NEIDEEP

Thursday, April 26, 2007

“Soap and education aren’t as sudden as a massacre, but more deadly in the long run.” Will Rogers

While students in Maine had a week off from school, last week, over 100 million children throughout the world do not have the basic human right of receiving a primary education. Both developed and developing nations came together in 1948, signed the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and stated that all children have the right to a basic primary education. However, with so many children lacking access to this education nearly sixty years later, we still have a long way to go.

With over 1 billion people living on less than one dollar per day, increasing education and literacy is vital. Achieving access to primary education is the second of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG - see the goals scrolling by at the bottom).

When Will Rogers commented on soap and education, I believe he met that cleaning up and pursuing education promotes self-esteem and a strong mind. With these tools, it becomes harder to suppress people’s desire to climb out of poverty. According to CARE, there are about 862 million illiterate adults living in developing countries and two-thirds of them are women. Since the number of illiterate are about three-fourths of those living in extreme poverty, the link between education and poverty is hard to ignore.

UNICEF relates stories about children from all across the world who want to learn. In the Cegrane camp in north-west Macedonia, refugee children from Kosovo go to school in small tents, while in Peru the indigenous children attend a mission school using logs as desks.
Jasmine, a 13-year old from Bangladesh, said, “My dream is to become a doctor. But dreams remain dreams. I am in class five and have to leave now. School is only free up to this year. I think my father will marry me off in the near future because I'll be finished with school and have little to do. This thought frightens me. I hope someone hears my cry and comes forward before my education is stopped."

This week is the Action Week for Education and the time to be aware of the issues both locally and globally. Learn more on Global Campaign for Education.
No surprise that their focus for 2007 is that education is a human right. Five percent of the children not receiving primary education live in developed countries, including the US, which means the other 95% live in developing countries and approximately 70% of those are girls.

Worldwide, another 150 million children drop out of school prior to completing a primary education. Five years of primary school is necessary for basic literacy. One third of all children, including half of all African children, drop out before that time. More than 140 million youth between the ages of 15-24 are illiterate.

Even in Maine, according to our Department of Education, some areas have high drop out rates. Portland schools have the highest rate in the State – a staggering 38%. However, the National Education Data Resource Center reports that our state average is roughly 3.3% and that the southern states have a higher drop out rate than the rest of the country.

Nationally, although black students have a have a slightly higher rate than white students do, over one-third of all Hispanic students never finish school. These statistics show the relationship between money and education with 97% of students from high-income families completing high school.

Lack of money is an obstacle for human rights – including education. In Maine, children are living in communities with no public kindergarten, over crowded classrooms and few supplies; but the situation is tragic in the developing nations. In many African countries, students must pay for school fees, books and uniforms. In some areas, the monthly school fees per child are $90.00 and exceed the average monthly family income. In other regions where fees are less, I did some calculations. On what I feed my dog and three cats in one year – excluding supplements, heartworm meds, flea collars and vet bills – I could pay school fees for seventy-two African children for a year.

Due to adverse economic conditions, most children have to work. Many work in unsafe conditions just as children did in New England mills and factories not that long ago. On Oxfam’s website, there are stories of villages sending one child away to school while the others work. The child comes back to the village to teach. Even in areas where there are schools, basic supplies such as books, desks and paper are in demand. As in the US, there are teacher shortages – with an estimated 15 million teachers needed in developing countries and Special Education programs often non-existent.

Health concerns are another major factor affecting a child’s ability to attend school. Children take care of both sick adults as well as orphans due to HIV/AIDS and yet education is the most important prevention of HIV/AIDS. Others are starving, or dying from malaria or TB. However, children with educated mothers are more likely to survive infant mortality, live in smaller more sustainable families, are less malnourished and more likely to attend school.
Aside from all of these problems, I wonder how the world can be a safe place to live when so many are unable to read. Many schools struggle with governments that do not want children educated – the illiterate are easier to control.

Perhaps tax dollars would be better spent, both globally and nationally, if invested in education as a tactic to combat the war on terrorism. In the past few years, the US increased funds allocated for education. However, with an economy six times smaller than that of the US, Great Britain gave committed two-thirds more.

When Bono gave his acceptence speech for the TED (Technology Entertainment Development) award in 2005, he said, “Poverty breeds despair. We know this. Despair breeds violence. We know this. Well, the war against terror is bound up in the war against poverty, and I didn't say that - Colin Powell said that. Now when the military are telling us that this is a war that cannot be won by military might alone, maybe we should listen. There's an opportunity here, and it's real. It's not spin. It's not wishful thinking.”

If there is a link between ending terrorism and eradicating poverty, then achieving basic primary education becomes an even more important Millennium Development Goal. In northern Uganda, children, forced to become soldiers, receive an education in killing. In other nations, tens of thousands of children are refugees with no homes, much less access to education.
Ghulam, an Afghan, discussed with CARE the situation in Afghanistan both pre and post 9/11. He states that between 1980 and 1999, two thousand teachers died, 15,000 left in fear and parents were afraid of sending their children to school because of political agendas. Against citizens’ wishes, the Taliban banned girls from attending school. Cultural beliefs complicated issues in rural areas where families prized girls kept separate from society. These girls receive higher bride prices.

