.

USA for UNHCR helps and protects refugees and people displaced by violence, conflict and persecution. Supporting UNHCR – the UN Refugee Agency – and its partners, your gift provides lifesaving essentials including shelter, water, food, safety and protection. Around the world, we help refugees survive, recover and build a better future. As a USA for UNHCR donor, you’ll receive updates on how your gift is helping.

Make a One-Time Gift
Give Monthly

Two-Year Crisis Worsens in Yemen

Photo: Medicins sans Frontiers

More than two years of intense conflict have left an ever-growing trail of destruction, suffering and trauma for Yemenis. United Nations (UN) estimates speak of at least 10,000 killed and 42,000 injured since the fighting intensified in March 2015. As the war rages on, each day brings its new share of casualties. -from MSF's briefing paper,"Yemen Crisis: Obstructed Aid and Crumbling Health Care System"

Millions of people across Yemen are in critical need of aid in order to survive in a country where the economy has largely collapsed, basic services struggle to function, and social safety nets are strained. Many of the patients we treat, and the families of the medical staff with whom we work, have lost their livelihoods and face illness, rising prices, and shortages of essentials, including food, fuel, and electricity. -from MSF's website update
 
Targeting a Donation to Yemen
While it is possible to have your gift directed toward a specific program or country, MSF asks that you contribute unrestricted funding. By not restricting your contribution for a specific emergency or project, you will enable us to allocate our resources more efficiently and where the needs are greatest.   

Should you still wish to restrict your donation please indicate the specific program or country when making your contribution (Yemen). In order to restrict an online donation, you must send an email to donations@newyork.msf.org after your transaction is complete. In your email, please tell us to which country or program you would like the funds directed. Please include your name, full address, the amount of your donation, and your donation confirmation number so that we can locate your record. Make an Online Donation

Charity Navigator provides a partial list of Agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations providing assistance to victims of famine in Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and Nigeria. The list includes MSF and UNHCR (USA).

Responding to Famine

As it stands, 1 million men, women and children are on the brink of starvation in South Sudan. And 4.9 million people -- more than 40 percent of South Sudan's population -- are in need of urgent food, agriculture and nutrition assistance. This figure is likely to rise to 5.5 million at the height of the lean season in July if nothing is done to curb the severity and spread of the food crisis. -The Huffington Post

South Sudan

There is no substitute for experience. How else could we wrap our heads around the fact that South Sudan is currently experiencing famine? Lacking that direct experience, the United Nations offers a set of statistics that allow us to put the situation in perspective .According to the UN, if the first three of the eight conditions in the Food Security Phase Classification Reference Table are present, then there is famine. The UN has determined that these conditions exist in southern Sudan, and are very close in three other areas:  the southern part of Somalia, northern Nigeria and Yemen.

• 20 percent of population has fewer than 2,100 kilocalories of food a day
• 30 percent of children are acutely malnourished
• Two deaths per 10,000 people, or four deaths per 10,000 children per day
• Pandemic illness
• Access to less than four liters of water per day
• Large-scale displacement
• Civil strife
• Complete loss of assets and source of income

I doubt that almost all of us who grew up in a developed country have ever even come close to experiencing a day when our intake is less than 2,100 kilocalories per day. (Even on days when we fast, our bodies have reserves of calories to help us through that period of prayer and fasting).

Pray, Donate, Educate
So what are we called to do as people of faith? Yes, fasting is a good way to show solidarity and might be part of the prayer that we choose in this situation, particularly (but not exclusively) during the Lenten season. So yes, prayer is good. 

However, we are also called to some sort of action. Sending a donation to the non-governmental organizations that are trying to address the situation is also good.  Charity Navigator provides a partial list of NGOs that are responding to the famine and threat of famine.

Our third task is education and awareness. Our holy scriptures call us to share, not only from our personal wealth, but from our collective wealth.  In late February, the UN warned that 20 million people would fall into famine if his aid agencies could not raise $4.4 billion by the end of March. "The United Nations says it needs the $4.4 billion to deliver food, clean water and basic medicine like oral rehydration salts to avert diarrhea deaths among children. Only 8 percent of the money the agency needs for Yemen has been funded; for Nigeria, 9 percent; for South Sudan, 18 percent; and for Somalia, 32 percent," said The New York Times in its March 23 edition. "Of the 20 million who are at risk of famine are 1.4 million children, who are most vulnerable."

