The Art of Everyday Activism at Arcadia: Dean and Lecturer?

Copyright © 2007 Camp Arcadia

Suitcases are zipped as we prep to make our getaway from sticky Baltimore’s summertime sun. Fourteen hours’ drive will place us two-thirds up the west coast of Michigan’s lower peninsula. Here, October-like mornings (based on mid-Atlantic standards anyway) and camera-ready sunsets await us lakeside at Arcadia. http://www.camp-arcadia.com.

I’m Dean and Lecturer again. We are relative newcomers, only our eighth time in nine summers. What echoes from the beach are not only crashing waves, but longtime Lutheran family traditions; genealogical tides, evidenced in our 13 year-olds’ unimaginable boast: “I feel like I grew up at Arcadia, man!”

My stern designation, Dean, seems to me too polished, a bit haunting, like that administrator stalking you, eager for you to cross the line, and he’s got the policy manual soldered to his brain. Lecturer reminds me of a certain professorial pain, sugarless words that are good for you I guess, but feel like you’re taking cod-liver oil, while the time on your watch drips to ever-slowing ticks making you want to scream. Not me. I hope to dance with ideas and issues, dressed up in images and stories, which though they might carry life-and-death consequences, yet can delight the ears, engage the soul, entertain the brain, and motivate hands and feet into action.

My theme this year is full of LWR flavor. “Moving from Overwhelmed to Engaged.” This week’s course is described like this:

The statistics are staggering. Global poverty. A culture of death. Fragmented relationships. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, especially when we’re underengaged. We will explore strategies for putting our faith into action in real-life situations confident that the Spirit will give us wisdom to discover the art of personal everyday activism.

By the way, here’s a book list that I’ll hand out. It represents the responses of some of the smartest people I know. I asked them to submit titles they’d recommend, at about a college level, for U.S. citizens desiring to be more globally-minded citizens.

I invite your comments.

Top Books for the Globally Enlightened Student
As compiled by friends and colleagues of Lutheran World Relief’s President, John Nunes

Books appear in alphabetical order by author

1. Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe
2. The Bottom Billion – Paul Collier
3. The Gospels In Our Image: An Anthology of Twentieth-Century Poetry Based on Biblical Texts – David Curzon
4. Shake Hands with the Devil – Romeo Dallaire
5. Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor Frankl
6. The Lexus and the Olive Tree – Thomas Friedman
7. The World is Flat 3.0 – Thomas Friedman
8. A Human Being Died That Night – Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela
9. On Ordered Liberty: A Treatise on the Free Society – Samuel Gregg
10. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order – Samuel Huntington
11. The Next Christendom – Philip Jenkins
12. Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Could Cure the World – Tracy Kidder
13. Strength to Love – Martin Luther King, Jr.
14. One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
15. Paradise – Toni Morrison
16. Doing Well and Doing Good: The Challenge to the Christian Capitalist—Richard John Neuhaus
17. Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time – Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
18. Leap Over a Wall – Eugene Peterson
19. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals – Michael Pollan
20. High Noon: 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them – Jean Francois-Rischard
21. Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
22. The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time – Jeffrey Sachs
23. Development as Freedom – Amartya Sen 2
24. White Teeth – Zadie Smith
25. Suffering – Dorothee Soelle
26. Jesus and the Disinherited – Howard Thurman
27. Becoming Human – Jean Vanier
28. Exclusion and Embrace – Miroslav Volf
29. Selected Poems, 1948-1984 – Derek Walcott
30. Faith, Reason, and the War Against Jihadism – George Weigel

Other Media:

• BBC
• Human Rights Watch Newsletter
• Journal of Markets and Morality
• New York Review of Books
• NPR
• Reuters Alertnet
• The Economist
• The New York Times
• UN Wire
• Winged Migration – Jacques Perrin (director)

Honorable Mentions

• In the Time of the Butterflies – Julia Alvarez
• Humanitarianism in Question: Politics, Power, Ethics – Michael Barnett and Thomas Weiss
• House of Sand and Fog – Andre Dubus III
• Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America – Barbara Ehrenreich
• We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families – Philip Gourevitch
• Stones from the River – Ursula Hegi
• The City of Joy – Dominique Lapierre
• Sold – Patricia McCormick
• House Made of Dawn – N. Scott Momaday
• Reading Lolita in Tehran – Azar Nafisi
• The Boy Called “It” – Dave Pelzer
• The Moral Economy of the Peasant: Rebellion and Subsistence in Southeast Asia – James Scott
• Full Contact Rules for the Christian Businessman – Bryan Salminen
• No Ordinary Men – Bryan Salminen
• The Death of Vishnu – Manil Suri
• Digging to America – Anne Tyler
• Rabbit, Run – John Updike
• Man, the State, and War – Kenneth Waltz
• State of the World 2008: Toward a Sustainable Global Economy – The Worldwatch Institute

News from Myanmar (Burma): Aid is getting through

Friends,

In my last blog post, I reflected on the unfolding situation in Myanmar (Burma) just days after Cyclone Nargis hit. More than three weeks later, the situation remains dire, but Lutheran World Relief and our partners are succeeding in getting aid to those who need it – more than 100,000 so far. My colleague Joanne Fairley, LWR’s Deputy Regional Director for Asia and the Middle East, has just returned from a meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, with our partners in Action by Churches Together. I’d like to give her the opportunity to share with you here what she learned during her visit.

