Session 4c

The Salvation Army 2014 USA Salvation Army Conference for Social Work and Emergency Disaster Services 25 to 28 March 2014 GLOBAL TRACK SESSION 4C

“How can we serve suffering humanity with few resources?” Lt Colonel Sara Chagas TSWM and Social Services Secretary Mexico Territory This question is excellent and I am so glad that is has been brought up for our reflection at this conference. At the outset I would like to state two things: The first is that although suffering humanity encompasses various types of people, I have chosen to address the poor, inasmuch as The Salvation Army has historically had a bias for the poor. This was recently reaffirmed by General André Cox when supporting the Pope’s call to eradicate famine when he said "As Salvationists we have been called to serve the world’s poorest people - those who have nothing". Secondly, resources for the purpose of this paper will be understood as financial, because depending on how we work, other resources will be available, as I will mention below. Before we go any further I would like us to remember that The Salvation Army started out with its main focus on the poor in the East End of London. Initially "preaching" the gospel to them, but further on, understanding that the "submerged 10th” of England also needed a practical gospel to bring about effective change. Although the ambitious Darkest England Scheme had that intention and offered the most diverse opportunities to the poor, it would seem that The Salvation Army in the years that followed (with few exceptions) developed its help to the poor on a very institutionalized basis. Due to various economic and social situations, it took on the role of a provider of services - hence the slogan "Where there's a need there's The Salvation Army." This institutionalized and provider way of working led to the Army having to set up structures to keep the machine going and to make things more functional by dividing its mission into "Field and Social" work at a very early stage in its history. As The Salvation Army opened fire in more and more countries around the world, and especially in poorer countries the "provider" and "institution" stream flourished. The difficulty with this being that as the Army took on this role, it made itself responsible for finding the financial resources to keep this structure moving forward. Looking back on recent history we will find that situations outside and inside the Army brought about changes of practice. Outside the Army, we can mention the evolution of social sciences over the last decades and their impact on the understanding of development and the Lausanne Conference on World Evangelization in 1974. This raised the social/evangelism discussion among evangelical Christians brought on by Latin American theologians Samuel Escobar and René Padilla among others. Inside the Army discussion began to emerge regarding changes of practice. So much so that The Salvation Army held an International Development Conference in London in 1986 to discuss and reflect on this subject and how to move forward in what had become a changing context. However, it would seem that an important turning point for The Salvation Army was not so much the debates going on outside the Army, important as they were, rather The Salvation Army was facing real situations and was having to deal with much tougher questions and find immediate answers. The HIV/Aids pandemic was sweeping through Africa, thousands were losing their lives, 1

