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Agathe
Regala. Photo by Kathryn Sime, ELCA |
I met Agathe in a trip to
Haiti. She lives in the rural southeast mountains of Haiti,
near the border with the Dominican Republic. She has seven
children, the oldest four of whom are working in the
Dominican Republic. This is dangerous, often deadly work in
sugar cane fields and factories, but it's the only work
available.
Agathe and her family live in
extreme poverty. Until six months ago, the only hope for
her family were the dangerous opportunities of the Dominican
Republic. But with the support of ELCA World Hunger gifts to
Lutheran World Federation, Agathe is the proud owner of a
breeder pig and now two baby pigs. Agathe will sell the
piglets at market and with the proceeds, Agathe’s youngest
three children will attend secondary school. With their
cherished education, this family can begin to loosen the
tight bonds of extreme poverty.
Sustainable development
projects — those that strengthen a community’s capacity to
end the cycle of poverty — are a cornerstone of ELCA World
Hunger. But relief efforts — providing for direct needs with
food and shelter assistance — are also critical. Project
Hope, a food pantry in Omaha, Nebraska, partially supported
by a grant from our ELCA World Hunger Appeal, supplied over
5,000 individuals and families with food assistance
last year. And all this in a state we often associate
with abundant harvests and major food production for our
country!
About two-thirds of those who
received food from Project Hope last year needed it
only once that year. Maybe someone in the family had lost a job,
or the car needed emergency repairs, but for whatever
reason, they found themselves in a crisis where they
experienced hunger. Relief efforts, while not impacting
cycles of hunger, are a necessary first step to help people
begin to rebuild their lives or see them through a crisis.
Just like Milly, Agathe, Project Hope, and my inquiring
friends in Ethiopia, we each have a role in our efforts to
eliminate hunger. We give, we pray, we raise our voices
through advocacy, we speak out in righteous indignation that
hunger exists in an abundant world. We act, we learn, and we
pray again. We cannot know the names and faces of all those
who hunger today, nor those of all who join us as partners in this
ministry we share, yet as people of faith, we are
confident and hopeful, secure in our knowledge that God
loves and calls us all by name.
On an Ethiopian hillside, I
was put on the spot and asked to consider my life choices in
a new way. In a relationship, conversations like this can
happen. When we walk with those with whom we are in
ministry, when we make a mutual commitment to work together
to eliminate hunger, we are stronger, and our efforts are
the better for it. I am grateful for all our partners in
this transformational ministry — prayers, givers, doers,
believers, all — and grateful to God for this privilege of
being in this ministry together.
Kathryn Sime is director for ELCA World Hunger and Disaster
Appeal.
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