As I write to you, aid workers are entering the Irrawady delta region and assessing the situation of the people affected by Cyclone Nargis. International media has been mixed on whether aid is getting through to people here. Our partners on the ground would like us to assure friends in the U.S. that aid is getting through and has been from the start. The process of responding to a disaster of this magnitude, as you would imagine, can get chaotic, but our local partners are hopeful, especially since the talks between the U.N. chief and Myanmar’s top generals went well.

On the ground, the situation in Myanmar remains very grave and urgent. It is amazing to me just how many facets of life have been disrupted by this horrific natural disaster. There are millions without homes or shelter. Some village based camps have been set up and people have been given plastic sheeting to use as shelter, but these supplies are very much meant for short term relief and will need to be replenished often if people are to remain safe and healthy. In the camps, there are many unaccompanied children and women who have lost both their husbands and their farms—these are the most vulnerable because they have no one to support them. Clean drinking water continues to be a problem and already there have been illnesses reported from dirty drinking water—mainly dysentery.

The agricultural cycle is also of great concern right now. There is a very narrow window of time for the re-planting of the rice paddies if there is to be a fall harvest. The re-planting must happen within the next three weeks or this agricultural season will be a loss. Myanmar depends on its rice harvest not only to feed its people but also for export. The loss of the rice harvest would plunge the millions of already vulnerable people of the region into a situation of poverty and hunger from which it would be extremely difficult to recover. Non-governmental organizations are working hard to coordinate planting in hopes of avoiding this additional devastation.

In meetings with local partners I asked what they wish LWR could do to help. Our partners told me that first and foremost, they’d like us to stress to the American public that aid is getting in and that it is desperately needed and appreciated. The road to recovery from this disaster will be a long one. Much aid is needed to reach all those affected and, looking forward, more aid will be needed to sustain them through this crisis.

Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, LWR’s partner in global aid alliance, has pledged over $5 million USD to Myanmar for both emergency and long-term aid. They ask that we support the ACT appeal and give as much as we possibly can. I know that is not possible without the help of our dedicated and faithful supporters, so I ask that you send this message on to them so that they can know that their dollars are making it across the Myanmar border and are reaching the people who need it the most.

I am thankful that LWR is able to respond in emergency situations such as this, even in places where we have not traditionally had a presence. There is much more work to be done here, many more people to be reached. Working together with our local partners, LWR can have a real and lasting impact on the region, utilizing our experience from the 2004 tsunami and employing our accompaniment model of partnership.

I pray that the people in the U.S. will join us as we embark on this urgent yet hopeful mission.

-- Joanne Fairley

A Victim in Myanmar, but of What?

My morning New York Times (8 May 2008) stunned me into an ultra-alert, awake state. A bloated body floating in a dirty swamp, arms extended to the heavens, as if calling out for mercy. The hard-to-look-at photograph is captioned: “A victim of the cyclone that hit Myanmar (Burma) last week.”

A colleague at LWR and I mused over this grotesque photo and thought about the meaning of “victim.” This unnamed person’s entire history on Earth is reduced to the word “victim.” Does his being a cyclone “victim” give anyone the right to plaster his half-clothed body as page one fare? We wondered aloud about some of the other things of which he was first a victim:

• of inadequate warning systems
• of no escape routes
• of being ruled by a military junta
• of the environmental destruction of mangrove forests that would have buffered the land from the raging sea
• of no resources
• of our indifference?
  

The latest reports fear that there are 100,000 more “victims,” perhaps neighbors, family-members, friends of this man floating in mosquito-infested waters. Malaria, which is also now raging in Myanmar, will turn a mosquito-bite into a death sentence.

My mind goes to the quarter million “victims” of the December 2004 tsunami and the millions more who are rebuilding their lives and their livelihoods. With joy, I've visited some communities where that’s happening: Accompanying Lydia, Hope Crushed, Traditional Architecture.

While hundreds of thousands of “victims” are teetering on the brink of life and death today in Myanmar, Lutheran World Relief is representing the heart of U.S. Lutherans, and your support is desperately needed.

We will accompany women, children and men who are homeless, sick and crying to find a road to recovery. And we will do this in a way that guards their dignity. For we know they are much more than mere “victims,” they are children of God, our sisters and brothers in the human family.