The UN had received about $423 million by the end of September, only about one-tenth of the required amount, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. This means that the Western countries are not coming through with humanitarian assistance. Let's put that request for $4.4 billion with the increase of $54 billion has proposed for the U.S. military budget in the next fiscal year. On top of that, the Trump budget makes deep cuts in the funds for the State Department, including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which disburses emergency relief.

 (Oh yes, Britain has sold $4.1 billion in armaments to Saudi Arabia over the past two years. The Saudi intervention in Yemen has contributed to near-famine conditions in that country).

The countries of the world have the resources to respond to famine.

Another element of education and awareness is a study of the root causes. Drought and war are the main causes of the dire conditions in the four countries. And yet, we know that this is a preventable tragedy. How can we promote peacemaking to avoid conflict? How are extreme variations in the climate contributing to recurring devastating droughts.  How can we use resources that we currently spend on war to help find creative solutions to food production?

We all know how we are capable of responding according to our means. Indifference should be the unacceptable response for people of faith. 

Writing about the Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa on World Food Day 2003

Food emergencies are dramatically compounded when large groups of people flee their homes to escape persecution, armed conflict, environmental degradation or famine, often in combination. 

In 2002, the World Food Program's entire $1.2 billion global budget was needed in Africa, largely because of the Ethiopian famine and the political crisis in Zimbabwe.  With escalanting conflicts in Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and food emergencies in Angola an South Africa, an appalling system of triage has developed. As hunger spreads, crises are weighed against one another, and contributions from donor governments are always behind the curve.

Image adapted from Open Clip Art

Who remembers Albuquerque's now-defunct afternoon newspaper The Albuquerque Tribune? This great newspaper, like many newspapers around the country, was a victim of the changing times: a decline in readership, rising costs and other factors. All of a sudden, there was no room for two newspapers in Albuquerque.

For Jack Ehn, editor of the Insight & Opinion section, the voice of the community was very important. He would often ask representatives of various community organizations to put together Op-Ed pieces on a variety of issues to publish every week.

Here is a joint piece that UNM Prof. Jennifer Moore and I wrote on World Food Day in 2003 Thirteen years ago, we addressed the famine in Ethiopia, a political crisis in Zimbabwe, and a refugee crisis in sub-Saharan Africa. "The needs of sub-Saharan Africa will be best served if we come together as a global community to find long-term solutions to multiple problems in the region," we said in the Op-Ed piece.

So has the situation changed in 2016?  Famine subsided in Ethiopia, but climate change and drought have once again put the East African country in peril. Zimbabwe remains in a state of economic and political crisis. What about the refugee situtation?  This piece in The Washington Post sheds light on the most recent refugee crisis in sub-Saharan Africa where refugees are fleeing from dire conditions in their country to dangerous places. According to the report,  43,000 South Sudanese refugees have fled to Darfur and 100,000 Ethiopians and Somalis traveled by boat to Yemen, and nearly 5,000 citizens of Congo were seeking refuge in the Central African Republic.

So let's repeat what we said in 2003.  "The needs of sub-Saharan Africa will be best served if we come together as a global community to find long-term solutions to multiple problems in the region.

Here is the Op-Ed that Jenny and I wrote in 2003. 

OL 2016: Children at All Saints Lutheran Church Participate in Blessing of Letters to Congress

 (Note: This is the fourth in a series about the congregations and schools in New Mexico that participated in the 2016 Offering of Letters. We have also featured Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary (and South Valley Preparatory and Holy Ghost Schools), Albuquerque Mennonite Church, Peace Lutheran Church in Las Cruces).

On May 1, Pastor Russ Sorensen and a group of five children from the All Saints Lutheran Church congregation in Albuquerque offered a blessing over a basket of 84 letters. In these letters, members of the congregation urged Reps. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Ben Ray Lujan and Steve Pearce, and Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich to to prioritize support for global maternal and child health programs, emphasizing nutrition.

The participation of the children was an appropriate part of the blessing, particularly in light of the topic for this year's OL on maternal and child nutrition. "The Blessing of Letters was included with the Children's Message at both our services," said Karen Hyde, chair of the Community Outreach Committee at All Saints Lutheran Church.

