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An Article for Your Church's Newsletter
Sometimes you have to see it to believe it. That idea is behind the Millennium Villages Initiative, which set out to demonstrate that the U.N. Millennium Development Goals are feasible. Modest funding can start a community on its way to sustainable development – even a small village facing seemingly overwhelming problems.
The first community chosen as a Millennium Village is Sauri, Kenya. Sauri suffers high rates of malnutrition and child mortality, widespread malaria and HIV infection, poor or even nonexistent harvests, no local health care. But like people everywhere, Sauri's 5,200 residents are eager to improve their lives. The local community and the Kenyan government provided more than half the funding for Sauri's first year as a Millennium Village. International assistance came to just $250,000.
One year later, Sauri has already seen many improvements:
- Harvests quadrupled once farmers learned fallow farming techniques and received assistance in using complementary crops and fertilizer to enrich the soil.
- The local health clinic has been rebuilt and can treat up to 200 people per day. The Kenyan government now supplies a doctor two days per week; in contrast, only one doctor is available for 97,000 people in the surrounding area.
- Local women have been trained as health workers and are making regular visits to households, checking on children and helping families understand how to prevent malaria and use their medications.
- The principal and teachers at Sauri's primary school, using their own resources, had already begun a school meals program. Now the program has been expanded and school enrollment has doubled.
- Sauri has a new multi-purpose truck, which transports harvests to market and is also equipped to serve as an ambulance -- complete with a mobile phone so that the clinic can summon it. While the truck's engine is running, it charges a battery that powers lanterns for local homes, allowing children to do their homework.
- People in the village meet each week to discuss progress and difficulties. Residents have more new ideas – for example, farmers plan to establish a community cereals bank to market surplus products.
Other Millennium Villages face a different set of problems in a strikingly different climate. But there is great potential for progress in each of them. An ad from a few years ago pointed out: "For the cost of a cup of coffee, you can see that a child has enough to eat and a chance to go to school." The progress made in Sauri and other Millennium Villages proves the point once again. Our advocacy to win additional poverty-focused development assistance is worthwhile, because it changes lives.
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Let us pray for the 852 million people around the world who go to bed hungry. Let us also pray that our nation's decision makers will make available additional resources dedicated to reducing hunger in God's world.
Facts: World Hunger and Health
- One-third of the population of sub-Saharan Africa is chronically undernourished. Nearly half live on less than $1 a day. In Central Africa, 55 percent of the population is hungry.
- Worldwide, more than half of all child deaths are due to malnutrition. Six million children under age five die of hunger-related causes each year.
- Hundreds of millions of people worldwide suffer from micronutrient malnutrition, often called "hidden hunger." They do not get enough of such nutrients as vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, iodine, zinc and selenium.
- In 2004 alone, HIV/AIDS killed 3.1 million people. More than 38 million people in developing countries are currently living with HIV/AIDS
- In sub-Saharan Africa, about 9 percent of the population aged 15 to 49 is HIV-positive. In four countries, more than 30 percent of people in this age group are living with HIV/AIDS. The epidemic has reduced life expectancy in some African countries to less than 40 years.
- Effective antiretroviral therapy for HIV/AIDS is now available in poor countries for less than $1 per patient per day. But despite this reduced cost, only 50,000 of the 4.5 million Africans who need the therapy -- one person in 90 -- have access to it.
- Most of those who die of malaria are African children – 3,000 children every day. Doctors are now testing a promising new strategy to prevent malaria in babies, who are at the highest risk. If their preliminary results are borne out, healthcare workers could soon help save the lives of millions of children for only 18 cents each.
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Excerpted from Pope Benedict XVI's Message for Lent 2006
Jesus, at the sight of the crowds, was moved with pity.
Matthew 9:36
In this light, I would like to pause and reflect upon an issue much debated today: the question of development. Even now, the compassionate "gaze" of Christ continues to fall upon individuals and peoples. He watches them, knowing that the divine "plan" includes their call to salvation. Jesus knows the perils that put this plan at risk, and He is moved with pity for the crowds. He chooses to defend them from the wolves even at the cost of His own life. The gaze of Jesus embraces individuals and multitudes, and he brings them all before the Father, offering Himself as a sacrifice of expiation.
