Commitment for Life – December 2011
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BANGLADESH
Mud, mud, glorious mud” – but only if you are a hippo!

Today we experienced for a very short time some of the extremely difficult conditions of life after the floods of a hurricane.The inundation of saline and river water has destroyed houses and roads, ruined livelihoods, hopes and dreams, and changed lives.

The villages we have visited have been recipients of Christian Aid Disaster Emergency Relief Rations distributed by partner Shushilan. We listened as people told their stories of unworkable fields submerged under green stagnant water; damaged unusable wells; lost employment and homes and total disruption of any semblance of normality.

We walked along mud-covered, uneven, slippery paths for our first encounters but at our next stop the pathway was just too difficult for us to use and so we were taken on “vans” bicycle powered carts, being pushed and pulled along the way.

On arrival we negotiated mud embankments between the water-logged fields where the brick paths have been washed away.

However a greater difficulty was in store because the only way to reach the centre of the village was over a bamboo bridge of just one pole width. Not all of us felt able to make this crossing – which was a choice we had, but not the people who live there!

In the midst of all their troubles our difficulties were of concern to them and we experienced real kindness by way of helping hands as some of us struggled.It is good that Shushilan are in contact with them.

After a very trying day we enjoyed hospitality at Shushilan’s Guest house – our home for the next two nights.

In the evening we were treated to a performance of “picture drama” by young people who vibrantly highlighted development issues in Bangladesh and Shushilan’s work, through picture and dramatic song. A splendid end to the day.

To read more of the ‘Commitment for Life Visitto Bangladesh’participant’s initial thoughts please go to

JAMAICA

UK money will be used for a ‘climate loan’ to Jamaica,increasing its already heavy debt burden, following a decision by the World Bank this week.

Campaigners have condemned the loan, which will drive the Caribbean nation deeper into poverty. Jamaica’s foreign debt stands at $2,500 per person, and the country spends $1.2 billion a year on debt repayments. The government’s foreign-owed debts are 55 per cent of national income, making its debt burden one of the heaviest in the world.[1]

The $10 million loan agreed this week is intended to help Jamaica adapt to the effects of climate change. But campaigners say countries like the UK should give climate funds as grants rather than loans.

Jubilee Debt Campaign spokesperson Tim Jones said today: "Debt has devastated lives across the world, bringing economic collapse and diverting money from essential public services. The Jamaicangovernment already spends $450 per person annually on debt repayments, more than on education and healthcare combined. The World Bank and UK government should be cancelling Jamaica's debt, not adding to it with new unjust climate loans."

World Development Movement campaigner Murray Worthy said today: “The UK and other rich industrialised countries bear the responsibility for causing climate change, both historically and currently. We owe it to countries like Jamaica to help them adapt to the ravages of climate change – in fact we owe them money, rather than the other way round. Climate loans do nothing to correct this injustice, and will only make life harder for Jamaicans as their government is forced to spend ever more on debt servicing.”Climate loans using UK funds were also agreed for Bolivia and Yemen. The World Bank has so far lent $1.1 billion to developing countries in the name of climate change.Nearly 90 per cent of the UK’s funding to help countries adapt to climate change is through loans, not grants.

[1] Figures all from World Bank Global Development Finance indicators. The Jamaican government spends 28 per cent of the country’s revenues from exports on debt repayments, the highest amount of any developing country. This figure is a good measure of a country's debt burden; because it is specifically export revenues which are needed to pay foreign debts.

An excellent article about HIV in Jamaica can be found on the Christian Aid website. In it Revd Delroy Harris, whom we have featured in partner updates, says 'If society doesn't show love and care, the person is going to turn to the church.

'It's at the point now where some persons who are HIV positive no longer want to come to the church because they feel that the church people are rejecting them. Now we need to change that.'The FURY group visited his church for a day on their trip in 2006. It is well worth a read

ZIMBABWE

Severe water shortages in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, have left local communities scavenging for water and in fear of disease.

Most of the city's suburbs have run dry, leaving residents that have gone months without water trying to get what they can from unprotected wells, Zimbabwe's newspapers have reported.

Harare communities fear water shortages could spark a fresh cholera outbreak. Council chiefs say the water crisis is a result of aged infrastructure, pipe leakages and demand that has out-stripped supply.CWM's contact living in Harare, Lucky, said people are worried there could be another cholera epidemic if conditions don't improve.

"We are having serious water shortages. We have had to borrow water from the neighbours, but we haven't had electricity on a daily basis since last week either so we cannot pump the water when the power is not on. Since last Wednesday we haven't had running water from the tap until now. The government is saying there are not enough chemicals left to purify the water. We are not sure what is happening."

Wells, costing up to US$400 to dig, have now become popular in most suburbs, but those without access to a neighbour's well are often forced to find unprotected wells for their supply. Unprotected wells are wells that have not been properly fenced off and covered to ensure they are not contaminated by rain water or flooding.

Lucky added: "We have heard that in some areas, people are not having gatherings because they are worried that diseases like cholera could spread. Some people are not even attending things like weddings or funerals because of this. Those going to funerals are going on the last day when the body has been buried because they are concerned about the spread of disease. They fear there may be outbreaks."

Zimbabwe news website, Newsday, said the water crisis has created a cholera scare reminiscent of the 2008 era when an estimated 6,000 people contracted the disease, with hundreds succumbing to the pandemic. Water director Christopher Zvobgo, in a document entitled “Inadequate Supply of Water in Harare”, said demand has outstripped supply.© CWM

Salaam. Shalom. Peace

Especially this year with the world reeling from the demonstrations, revolutions, economic turmoil and natural disasters let us return to the meaning of Christmas and be determined to bring life in all its fullness to everyone in God’s world.

When the song of the angels is stilled
and the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home
and the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to proclaim liberty to the oppressed,
to bring peace to the people.

Salaam. Shalom. Peace author unknown

stories for change is produced by commitment for life: it seeks to inform and inspire. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the URC.
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