For the past several years, organizers of the Offering of Letters at the church have used a clever but simple tool to inform the congregation about that year's campaign: a skit.  In the past, the skit focused partly on the mechanics of the Offering of Letters as well as the issue. This was the case in 2012 with the Earned Income Tax Credit, 2014 with the issue of food aid reform and in 2015 with domestic child nutrition.

The Skit that Resulted in 84 Letters
The skit that was presented to the congregation a couple of weeks before the 2016 letter-writing Sunday focused entirely on the issue, borrowing from background materials put together by Bread for the World for this year's Offering of Letters and from the presentation by our guest speaker Hellen Mbithi at the Offering of Letters workshop in Albuquerque. Ms. Mbithi becomes one of the characters in the script, along with Margret Zimba and Christina (both interviewed by Bread for the World for the background materials). The writers of the script took a bit of literary license. After each character introduces herself, the script uses them to present facts related to the Offering of Letters (so the words on the page are not their original comments).

Margret Zimba
My name is Margret Zimba. I am from Chimudomba, Zambia in Africa. Most families here are subsistence farmers and during the hunger season in February and March before new crops are harvested and after the previous crops have run-out many of these families experience severe malnutrition. I am a volunteer nutrition leader from the Mawa program, run by Catholic Relief Services and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. I teach mothers about good nutrition for children from pregnancy until age 2—the first 1000 days in a child’s life. In today’s session I am teaching the mothers about the importance of protein. We begin the session with a song that the women sing and dance to. Then we will have a cooking demonstration. Through this hands-on learning, mothers and babies are on the road to a better, healthier life.

Christina
My name is Christina. I also live in the village of Chimudomba. Today I am participating in a group program for mothers of young children. I am learning how to grind up high-protein peanuts and black-eyed peas to add to the corn-based porridge I feed to my baby. I also learned that in Africa half of all children under 5 die because of malnutrition and hunger. I do not want that for my child. I enjoy these classes taught by Zimba. Today we started with a song and then had a cooking demonstration. I am so happy that I will be able to keep my baby well-fed and healthy because of help from the U.S. government.

Hellen Mbithi
My name is Hellen Mbithi. I am from Ngai, an isolated village in Kenya. Unfortunately my village has not received any aid from the programs sponsored by the U.S. My village has a school, but it is falling down around the children. Many of the families cannot earn enough to feed their children and also send them to school. I was very fortunate. My parents sacrificed a great deal and sold everything they owned to send me to primary school and then on to high school and nurse’s training. Through a special lottery I received a green card and was able to emigrate to the U.S. I had to borrow the money to pay for the program.  I passed the exam to be able to be a nurse in the U.S. and now I am working here in Albuquerque as an R.N. Although I have a six-year old daughter to support, I send as much money as possible back to my village in Kenya to help them raise enough to repair the school and build a clinic. I hope that my village will also be helped by the U.S. AID programs very soon because many of the children are suffering from hunger and malnutrition.

Hellen: Here are some facts and figures about global hunger and poverty. Since 1990, global hunger has decreased by nearly half, but undernutrition still affects 795 million people and causes 3.1 million child deaths annually.

Christina: In 2014, Feed the Future’s agriculture and food-security investments directly helped nearly 7 million farmers transform their farms and fields, which, in turn, has helped reach 12 million children with nutrition programs that prevent and treat undernutrition, saving children’s lives.

Margret: By providing people with the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty, we create a more stable world. For every 5 percent drop in income growth in a developing country, the likelihood of violent conflict or war within the next year increases by 10 percent.

Hellen: 43 of the top 50 consumer nations of U.S. agricultural products were once U.S. foreign-aid recipients.

Christina: Since their establishment in 2002, McGovern-Dole International Food for Education programs have boosted school attendance and provided meals to approximately 28 million children in 37 countries.

Margret: Worldwide, 36 million people still live in extreme poverty—on less that $1.25 per day.

All: Write a letter. Help the world’s children Survive and Thrive!

Sharon's Vision for the Future, a Fulbright Application, a Question about the Writing Process and a Message from the Girls

Students at Amy Biehl Charter High School pose with the author

Kimberly Burge made five appearances in New Mexico on April 29-30 to discuss The Born Frees. The book and the author were extremely well received at each of the five venues: Amy Biehl Charter High School, the University of New Mexico (UNM) Honors College Forum, the Fulbright Anniversary Celebration at UNM, Op.Cit Bookstore in Santa Fe and Bookworks Bookstore in Albuquerque.