children were left orphaned, whole families disappeared and hospitals and clinics (including those of The Salvation Army) were not capable of dealing with such a "health" disaster. What were they to do with all the infected people? How to deal with all these families? How to tackle such an enormous problem if institutionalized health could not cope? How would there ever be enough financial resources for a problem of this magnitude? Answering these questions helped The Salvation Army to have to think through its "modus operandi" and begin to work outside the framework of its institutions. Somewhere had to be found to put up all these people ... there were not enough beds in the hospital/clinic. Somebody had to look after all these sick people ... the hospital/clinic did not have the staff to do that. Somebody had to help prevent this pandemic from spreading even more ... the hospital/clinic could not because it was overwhelmed by looking after dying patients. How could this tremendous problem be solved? Only by involving the community! The community wanted help from the hospitals/clinics, but the hospitals/clinics needed help from the community. In other words, they needed to work together to face this enormous problem. Many of these people who were poor and were in the process of losing their lives, or were having to deal with the grief of loosing loved ones, or were trying to readapt family life after so much loss, were the ones that helped The Salvation Army to see a way forward for mission in the 21st century. The fact that the problem was so great lead to the understanding that The Salvation Army’s way of working in that context – institutions that helped those in need – did not function. The financial strain was obviously far too great. However, this experience has lead to over 20 years of action/reflection, action/reflection not only of ourselves, but also involving ourselves with other organizations that have been grappling with the same situation. In the case of The Salvation Army, it would seem that this action/reflection process has made us think how our theology and our understanding of Christ's mission, his life and his teaching should not only affect the way we act, but also and especially the way we work – in other words how we see the poor, how we react to poverty and our understanding of development. So, how do we face it? What is the method? What manual do we follow? Unfortunately it is not so straight forward. There is a working model, there are basic biblical beliefs, there is the mission of taking the transforming gospel and consequently there is a great measure of expectation and hope, but there are no easy answers! The starting point is stepping out of our buildings and "safe places" and walking alongside people as Jesus did - starting where they are. We should probably start with John 1:1-4 - the Incarnation. Following The Message translation (God has moved into the neighborhood...), Leonard Sweet has boiled this text down to two words: "Be There". In order to "Be There" Jesus left his home on high and became one of us. He lived on earth, he knew poverty, he knew what it was not to have a place to go to rest. He met and lived amongst poor people, sick people, those who could not fend for themselves - he called them blessed. To be there is not necessarily to provide, but it's about knowing people's concerns and worries, their hopes for the future and how they relate to each other. Salvation Army doctrine teaches us that God is everywhere and his grace is already at work in the lives of people when many times they themselves do not know it. More than that, all people were created in the image of God, the implications of which are: firstly, that we are equals, we are not superior (all of us have sinned and fallen short - Romans 3:23), people should be respected for who they are and moreover, for what they can become. Secondly that our God is essentially a relational 2

God, and therefore, his creatures are also relational - they need other people, they need to feel loved, they need to feel they belong, they need to feel that they are wanted and valued. Thirdly, God is creator, and therefore people made in his image are creative, innovative and can come up with new ideas and alternatives. The story initiated in the prologue continues throughout Johns Gospel and we learn that Christ died for each one of us, and although some people may not yet have discovered this for themselves, we as Salvationists know that no one in the community is beyond the redemptive love of God, in fact no culture or community is beyond that love. Therefore, because of Christ, transformation is at their fingertips. Putting this all into practice and, with the help of God, going through a process of action/reflection/discussion/change/action/reflection... has shown Salvationists that: -

God is already at work in communities before we arrive, his grace is already there, even though we don't expect to meet him in such "dark" places, where the signs of sin, suffering and pain are so evident. He is working and because of his grace - people have a longing for him.

We walk alongside people as equals, not as superior beings because we know Christ - we may have had more opportunities, but we are not superior. Therefore the way forward and possible solutions for the community are worked on together - they don't drop-in from the outside, and everybody needs to be included in this process.

As Gods creation, people are essentially relational and although perhaps they are in need of the Lords redemptive power to heal broken relationships, they need one another and can work together (team work).

As Gods unique creation, people are like their creator. They have the ability to think, to have ideas, to innovate and to bring about change for themselves and for those around them.

The redemptive power of God to heal broken relationships can also heal and transform them, "...and refine the evil nature, till it glows with grace again" (SA Song Book 324).

The community as such has many gifts (that have been given to them by God - even if they do not yet recognize it) which may be as diverse as land, social networks, animals, savings, intelligence, schools, equipment, production, etc. Things that can improve their life and that of their neighbors.

These are just some aspects of the gospel message that I have picked out to reflect on. There are many more, but in having our focus on the transformation that God wants to bring about and putting this into practice by being there and walking alongside people, we can be certain that we are helping to build the Kingdom of God. How all this actually works out in each community, the time schedule and the outcomes are unknown at the start, but they become clearer as the process moves along, as we "preach" many times without words, as we depend on the work of the Holy Spirit to touch people's hearts and mend broken relationships, as people begin to understand that they are the object of God's love, and are treated with respect and their thoughts and ideas are taken into consideration. 3