Enlightened by this Paschal truth, the Church knows that if we are to promote development in its fullness, our own "gaze" upon mankind has to be measured against that of Christ. In fact, it is quite impossible to separate the response to people's material and social needs from the fulfillment of the profound desires of their hearts. This has to be emphasized all the more in today's rapidly changing world, in which our responsibility towards the poor emerges with ever greater clarity and urgency. My venerable Predecessor, Pope Paul VI, accurately described the scandal of underdevelopment as an outrage against humanity. In this sense, in the Encyclical Populorum Progressio, he denounced "the lack of material necessities for those who are without the minimum essential for life, the moral deficiencies of those who are mutilated by selfishness" and "oppressive social structures, whether due to the abuses of ownership or to the abuses of power, to the exploitation of workers or to unjust transactions."
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Urge your members of Congress to approve a $5 billion increase in poverty-focused development assistance.
Ask your senators and representative to approve a $5 billion increase in poverty-focused development assistance for hungry and poor people around the world.
An effective letter has three essential ingredients:
- Be Specific
The United States has adopted the U.N. Millennium Development Goals, which include cutting hunger and extreme poverty in half by 2015 – less than 10 years from now. At last July's G-8 Summit, the United States took a step in the right direction by promising to double aid to Africa and the developing world by 2010.
- Name the Action
To get the nation on track to honor these commitments, Congress should approve a $5 billion increase in poverty-focused development assistance for 2007.
- Give a Reason
The world has enough food for everyone, yet 852 million people are undernourished. The United States should do its share to give hungry and poor people better opportunities to support their families.
Sample Letter:
Dear Sen. _________ or Rep. ________,
I'm writing to express my concern for the world's 852 million undernourished people. Six million young children die each year from hunger-related causes, yet we produce enough food for everyone.
For fiscal year 2007, I urge you and other members of Congress to approve an additional $5 billion in poverty-focused development assistance. At last July's G-8 summit, the United States promised to double assistance to developing countries by 2010. In order to get the country on track to honor this promise, Congress needs to approve a significant increase this year.
Good nutrition, clean water, health care and basic education help parents build a better future for their children. The United States should give more hungry and poor families these opportunities by increasing poverty-focused development assistance.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Your Address
Send your letter to:
Sen. _____________
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
or Rep. ____________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
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Now it is easier than ever to take action against hunger and poverty. Our new Web site, launched in December, has the same address (www.bread.org) but an updated look and a streamlined layout that enables you to get the information you need quickly.
Navigating the new site is simple:
The Take Action section tells you what you need to know about recent developments on hunger and poverty issues. You can find the latest actions and sample letters, read updates on what is happening in Congress and download advocacy tools.
Get Involved helps you become an advocate – either on your own or with your church, campus or community group. Find an Offering of Letters workshop near you, get tips on how to write a letter to the editor, hear what others are doing on our new campus blog, or learn more about what the Bible says about justice.
Click on Learn for a better understanding of domestic and international hunger issues. We offer clear, concise analysis on specific issues such as U.S. child nutrition programs, the Millennium Challenge Account, hunger in rural America and overseas development assistance. This section also includes the latest facts and figures on hunger and poverty.
To help us continue our work, visit the Give section. You can choose a one-time financial contribution, give a gift membership, find out how to include Bread for the World in your will, or join the Baker's Dozen monthly pledge group. Click on Join to get information about becoming a Bread for the World member or to update your membership information.
The new www.bread.org has many additional features to help our members advocate for hungry and poor people – including a section in Spanish and information on Bread for the World Institute's latest research and education initiatives. We're excited about the new site – please visit and let us know what you think!
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Bread for the World's staff can offer tips on letter writing, brief you on legislation, assist your church's hunger ministry, and put you in touch with others who are working on these issues.
Bread for the World National Office: 1-800-82-BREAD
Church Relations Staff
- Sarah Turner, National Church Outreach
Regional Organizers in National Office
- Elise Young, Central/Mid-Atlantic Organizer
- Erin Luchenbill, Campus Organizer
Bread for the World Regional Offices
- Mariah Priggen (1-800-447-0-BFW)
Illinois, Indiana and Missouri Organizer
- Zelinda Welch (1-800-315-3BFW)
Western Organizer
- David Gist (1-800-315-3BFW)
California Organizer
- Ricardo Moreno (1-800-315-3BFW)
Organizer for Latino Relations
- Tamela Walhof (1-800-363-7BFW)
Upper Midwest Organizer
- Lew Hille (1-888-257-0-BFW)
Texas/Oklahoma Organizer
- Elizabeth Coleman (1-888-BFW-0073)
Southeast Organizer
- Larry Hollar (1-800-619-9239)
North Central Organizer
- Derrick Boykin (1-866-238-0507)
Northeast Organizer