The first three videos below offer a small sample of the many topics she discussed in relation to her book. The fourth video was produced by the author, featuring many of the young ladies who participated in the creative writing group that met at J. L. Zwane Presbyterian Church and Community Center. This video was presented to the students at Amy Biehl High School and the participants at the UNM Honors College Forum. 

View pictures and hear narratives from the girls through this page on Kimberly's website.  Order the book via Kimberly website or via the publisher's site.

One Thousand Wells: A Hopeful Sign on #EarthDay

Ten years ago, Jena Lee Nardella was a fresh-out-of-college, twentysomething with the lofty goal of truly changing the world. Armed with a diploma, a thousand dollars, and a dream to build one thousand wells in Africa, she joined forces with Grammy Award–winning band Jars of Clay to found Blood:Water and begin her mission. Jena’s dream for her nonprofit turned that initial $1 into $20, and then $100, and today into more than $25 million. Working throughout eleven countries in Africa, Blood:Water has provided healthcare for over 62,000 people in HIV-affected areas and has partnered with communities to provide clean water for more than one million people in Africa. from synopsis of One Thousand Wells

On Earth Day, we are called to take personal and collective action to preserve our planet, including steps to reduce our ecological footprint.This is also a day to celebrate hopeful signs, such as the work of the organization Blood:Water.

In the book One Thousand Wells, Jena Lee Nardella tells us about the ideas that led to the founding of the organization and the challenges and struggles that followed. Over the past decade, Blood:Water has created the tools (such as wells, biosand filters, rain tanks) to help provide clean water for 1 million people in sub-Saharan Africa and provided assistance for 62,000 patients in areas where HIV is prevalent (hence the word blood)

"Sometimes the best water source is simply beneath a community’s feet. Wells pump safe, clean water for all to use," Blood:Water says on its website.

Rather than tell you more about 1,000 Wells, here is an excerpt of a review that  that my friend Elaine VanCleave posted on Good Reads in August 2015.

Jenna Lee Nardella (center) at a forum in Nashville in 2015

"With the ease of a gifted storyteller, Jena deftly transports us into 'her' world. You’ll climb mountains in Colorado, go on tour with a rock band, fall in love and 'see, touch, smell and encounter the reality of extreme poverty'...Warning! One Thousand Wells is a page-turner. Get out your highlighter and be prepared to stay up all night reading.  Read the full review on Good Reads

Electrify Africa Act Wins Approval in Congress...and a Group of Students at UNM Helped

Photo montage from ONE

The Electrify Africa Act  is now law. The initiative directs the President to establish a multiyear strategy to assist countries in sub-Saharan Africa implement national power strategies and develop an appropriate mix of power solutions, including renewable energy, to provide access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable power in order to reduce poverty and drive economic growth.

There are many people to thank for helping to make this happen. Over four years, ONE members worked tirelessly to turn an idea into a law.

Sherif Aboubakr and Jielin Pan staff ONE table at UNM​

With petitions, letters, tweets, and in-person meetings, ONE members continued to raise their voice in support of this bill. This included a group of students at the University of New Mexico, who set up a table at an international fair on campus in 2014 to gather signatures to be sent to Congress.

Members of Congress played a key role as well. Many worked across party lines, and across Chambers, to build a strong bipartisan bill built on private sector partnerships. Electrify Africa would not be the law it is today without their hard work and support.

Take a minute to send a note of thanks to Congress. 

Early Letters to Congress on Global Nutrition are Helpful This Year

Bread for the World's 2016 Offering of Letters urges Congress to increase funding for the nutrition and health of mothers, newborns, and young children in developing countries.  Here is the full guide for this year's letter-writing campaign.

Hellen Mbithi

We have scheduled a workshop in Albuquerque on Saturday, March 12, to examine how local churches can become involved in this campaign. Our featured speaker is Hellen M. Mbithi, a nurse who was born and raised in the small village of Ngai in Kenya. She will tell us more  about how a lack of nutrition for mothers and infants can impact the development of children.

SPECIAL NOTE: Early Letters are Helpful: A major goal of this year’s Offering of Letters is increased funding for programs for the health and nutrition of mothers and children. This spring, Congress will be considering the funding levels of key global health and nutrition programs. As Congress begins determining next year’s funding priorities, it is important for your members of Congress to hear from you with letters early in the year.  Below is an early sample letter.