As we do this we also need to keep two important aspects in mind: Firstly, our role needs to be that of a facilitator - being there with people, getting people talking, connecting people with similar situations, identifying leaders in the community, and stimulating all involved to move forward, being light, salt, etc. whilst always remembering that we are also learning in the process. Secondly, it is important to be inclusive and make sure a participatory approach is possible, where everybody feels that they have been involved. What does all this have to do with serving suffering humanity with few resources? Well people, families and communities (suffering humanity) can come up with solutions for their situation and need to be heard and acknowledged. We do not want to bring in solutions from outside. We want to help people to be able to pinpoint available local individual and community assets, connecting them with one another in ways that multiply their power and effectiveness and also engage local institutions. This does not necessarily mean that all their problems will be solved and that they will not need financial help. However, it does mean that: -

People will be involved and use their insights, creativity and abilities to be stewards of their own communities and its concerns, and establish their way forward;

People will begin to understand that they deserve to be listened to by the authorities and society in general. Therefore questioning, enquiring and obtaining responses from Governments as to why they have been treated differently (i.e. why they have no schools in the community, why their streets are not paved, why they do not have access to electricity etc.) leads to them advocating for more attention and the fulfillment of their rights as human beings, as citizens and especially as Gods creation. Advocating for change should make Governments and society more aware of peoples situation, and it is expected that this will also bring about structural changes in communities and, consequently, financial benefits;

The financial help that may still be required will have been identified by the community and therefore can be administered by them effectively;

In identifying local resources first, it is most likely that fewer resources will be necessary than if an outside-in solution had been found.

Conclusion Despite all that has been said about institutions and The Salvation Army as a provider, we must not be naive enough to think that these two things do not have a time and place in The Salvation Army. They most certainly do and we need them. However, if we are intentional about wanting to serve suffering humanity and bring about transformation, both of individuals and of their communities, we need to begin to reflect on at least two points. One is that, on a long term basis, there are not going to be enough resources available to do mission the way The Salvation Army has traditionally done it. Two is that we are aware as an institution that there are other ways of working which, even though they are far more challenging and we have less control on how things will develop, they are Bible based, and they enhance human dignity and respect for God's creation. It would seem that 4

these two points pose at least four main questions for The Salvation Army: a) As The Salvation Army moves more and more towards working with communities, what challenges does this bring to the training of officers and lay people and to our on-going training programs? b) As The Salvation Army system measures effectiveness by statistics and financial reports, how will it measure the impact of working with communities? c) As The Salvation Army works more and more with communities, can it work differently with its own internal community? What challenges does this bring to The Salvation Army as an organization? d) As working with communities functions on a long term basis, and is about creating relationships, trust, etc. what challenges does this bring to our appointment system? How will it relate to promoting and validating leaders that want quick results and want the job done? Tough questions require reflection and tough decisions for such tough times as these. May the Lord help us to keep our focus on his mission, which he has invited The Salvation Army to be a part of.

A response by Captain Agnès Wahli Switzerland, Austria and Hungary Territory First of all we might ask ourselves who are “suffering humanity”? As The Salvation Army we always have as our focus the poorest amongst the poor. It is our natural reaction to look first on those who we consider to have no resources of their own, but everybody has resources! Just think about it for a moment please. All have resources, such as intelligence, resilience, cultural background, capacity to stand-and various competencies. Everyone is rich with something, and we should observe and value what people have in their own hands, what they have in their mind and what they have in their soul, rather than on concentrating on their lack of money. We always think the poor have nothing, and that we must devise solutions and produce financial help. We should find strategies without money. We should be more like facilitators, mentors or coaches who bring people together and let the people be creative and bring their own solutions. Dr. Jean-Louis Lamboray has a long experience all over the world and also with the Salvation Army especially in collaboration with Dr Ian Campbell. In his book “ Qu’est-ce qui nous rend humains?” (What make us human being?) Dr Lamboray’s focus is on the strength of the person to help herself or himself to trust on her or his capacity and have dreams and vision for the future and to act with others. Who are the experts? The experts are the same people who have to face tremendous problems. “In Haiti: They are hungry…this is terrible!” they say. “Let’s give them a ready meal prepared in America”. But they don’t want to eat this mixed rice! Why??”Because we think on their behalf, we think in their place and don’t take them into the process. Body, culture and soul! Soup, soap and salvation. All inclusive, please! 5

