Stories Of Need, Stories Of Hope
Point 7 Now! Conference
hosted by the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco
27 October 2007
Brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning, it is a great joy to be with you today. I am Njongonkulu Ndungane, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town. I have been asked to talk about the call of the poor: ‘Stories of Need and Stories of Hope’.
My reflections will be based on my experience as an African. Africa is a place of great need, but also of great hope – we are people of hope, and enjoying a new dawn of economic opportunity! Across the continent, growth has averaged over 5% for several years. Even so, it is all too easy to be overwhelmed by the stories of need. But we must not be daunted by the terrible statistics, and by trying to imagine what they mean for individuals, and by what we see and hear just as we have done in the video that was on screen which reduced some of us to tears. I am reminded of Joshua, who, after the death of Moses, had to lead the children of Israel into the promised land. They had to overcome those who lived there, some of whom they saw as giants. It was a huge task. As they set out, God exhorted Joshua with words that are both encouraging and challenging. ‘Go now, and … I shall be with you, as I was with Moses. I shall not fail you or desert you. Be strong! Stand firm! … Be fearless and undaunted, for, go where you may, Yahweh your God goes with you!’ (Josh 1:2,5,6,9) Joshua’s task is to provide visionary leadership that will build the people up; to give them the confidence to follow where God is calling; and to declare the sovereignty of the Lord there. In the face of giant challenges, God still calls us to catch his vision, build up his people, and follow where he leads. He tells us not to be daunted. He wants us to have confidence to be people of mission, to follow Him into difficult situations, and to build his kingdom there. So we declare the sovereignty of God over poverty, even as we recognise the enormity of what we are facing. In this world of some six billion people, over a billion live in absolute poverty, on a dollar a day or less. Over a billion live in slums. Over a billion have no access to sanitation. This is to say nothing of the hundreds of millions who go to bed hungry, or those who suffer from conflict, famine, drought, floods, or cyclones; nor the 48 million orphans in our world; nor the 40 million living with HIV-AIDS, of whom 3 million will die this year, while another 4 million will become infected. Sometimes I think that we have constructed a new global apartheid, an economic apartheid, where a small number live the life of surplus consumption, enjoying advanced medicine and the benefits of science and technology. But the great majority live in want, with far too many dying of hunger, malnutrition, and preventable, manageable, diseases. Yet economist tell us that God provides a world in which there actually is an abundance for us all, if only we shared it equitably. He provides enough for our needs, but not for our greed. The consequence of greed is that every day 4,000 children die of diarrhea, and 1,400 [one thousand, four hundred] women die needlessly in pregnancy or childbirth. Over a hundred million children do not go to school, most of them girls. Yet in 2004, it was calculated that the cost of providing free primary education to all the children of the world was less than the amount Americans spent on ice-cream. In 2006, the amount paid for pet food in developed countries would cover almost the entire cost, of $62 billion, of meeting the Millennium Development Goals on education, and on health, and on water, and on sanitation. Let me speak about the realities of what such statistics mean for people in my part of Africa. In South Africa itself, I was a Commissioner in the National Poverty Hearings, held in the late 1990s, as the new democratic government began to get to grips with the economic imbalances left by apartheid. We are a relatively prosperous country by the standards of the continent – but we have terrible disparities between richest and poorest. The Commissioners held hearings across the country, in which we listened to the voices of the poor, who told their stories with dignity. It was emotionally and physically draining – but hugely rewarding, in that those who told their stories recognised that there were people ready to listen to their plight, people who cared about them and their situation. I saw the face of poverty in the eyes of far too many men and women, children and the elderly, and especially people with disability. Their message was ‘Archbishop, take our voices to the corridors of power, and say for us, “We do not want hand-outs; we have brains; we have hands; give us the capacity to eke out our own existence.”’ This gave me hope. They were ready to take responsibility for improving their own situation. We are taking responsibility for ourselves at a continent-wide level too. Our governments have committed themselves to give 15% of their budgets to health spending – though we are only implementing that promise slowly. Then there is the identity of agriculture as a key sector for growth – which is leading to the so-called ‘green revolution’, headed by former United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan. We have also created the Pan African Infrastructure Fund, which now has $650 million earmarked for enhancing trade between African countries, which is disproportionately low. The African Union’s NEPAD initiative – the New Partnership for Africa’s Development – puts good governance at the centre of its strategy for creating a climate for development. This is bearing fruit, especially in the increased confidence it gives both to investors, and to the African diaspora, who have significantly increased their remittances to the continent. But let me return to the stories of individuals. From South Africa’s poverty hearings, I remember a particularly touching example of need, and of hope. There were two orphaned boys, aged about 8 and 6. They scavenged for food on the local rubbish tip – using a dog to help sniff out what could be found. The elder always ensured that the younger had enough to eat, before he fed himself – just as we saw in the video on the screen. They were found by a woman, a real ‘good Samaritan’, who took them to her house, and washed them, and fed them, and indeed, then gave them a home. Sometimes all it takes is the generous heart of a single individual to make a profound difference to the life of another human being, and to offer them hope in place of misery – the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair, of which the prophet Isaiah speaks (Is 61:3). Swaziland is also part of the Anglican Province of Southern Africa. 