WRITE TO CONGRESS
Ask Congress to Support Global Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health and Nutrition
[Date]
Dear Senator__________ , or Dear Rep.___________ ,
Our country has led the way in improving the nutrition and health of mothers and children so they can achieve their full potential. We have seen tremendous progress, but our work remains unfinished. My faith calls me to urge that we continue until every mother and child has the chance to survive and thrive. Every life is precious.

As Congress considers funding for next year, I ask you to support at least $230 million for international maternal and child nutrition programs in the Department of State foreign operations appropriations bill’s global health account.

Sincerely,
[your name]
[your address]
[city, state, ZIP]

Here is a useful graphic from Bread for the World on a five step process how U.S. foreign assistance reaches people in need.  It all begins with our letters.

Kimberly Burge's Television Interview in Cincinnati

On the birthday of my friend and author Kimberly Burge, I post this video of her television interview on WKRC-TV in Cincinnati, which was aired when she was visiting her hometown of Cincinnati back in October. I finally finished reading The Born Frees, and I totally enjoyed reading the stories from the young ladies in Gugulethu and their interactions with Kimberly. If you haven't picked up a copy of the book, I highly recommend it. (Your independent book store can special-order it for you. Or if you must use the big box commercial retailers, online and otherwise, you can also get the book that way. Kimberly is going around the country promoting the book. We hope to bring her to Albuquerque next year. Below the video are links to her recent promotional trip to the San Francisco Bay area.

San Francisco Trip

The Forum, Grace Cathedral  (November 1)
A series of stimulating conversations about faith and ethics in relation to the issues of our day.  Hosted by the clergy of Grace Cathedral, we invite leading public figures, musicians, theologians, artists and writers to bring the most innovative and interesting thinking to our public space, engaging our minds and hearts to think in new ways about the world.

San Francisco Theological Seminary  (November 5)

Putting a Face to the Some of the Names of the Girls of Gugulethu

I have read about two-thirds of  The Born Frees Writing with the Girls of Guguletuh, a book that my friend Kimberly Burge wrote about a group of young women in South Africa who grew up in the post-apartheid South Africa, I have read about Annasuena, Gugu, Ntombi and the other young ladies, and now this video trailer puts faces to the names. This is a wonderful and uplifting book, but also a sober account of the challenges that each of the girls faced. There is also a lot of great historical context in the book. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the book, and I'm sure you would too. "Incredible and inspiring, this account belongs in every library and on every bookshelf.” Library Journal (starred review)  The book can be found in local independent book stores or ordered online via their Web sites. See Kimberly Burge's Web site for more information.

Kimberly Burge Reads Excerpts of 'The Born Frees' to a Packed House

Photo: Jennifer Coulter-Stapleton

 "I met Annasuena soon after I arrived in South Africa in January of 2010. I was to live there for a year as a Fulbright Scholar and lead a creative writing club for teenage girls at J. L. Zwane Presbyterian Church and Community Center in Gugulethu, a black township about ten miles outside Cape Town. She became one of the first members of the club, which we named Amazw’Entombi. In Xhosa, it means “Voices of the Girls.” Annasuena and all the other girls who joined Amazw’ Entombi were part of the Born Frees, the first generation of black South Africans born after apartheid and coming of age in a newly democratic nation, following the 1994 elections that made Nelson Mandela South Africa’s first black president."  excerpts from Chapter 1 of The Born Frees (published in the Salon website).

The Langston Room at Busboys and Poets at 14th and V Street in Washington, D.C., was filled to capacity. The audience of perhaps 100 people was comprised of friends of author Kimberly Burge and others who might have seen the listing in the bookstore's events schedule or in The Washington Post as as one of the "Top 5 Free Things  to do in Washington, D.C., during the week of Aug. 3-9." They were all here to join with Kimberly (and a group of young women in South Africa) in the launch of  the The Born Frees: Writing with the Girls of Gugulethu.

Photo:Martha McLaughlin

The author read excerpts from her book to an attentive and entranced audience. Among those in the crowd was Bob Schminkey, a friend of Kimberly's who has taken several tour groups to South Africa. Schminkey found some familiarity in the narrative. "As Kimberly read from The Born Frees, I closed my eyes and was transported back to Cape Town and JL Zwane Church," said Schminkey, who like the author is a member of the extended Bread for the World community.