I totally agree with Lt. Colonel Sara Chagas when she says: God is already at work before we arrive, we walk alongside people as equals and everybody needs to be included in the process, everybody has the ability to think, to have ideas, to innovate and to bring about change for themselves and for those around them and the community as such has many gifts that can improve their life and that of their neighbours. We should let go of the power of money, instead we should dream, learn, act together. No longer having the experts on one side and on the other those who we think do not know. We should analyze, appreciate, link, transform, transfer, stimulate, support and do so all together. Our mission and vision has to be community based, always including the local people in a perpetual process of engagement as we all move on together. When will we realize that we all have the resources we need to help each other? We will realize this when we change the way we look at the issue, our way to look at! Let’s change our focus. Let’s renounce the power of money! Let’s give up the expert’s clothes! Let’s give up our preconceived ideas, preconceived notions and certainties! My prayer is that we will be humble enough to learn from the experiences of our neighbor. May God help us to renew our mind, heart and soul so that we will be “ONE”! One message, one vision and one mission!

The Salvation Army 2014 USA Salvation Army Conference for Social Work and Emergency Disaster Services 25 to 28 March 2014 GLOBAL TRACK SESSION 4C

“How can we serve suffering humanity with few resources?” Captain Diana MacDonald Social Services Secretary Pakistan Territory Introduction – the context Pakistan was established in 1947 with very few resources to build on. People had to struggle with all the available possessions and potential. The country has been supported by overseas donations and aid since then. There has not been much development in comparison to the number of years it has been independent. As a nation, we are blessed with uncountable natural resources and the human potential to make use of them. But unfortunately due to political instability, corruption and less awareness about broad-spectrum growth, many people still live with stereotypes and outdated customs. The ability to grow economically has been declining as the country has become unstable and volatile. Missionaries have contributed to the country with all aspects. They provided Pakistan not only with financial aid but also their services building schools, hospitals, rehabilitation centres and many other social service centres’. They carried out their services in the slum areas as well as the cities. Many local NGOs established in Pakistan are affiliated with overseas donors. Several training centres have been established to carry out their role effectively. Boys and girls are trained with skills like welding, auto-mechanic, nursing (both male and female), and sewing. There are adult literacy centre’s to provide education for those with limited resources and opportunity. Many people leave their homes in rural areas and move to the cities to look for opportunities to learn, get jobs and enjoy a higher-quality standard of living. The Salvation Army’s response I will share a few of the ways we are currently trying to serve humanity with limited resources. We try to help needy people through our services. I will highlight work in health, education, income generation, faith-based facilitation, women’s advocacy and emergency services. 1. Preventive Family Health Care with a focus on Maternal and Child Health Health is an essential asset to our life. Awareness about this concern and about preventive measures is communicated through health programs. These are achieved through focus groups, activities focusing on reproductive health, pre/post natal health, drug addictions and health of children, immunization and polio campaigns, adolescent, youth and young parents programs. Other health concerns like diarrhoea, blood pressure and dengue are emphasized too. As a result of our programmes in the communities we serve we have seen: • child malnutrition has reduced by 70 percent • 80 percent increased awareness on hygiene and basic health care among the women • mother and child death rate has also gone down