65% of the population live below the poverty line. They also have one of the highest HIV/AIDS infection rates in the world. In recent years, life expectancy has fallen. A baby boy born today can expect to live to the age of 38, and a girl to 37 years – the lowest figures on the entire continent of Africa. Swaziland is one of the priority areas for the programmes run by the Anglican Church for supporting those infected and affected by HIV-AIDS. We are also running education programmes aimed at producing a generation without AIDS. We know it is possible. We are prepared to live and act with hope. The Anglican Church in Southern Africa operates what is probably the most comprehensive faith-based organisation in the field of HIV and AIDS, [in the whole world.] We receive significant support from the American and British governments, among many others. This too is a story of hope. Not so very long ago there was resistance on the part of many governments and NGOs to working with faith based organisations, which were perceived as narrowly sectarian. In the last few years, all this has changed. James Wolfensohn, the former President of the World Bank, said the following in 2005, at his last press briefing before retiring:I also think it is crucially important that we develop a better understanding with the faiths. People thought that was a wild idea. We have had a number of meetings on faith and development with religious leaders. My intent is not to make the Bank a religious organization, but I think we have to recognize that faith-based organizations in some parts of the world – in Africa, for example – deliver half the education and half the health services. If you don’t talk to them and you don’t know what they’re doing, it’s impossible to have a cohesive approach. We must grasp this opportunity. When global churches – such as the Anglican Communion, such as the Roman Catholic Church – cooperate with aid and development agencies, we help them reach more people, more quickly, and more efficiently. Our families of faith span the whole planet, span rich and poor alike, span donors and recipients. This comprehensiveness uniquely strengthens our ability to engage more effectively in holistic mission with global partners, and make a greater difference than ever before in bringing the Lord’s abundant life to all his children. Mission is a two-way street, and not only for those who are recognised as poor and oppressed. This was underlined by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams at a Conference I hosted near Johannesburg earlier this year. 400 participants from 33 of the Anglican Communion’s 44 Provinces met for a week to discuss the theme ‘Towards Effective Anglican Mission’. Archbishop Rowan pointed out that mission is equally for the healing of those who are perceived as affluent and whole. He challenged delegates from developed regions by asking ‘Do you know that you are deprived and dehumanised by a global situation of injustice, a system that tolerates the idea of superfluous people who are allowed to remain invisible?’ He reminded us that St Augustine says that the problem of injustice is not only one of suffering of the oppressed, but also the corruption of the mind and heart of the oppressor. Therefore we must all be prepared not only to love, but to allow ourselves also to be loved. We must be ready to share in both giving and receiving God’s redemptive touch. This mutuality in mission reminds me of the African concept of ubuntu.
For me, the ubuntu ethic is supremely gospel-shaped, body-of-Christ-shaped. Its main philosophy is captured in the phrase ‘I am, because we belong together.’
It calls on us to live and care for others; to act kindly to one another; to be kind, just, fair, compassionate, trustworthy, honest; to assist those in need; and to uphold good morals.
Ubuntu is about more than just having a benevolent attitude towards other people. Ubuntu is a way of practical living that expresses concern in tangible action. Ubuntu is a story of hope that Africa wants to share with the world! In August last year I was in Mozambique, also part of my Province. I visited a hospital in Macia, which is two hours drive from Maputo. Along the road, I saw women carrying bundles of firewood on their heads, carrying small babies at their backs, and also carrying a bucket of water in their hands. Some of them were spending 5 hours a day fetching water and fuel. When we arrived at the hospital, we found a glaring lack of equipment, a shortage of beds, and hardly any sheets or blankets. The burden of poverty was starkly evident. Yet here too there is good news In the maternity section, I presented mosquito nets to some pregnant mothers and those who had just given birth. Altogether during my visit, we presented 16,500 [sixteen thousand, five hundred] mosquito nets treated with long-lasting insecticide as part of our church’s Roll Back Malaria Campaign It is a disgrace that malaria kills a million people a year, 80% of them children, the overwhelming majority Africans, while it is entirely preventable, and at very low cost. The same is true of tuberculosis, which will claim two million lives this year. This is why it is so important that Christians in the developed world put pressure on their governments to keep the promises that they have made to overcome poverty. This is why campaigns such as Point 7 Now! are so vital. Be encouraged. I am sure it is because of public pressure that the British Government announced this month a programme to hit the point seven percent target by 2010. I wish it were sooner, but ‘better late than never!’ Civil society can make a difference, not only in the developed world, This is what impelled me to set up ‘African Monitor’ last year. This is a pan-African not-for-profit organisation. Its objective is to monitor development commitments made both by donors and by African governments, and ensure that the voice of Africa’s grassroots is better heard within the development agenda. Faith communities, not least the churches, are playing a particular role within African Monitor. We are already being asked to participate in the growing consultative processes that both donor and African governments are following with Africa’s own people, through which we can hold them to account. This is another story of hope. So are the Millennium Development Goals, and Christians across the world must throw their full weight behind them. They are the most comprehensive commitment to overcoming poverty that has ever been made. And they are supremely gospel shaped. Sadly, progress so far has been slow – indeed, so slow that in some areas our targets are farther from us than seven years ago. But even so, there is no alternative – this is the best story of hope that exists, and we must do what we can to make it come true. So, to sum up – we live in a complex world. There are stories of need, great need – but there are stories of hope. The best story of hope is that this is God’s world. And in his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, we have his gospel – his good news story – that he has overcome sin and death, and won the victory over all that diminishes humanity. To him be the glory! Amen.