Ashley Clements, from World Vision, states there are about 500,000 school-age Iraqi children who are refugees in Syria and Jordan. Because of their refugee status in the host countries, these children have no access to education much less psychological support needed because of the violence they witnesses in Iraq. As a Christian aid agency, World Vision wants to create a place “for children to reach their full potential and – as a generation transformed – help to build a lasting peace.” Indeed, Will Rogers’ ‘soap and education’ may be the most powerful weapon against terrorism.

Although the situation seems overwhelming, I feel that awareness of a problem is a major step towards finding solutions. Locally, many adults are illiterate, living on low wages and little hope. Educating our youth from kindergarten through high school graduation is mandatory and post secondary education, including trade school, is essential. Instructing more parents as to the importance of schooling is part of the process.

On a global level, the solutions are difficult. Not all of us can follow Oprah and open a school in South Africa. The most important aspect is to remember that if we want a world with less poverty, war, terrorism and more human rights, we must educate the world’s children. We are all in this together. The children of this world are yours and mine and education is essential for a better life.

Peace -

Bonnie

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NEIDEEP at 5:12 PM

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

"America is not just a country; it's an idea. You have to defend the idea as well as the country, and that idea is being attacked." Bono

My brother, Mark, lives in southwest Texas. We were raised as Methodists in New Jersey when we were little - before the term United Methodists. He and his wife Nancy attend the United Methodist Church in their community. Mark remains one of the best people I know and I always think about him a lot this month - his birthday was a week ago. He's been in Texas since his college days. He has a great understanding of all the complex immigration issues and the ability to express himself in a clear manner. He feels less people would be sneaking over the Mexican border if Fair Trade practices were in place. People just want to be with their families, work hard and have a decent life. With our Free Trade practices, we make it impossible for the average family in Mexico, Central and South America to earn a living. If we put Fair Trade practices into place, the illegal immigration problem would not be such a huge issue. After all, this is not an issue on the northern border of the US - Canadians are not crashing through to come here!

I received the following letter addressed to the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church from a pastor. It was written by the NEC head - Bishop Peter Weaver.

April, 2007

Dear Sisters and Brothers of the New England Conference,

Grace and peace to you in the name and spirit of Christ.

The recent immigration raid in New Bedford, Massachusetts with the subsequent detention of hundreds of persons and the separation of scores of parents from their children reflects similar events in many other communities in New England and around the country. The national political debate on immigration has generated considerable heat, but little light. As many concerns and passions are aroused in our politically polarized time, it is important for the New England Conference community to be reminded of some teaching positions of our church which frame this important issue differently.

Several years ago, the Council of Bishops authored a document, To Love the Sojourner (http://gbgm-umc.org/mission/resolutions/3-biblic.html), which saw the experience of immigrants and refugees in the Biblical context as strangers without homes, uprooted people, whom God has called us to protect. There are dozens of images from the Old and New Testaments which support this view. The most familiar of these, perhaps, is the story of the love of God expressed to a sojourner through the compassion of a stranger: “But a certain Samaritan had compassion on him, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.”(Luke 10:33-44).

As Bishops we are concerned about a climate of “misinformation, mistrust, and fear” which often accompanies the conversation about immigrants and immigration to the United States. “Many people in the US have let themselves be vulnerable to the hysteria that says they are no longer in control of their borders or their destiny.”

United Methodist Resolution #118 (in the 2004 Book of Resolutions) refers more specifically to undocumented or illegal immigrants. Through this resolution, the UMC is on record as reminding us that “being an undocumented person is NOT a crime.” Immigration law enforcement of the 1996 immigration law (Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Resolution Act) “results in immediate and insufferable human rights violations, discrimination, and oppression.” The United Methodist Church is on record as encouraging new legislation and policies which protect the rights of all persons, especially undocumented immigrants living within the United States (see also Social Principles, paragraph 162).

Faithful people will obviously have differing perspectives on one of more aspects of this complex issue. As persons of faith, however, I hope that we can approach our conversations with mutual respect and love for our neighbors - all our neighbors - affirming our common ground in God’s compassion and love through Christ Jesus.

May we together seek a prayerful and humble spirit, acknowledging the Biblical call to us as the community of God which gives “shelter, protection and help to sojourners living amongst us, reminding us that we, too, were foreigners in other times.” {To Love the Sojourner}

Grace and peace,

Peter D. Weaver

The many issues of global poverty are complex. I see the link between the issues of immigration, poverty several of the Millennium Development Goals. People desperate to seek a better way of life are drawn to the idea of America. Perhaps we need to remind our leaders that this idea is what we must defend. What would those original settlers have done if the Natives of this land had done to them what we are doing now?

Peace -

Bonnie

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NEIDEEP at 9:03 AM