•

50 percent reduction in water-borne diseases by spreading awareness about preventive measures. We have developed health information resource groups to work with awareness campaigns constantly. The community members have better access to health centres and hospitals. Health related issues are resolved more efficiently now due to such convenient facilities. 2. Improving Education Standards The literacy rate here in Pakistan is still very low. Currently it is 57 percent but with a significant difference between men (69 percent) and women (only 45 percent). The Government is struggling to even provide basic primary education for free. People living in the rural areas have almost no means to fulfil this basic need to educate their children. They earn on a daily wage basis and hardly cover a day’s worth of meal. Education is a challenge itself as limited financial resources prevent so many families from sending their children to school. The daily income of a labourer in Pakistan is Rs. 500 - about US$5. Families with seven or eight children find it difficult to cope with providing education and the expenses (uniforms, books, stationary) accompanied with it. There are a few places where the Government has provided school with reasonable tuition fees. Some people send only their boys to study and not their girls. Many girls belonging to the rural areas are still facing gender discrimination. The Salvation Army in Pakistan has directed our attention towards providing reasonable means of education to both boys and girls. Literacy and its importance are being promoted among the community. This has actually helped the community to allure the desire for basic/higher education among the young generation. Adult literacy enables them to budget and maintain their financial details both for their household and small business. 3. Income generation skills training Poverty has been a burning issue for many decades. Many have tried to resolve it but it still manages to continue. It may be due to the inability of resource management. In the rural villages, people still believe in the combined family system. Many families have seven or eight children, and very few to earn a living for the whole household. This sometimes leads to child labour where parents are forced to send their children to work instead of sending them to school like they should. People lack the awareness of family planning and have as many children as they can, considering them as God’s blessing. The Salvation Army has compiled health projects to introduce awareness about family planning and how to live happily with fewer children and sensible resource allocation. Our training and vocational courses have helped both men and women to develop skills and earn more to support their families and entrepreneurial initiatives. Salma’s story I share a case study from a Salvation Army project in Pakistan to highlight the impact we are making by our literacy project. Salma graduated from one of our skills class. She supported her husband with his business through financial help. They own their rickshaw and he uses it as means of income for his family. Previously he could not provide for money to fix and repair the rickshaw, which was a crucial time for the family as they had nothing to earn from. 8

Salma applied for some financial help from Sustainable Livelihood Development Programme to help fix their rickshaw. They made a detailed feasibility study, calculating the total expenses and benefits that it accompanies after it’s fixed. She was excited to receive that help and they mended the rickshaw. They earned Rs. 4,000 before and now they are earning Rs. 6,000 – Rs. 7,000 per month from it. Now they keep up their maintenance up to date. Her husband brings home Rs. 200 (sometimes more than this) every day. From this amount they save and meet their needs. The family is happy and grateful to The Salvation Army Project Team. We have given them advice on how to access to revolve loan/ payback for microenterprise development and livestock acquisition. Livestock initiatives/Projects Another good example of our work is seen in some inaccessible communities outside the major cities where we have helped a number of communities to work together. The people were helped to address the wellbeing promotion, livelihoods and awareness for peace in their communities. In addressing livelihood issues we helped with skills development for income generation and livestock programmes. This was funded by Salvation Army donors from other territories through the through the Community Projects Management and Support System (CPMS). CPMS funding compliments the work we are doing and is easily fitted into the ongoing community process. These programmes – with the support of local leadership and committees – address different community projects like water, livestock and livelihood support initiatives. Our BASSIC Programme is moving forward by having good networking activities and initiatives from communities which shows change and development among communities. Committees were keenly involved in carrying out their activities and livestock projects in their areas. Extensive work was done on capacity building of people both financially and socially which empowers them to address their issues and concerns on their own collectively. The Salvation Army Programme team kept on ensuring the participation of communities in decision making at community level in all livestock programmes. People came up with the idea of having cows, buffalos and goats as livestock for milk production to earn income for their families. It has been reported by the beneficiaries and our team that these programmes help people to enhance their income and support their daily needs and also nutrition for the family members. People are earning better income, sending their children to schools, having better diets and also fulfilling their other necessary needs in a better way. It has resulted in better health and people are thinking positively to move forward for their communities’ social and monetary development. 4. A faith-based way of working Faith Based Facilitation tools have really helped us to move forward towards development programmes. The Project Department does not only carry out its own work but also integrates with other departments. For example, the Projects’ department coordinates with Women’s Ministries, to compile projects for Young Women. Together with the Youth Department they are working on the rising issues of today’s youth. Young people are provided with social centres to come in with their concerns and queries about those issues. The Project department also works with the Training College conducting seminars/workshops for cadets, to prepare them for the community and the upcoming challenges that they will have to 9