Please support this live-saving work.

A Well-Planted Translation

One of the benefits of Lutheran World Relief’s pattern of working with partners is the miracle of human connectedness it allows. We are not distant from those with whom we work, neither do we bypass those with local expertise. We are neither experimenters nor implementers. We strive to be true partners.

In spite of the need to offer multiple language translation, we connect. Some messages go beyond verbal communication. In one village near the boarder between Burkina Faso and Mali, my English language comments were translated into French by Evariste Karengwa, LWR’s Regional Director for Africa. Nana Touré then translated from French to Bambara — a majority language of Mali. Then, a local community person translated from Bambara to the rare and remote Dogon language, spoken by those who inhabit the Mopti region. Based on the community’s reactions, there are some things that don’t get lost even in multiple translations.

Here’s part of what I said: “There’s an old, old story told about having faith the size of a small, small seed. Such people are divinely empowered to move mountains. Mountains of poverty, mountains of suffering, mountains of injustice. We thank God for giving this community this power, this transformation, this future, through this partnership.”

And the work has a future: The plan calls for increased production, allowing for greater distribution of the profits. Life here, in this remote, but far from Godforsaken place, can become bearable, livable and hope-filled. A key factor is LWR’s accompaniment model (see current LWR newsletter). This helps us to garner respect from those with whom we work. That’s why they wait through multiple translations to hear from us. By working and speaking in this way, we gain “reach” into hard-to-reach communities such as this.

Whether a mustard seed or a sesame seed, if it’s well-planted, it translates, transcends cultures and transforms communities.

Thou Shall Not Kill

According to the United Nations Human Development Index of 177 nations in the world, Mali ranks as 173rd. Burkina Faso is the 176th. Niger is 174th. The poorest of the poor are right here, and most poignantly so, in the rural areas where Lutheran World Relief works. Decades ago, some wise Lutherans decided to focus their resources where human pain cried out the sharpest: the groans of death, even. These Lutherans knew their Catechism: “God rightly calls all persons murderers who do not offer counsel or assistance to those in need and peril of body or life.” I am thankful for their faith-activated decision to keep the Fifth Commandment and to do something, to enact justice.

Confronted with the magnitude of suffering in the world, many people begin to feel numb and powerless. They do nothing. Yet each one of us has a role to play in creating a better world. In the face of such suffering we must stand together, empowered by God’s unconditional love in Jesus Christ, attesting to the power of one mother, one family, one community–their power to change their future, to pull themselves out of poverty. Walk with us, work with us, find your role, and together we can make a difference.

Pen and Paper

As my first post indicated, cell phone signals in rural Mali are sporadic at best. During our travels in West Africa we were frequently without access to this blog, thus the delay between posts. In the absence of technology we resorted to tried and true methods – pen and paper. The next several installments (which will be posted over the coming weeks) were written while traveling in Mali and Burkina Faso and will be posted as written. Though our trip has come to an end, I hope these stories and reflections share some glimpse of the intensely moving human experience which has touched (and continues to shape) my heart and mind.

One such story:

The woman at right is a member of the Guireyaawés Federation, an collection of 130 sesame producing associations belonging to over 6500 sesame farmers in rural Mali, near the town of Koro.

Lutheran World Relief has worked with the farmers to help them grow, process and export organic sesame. In this part of the world harsh weather and market conditions conspire to make farming a constant challenge. Yet through access to credit, literacy training, new farming equipment and a host of other investments, these farmers are not only growing, but thriving.

Literally translated, Guireyaawés Federation means "those who want to move ahead." And the people of Koro truly are moving ahead, trusting in themselves and the investment required to grow organic sesame. After two years of work with LWR they are seeing the fruits of their labor with a selling price for their crop 50% higher than typical sesame sales.

For today, we move ahead to another community and soon another country, remembering the farmers of the Guireyaawés Federation and thankful for the genuine engagement this work with them produces.

For more about the Guireyaawés Federation, check out LWR's newsletter from August 2007, pages eight and nine.

A One-Legged Dancer

Today I saw a man with one leg, no shoes, and no shame. What’s more, this man I saw today danced, jumped with joy, bounced up and down undaunted by his supposed limitation. I can’t imagine the amazing reservoir of spiritual strength and physical balance it must take to move like that. He was part of a music group from a school supported by Lutheran World Relief. All the band members of this group called Benso, meaning “house of understanding,” possess various levels of physical disabilities and receive quilts and health kits through one of LWR's partner in Mali, National Solidarity Fund (FSN).

I wonder if these West Africans might view Westerners as peculiar or unthankful or even handicapped. Nearly all of us have shoes, most of us have two legs, and yet we’re straitjacketed by hyper-rationality, or over-seriousness or stress or something. The “house of understanding” U.S. Christians need to build should include a livelier dance-floor.