After the reading, a dialogue ensued between the author and the audience in a question-and-answer session. "The audience was wonderfully engaged, and really asked some probing questions about the sustainability of something like a writing club, how the girls thought about race in America (they don't much, but this experience has made ME think a lot more about it -- not to mention the last few years), and how writing the book has affected my life. Still figuring that one out," said Burge. 

The consensus among those in attendance at the Busboys and Poets event (and prominent book reviewers like Kirkus) is that this is a well-written and engaging work. (Busboys and Poets sold all its available copies that evening!)  "This is a wonderful book that will be my go-to intro book to South Africa from now on," said Schminkey.  "The book is a nice history of South Africa, woven through the stories of the girls of Gugulethu and the story of Kimberly herself."

Buy the Book
You can acquire the book from Kimberly Burge's website, from your independent bookstore or the publisher's site. The Born Frees is also available via one of your big box chain bookstores and a popular online merchant. (But we encourage you to patronize the independent bookstores).

"Incredible and inspiring, this account belongs in every library and on every bookshelf."

- Library Journal (starred review)

I'm sure you've seen the description of the book before, but perhaps your family and friends are not aware of this great work. So here is a paragraph to share with them.  "The young women of South Africa’s first post-apartheid generation are coming of age amid myriad challenges, including AIDS, poverty, and violence. To help empower them to take charge of their lives, Burge, a Washington-based journalist, established a writing group in Gugulethu, a township near Cape Town. Rich with the work from the participants of Amazw’Entombi—Voices of the Girls—Burge’s book introduces spirited and talented individuals intent on a better future for all."

A Party in Honor of a Book and the Girls of Gugulethu in South Africa

Tuesday, August 4, 2015, is a very important date for a group of young women in the township of Gugulethu near Cape Town, South Africa. On this date, the world will learn their stories about growing up in post-Apartheid South Africa. These remarkable young ladies collaborated with my friend Kimberly Burge to write the book The Born Frees. Kimberly created  this website to promote the book, which has already received rave reviews.

Born into post-apartheid South Africa, the young women...still face daunting challenges. Their families and communities have been ravaged by poverty, violence, sexual abuse, and AIDS. Yet, as Kimberly Burge discovered when she set up a writing group in the township of Gugulethu, the spirit of these girls outshines their circumstances.  -publisher W.W. Norton & Company

“Burge’s group provided a safe space for girls to gather without fear of judgement. Writing became an outlet for many involved, and the club itself grew into a platform to share thoughts about issues that matter the most to the girls… Incredible and inspiring, this account belongs in every library and on every bookshelf.” Library Journal (Starred Review)

Photo: Busboys and Poets

Release Party at Busboys and Poets in D.C.
The Born Frees will be officially released on Tuesday, August 4, 6:30 p.m., with an event at Busboys and Poets (14th and Vermont location) in Washington, D.C. 

More information coming to at Busboys and Poets' Politics and Prose site. 

Photo from Kimberly Burge's website

Pre-Order Now
Can't wait until August 4 to acquire your copy of The Born Frees? You can pre-order from hundreds of independent bookstores around the country. Here is a sampling of locations that offer you that opportunity: Bookworks in Albuquerque, Tattered Cover in Denver, Book People in Austin, Broadway Books in Portland, Sky Light Books in Los Angeles, the Book Cellar Cafe in Chicago, Rainy Day Books in Kansas City, Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Cincinnati, Horizon Books in Cadillac (Michigan), Books & Books in Miami, Octavia Books in New Orleans, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Joseph Fox Bookshop in Philadelphia, and Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn. Publisher W.W. Norton & Company also offers a link for pre-orders.

The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations in the Ebola Crisis

Map: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

There are at least 65 non-governmental organizations are providing some sort of direct or indirect assistance in the fight to control the Ebola outbreak  in West Africa. Some of the names on the list compiled by US Agency for International Development (USAID) are familar and others are not as familiar  Among those agencies and NGOs I recognized are CARE, Doctors Without Borders, United Methodist Committee on Relief, Unicef, World Food Programme, Catholic Relief Services, Episcopal Relief and Development, Save the Children and World Vision. And these are just the organizations with some connection to the US. There are probably many NGOss from Europe, Japan, Canada and other areas assisting with the crisis.

So with so many organizations involved in addressing the crisis, how do you prevent duplication of efforts?  Is there a mechanism for these organizations to work together? I'm sure many of these organizations find a way to work together and with government agencies. Would you believe the U.S. State Department has an NGO handbook?  Chapter 6 addresses cooperative efforts. "Community needs are too numerous and society’s problems are too complex. "Your NGO needs to work with other NGOs and your government to accomplish your goals...Through partnerships with other NGOs, and the public sector, you gain access to new resources, including funding and in-kind support as well as information, expertise and skills."

The NGOs working directly in the countries affected by Ebola face some challenges, according to Sam Worthington, President and CEO of InterAction, an alliance of U.S.-based nongovernmental international organizations. "The current Ebola outbreak...presents a unique situation for international NGOs. It began in Lofa County in northern Liberia, in which most of the health infrastructure was destroyed during the country’s recent civil war,"  Worthington said in an interview with  The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs. 

CARE's project includes the distribution of hundreds of #Ebola posters in Sierra Leone as part of  its effort to work  health officials in West Africa to help educate the public about the disease. (See a sample of the poster below). "Experts agree—to #EndEbola everywhere requires stopping it in West Africa. CARE is expanding lifesaving hygiene programs in Sierra Leone and Liberia that are helping stop the transmission of this deadly virus. Prevention is the best cure," said the humanitarian organization.

"As relief and recovery efforts evolve, these organizations tailor their work to meet the changing needs of people and communities," said USAID. "Monetary donations enable responding organizations to react with speed and specificity in critical sectors now and as communities recover. Even a small donation can have great impact. Monetary donations save lives and money." To support any of the organizations working in West Africa, please visit USAID site for links to each of the 65 NGOs. .

MSF Video: Physician Assistant Talks About Ebola Crisis in Liberia

Speaking from Monrovia via live video link, Liberian Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) physician's assistant Jackson Niamah addresses the UN Security Council during an emergency session on the Ebola crisis in West Africa.  Here is the Text of his address

Also, Pierre Trbovic, an anthropologist from Belgium working with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), arrived in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, in late August 2014 to help with MSF’s response to the Ebola epidemic.

An Impossible Choice
MSF has mobilized all available resources to combat the spread of the disease and opened a host of case management centers in affected countries. But given the mounting caseload and the failure of the international community to launch the sort of massive, coordinated response that’s needed to prevent more misery, teams have been forced into the brutal position of having to turn away patients who clearly need care. Trbovic saw firsthand how overwhelmed health staff were as sick people were queuing in the street, and he found himself taking on the heart-wrenching job of turning people away.

For the first three days that I stood at the gate, it rained hard. People were drenched, but they carried on waiting because they had nowhere else to go.

The first person I had to turn away was a father who had brought his sick daughter in the trunk of his car. He was an educated man, and he pleaded with me to take his teenage daughter, saying that while he knew we couldn’t save her life, at least we could save the rest of his family from her. At that point I had to go behind one of the tents to cry. I wasn’t ashamed of my tears, but I knew I had to stay strong for my colleagues; if we all started crying, we’d really be in trouble.

Read Trbovic's piece dated Sept. 10, 2014, entitled Ebola: Impossible Choices in Liberia

Sen. Martin Heinrich Co-Sponsors Energize Africa Act of 2014

ONE volunteers at UNM

On Sept. 17, the Energize Africa Act of 2014 (SB 2508) gained three new co-sponsors in the Senate, including our own Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico. The two other new co-sponsors who signed on to the bill that day were Sens. Charles Schumer of New York and Sen. Christopher Murphy of Connecticut., The measure requires the Administration to develop a comprehensive, multi-year strategy to achieve energy access goal in sub-Saharan Africa. Televison host Andrew Zimmern tells you more in this blog post.

The list of 22 sponsors of the Senate measure includes its lead sponsor, Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Sen. Johnny Isaakson of  Georgia,  Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Sen. Christopher Coons  of  Delaware. (Sens. Corker and Coons are also the lead sponsors of the Food for Peace Reform Act of 2014 (SB 2421),  a bipartisan initiative that provides needed flexibility to deliver food aid, making the program more efficient).

Sens. Heinrich, Schumer, and Murphy signed on to SB2508, partly in thanks to the efforts of the 13 Power Project winners, AKA "Power Trippers", selected among volunteers around the country because of their active work on behalf of ONE. The Power Trippers visited Senate offices during the third week of September to seek support for the Energize Africa Act.

While none of the 13 volunteers came from New Mexico, some of  the 44,000 messages they delivered to Senate offices came from our state. I'm sure their efforts to bring Sen. Heinrich on board were also supported by dozens of letters obtained by the ONE chapter at the University of New Mexico and the countless emails from ONE supporters in our state during the summer..

So what's the next step?  ONE advocates around the country will continue  efforts to bring the other 78 senators on board (including Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico) as co-sponosrs before  the measure comes to the Senate floor for a vote.  The companion measure  in the House, HR 2538, was approved by an overwhelming margin  last spring (with the support of Reps. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Ben Ray Lujan).

Urging New Mexico Congressional Delegation to Support Electrify Africa Act

In March of 2008, former State Health Secretary Michelle Lujan Grisham and City Councilor Martin Heinrich were among four Democrats seeking to replace Republican Rep. Heather Wilson, who was leaving her post to run for the seat being vacated by Sen. Pete Domenici. I caught up with Lujan Grisham and Heinrich and the two other candidates at an informal forum and asked them about their thoughts and solutions to address global poverty. Oh, and I gave them each ONE white band.  Read their comments.  

Heinrich won the primary and served two terms in the House before running and winning the seat vacated by Sen. Jeff Bingaman. Lujan Grisham was elected to the Bernalillo County Commission, and when Heinrich left his seat in Congress, she threw her hat in the ring. And she defeated four other candidates to win the seat in Congress.

Wearing a ONE band in 2008

Lujan Grisham among 297 supporters in House
Fast forward to 2014. Lujan Grisham is completing her first term in the House, and Heinrich has served two years in the U.S. Senate. Both have been strong allies in our efforts to address hunger and poverty in our country and overseas. While in the House, Heinrich cosponsored the Foreign Assistance Reform Act of 2009,  As a senator, he joined with Sen. Tom Udall and 22 other senators to call for emergency help to support food banks. Lujan Grisham has been steadfast in opposing cuts to domestic nutrition programs, especially food stamps. 

Which brings us to a recent piece of  legislation endorsed by ONE.  The initaitive, HR 2548  Electrify Africa Act of 2014)  requires the Administration to develop a comprehensive, multi-year strategy to achieve energy access goal in sub-Saharan Africa.

This bipartisan proposal was approved by an overwhelming margin.  And Rep. Lujan Grisham was one of 297 Yay votes.  But we already had an inkling that Rep. Lujan Grisham was going to vote this way. 

The basic premise is to make sure that it’s a priority, that we recognize that…the poverty of another nation puts us all at risk. -Michelle Lujan Grisham, March 2008

Incidentally, Rep. Ben Ray Lujan also voted in the affirmative, while Rep. Steve Pearce was one of the 117 Nay votes. See votes for full House.

“Today, both parties came together and passed a bill that not only promises to save and improve millions of lives, but offers a new way forward for assisting Africa – government working with private sector investment – at no cost to US taxpayers," said ONE CEO Tom Hart.

It PASSED! ONE applauds historic House passage of #ElectrifyAfrica, urges Senate action http://t.co/ndUSL9LF84 pic.twitter.com/P4nUJsBdbJ
— ONE (@ONECampaign) May 8, 2014

Then-candidate Heinrich in 2008

Attention turns to Senate
The strong bipartisan support for the legislation bodes well for the Senate. However, as of mid-May,, there hadn't been any legislation introduced in the upper house.  My sense is that both Sens. Heinrich and Tom Udall are likely to support this initiative. Sen. Udall's support is especially important because he sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

I think it's just a matter of priorities. We need to realize that when we do invest in developing nations and in reducing poverty, that has such an enormous impact on how people feel about us as a nation." -Martin Heinrich, March 2008

Sherif Aboubakr and Jielin Pan staff ONE table at UNM​

Local advocates are not taking the support of the two New Mexico senators for granted once the legislation is introduced in the Senate. On a recent Thursday afternoon in April, a group of student volunteers for ONE set up a table at the international fair at the University of New Mexico to gather signatures urging Sens. Udall and Heinrich to support Electrify Africa.

According to Mekdim Weldegiorgis, a ONE volunteer leader at UNM, the effort produced 20 letters to Sen. Heinrich and 30 to Sen. Udall.