face. Since 2010 the community development program has been part of the Training College curriculum. It has indeed facilitated the cadets with the way they believe. This significant difference in cadets has helped them to be more responsible for the holistic ministry – body, mind and spirit – of all those they interact with. Communities are addressed with bible stories, sharing different perspectives and dimensions. Many people benefit from these stories for their character building, thanksgiving towards God, and with managing their need and wants surrounded with limited resource allocation. People are taught with a useful fact to admit that, relief is temporary but development is permanent. 5. Women’s Advocacy Our women advocacy project (WAP) was introduce in the course of network expansion with the communities. Several workshops were conducted in the divisions to promote the issue on a wider scale. These workshops were aimed to stimulate women’s perspective about themselves and the other fellow colleagues. Issues referred to successful women are still not widely unwrapped and talked about as the culture is still surrounded with men oriented behaviour. This is more extreme in rural areas as some families avoid sending their girls to schools. To change a primeval tradition of thinking to this new perspective about giving women more respect and sense of honour to their existence, is still very challenging. This programme has the following objectives: • To help women become aware of their rights. • Help them to advocate for themselves with knowledge of their rights • Project approaches the community capacity rather than the political aspect of it • Women will find a ray of hope in the darkness, as the project aims to reduce gender discrimination in the social sphere of Pakistan • Help women to become aware of issues in this facet • Build relationships • Bridge alliances with other NGOs These issues are discussed throughout our workshops. Attendees are given the opportunity to reflect on themselves as well as the wider population affected with this discrimination. Positive feedback is being achieved, as women were grateful to receive a safer platform for themselves. This is a great opportunity for women to express their unsaid concerns and a safe opportunity to give their opinions too. They learn from each other’s experiences and have built individual groups to carry on the fellowship. 6. Emergency Services In the course of an emergency, The Salvation Army Emergency Services in Pakistan has always been eager to provide necessary welfare. It has been an active function at the time of desperate need during natural disasters and internal instability in the country. The aim is to meet the needs of that time and carry out need assessment for it all to be effective, considering limited resource allocation. From 2005 – 2010 Pakistan faced severe natural disasters (earthquakes, floods) and political instability where people were completely shattered with no hope to survive on. Emergency Services 10

Team provided that ray of hope for the affected. Those people were facilitated with immediate needs (food, utensils, beds, tents) as well as sustainable development requirements like building a school. The aims, goals and objectives of the Emergency department can be summarised as readiness, response and rehabilitation. This concept has been carried forward to train officers with emergency training who then, can meet the needs of people effectively keeping in mind efficient resource management. The aim is to clarify the concept and function of this department and the capacity it carries to meet its goals in the times of extreme chaos and affliction, when only limited resources are available. Conclusion This paper has given a brief insight to The Salvation Army’s work in Pakistan. It has shown how we make a contribution towards helping people with limited resources and when faced with endless opportunities to serve.

A response by Cindy Sutter-Tkel USA Western Territory Captain McDonald presents a prime example of how The Salvation Army accomplishes a lot, with what I will presume is perceived to be “a little”. The Salvation Army repeats this worldwide, often going far beyond what might seem possible given the people (staff and volunteers) and resources (budget and physical resources) that they have. So generous and desirous of helping are those involved in the ministries of The Salvation Army that they extend themselves; taking on multiple roles and even using personal resources in their work/ministry. I agree that it can feel like we are under resourced serving in old buildings, with no or few paid staff, few volunteers, outdated or no technology, and leadership and staff who might not have adequate knowledge and skills to lead the ministry. In order to build on what we have, we first need to fully assess all of our resources/assets, especially in people and relationships. Every individual, department, association, and institution needs to be assessed and accessed so that their resources might be strategically connected to the meeting of the identified need … be it violence against women or the lack of education for girls. In order to transform what we do - we need to fully know and utilize the resources within the organization at the local, regional, territorial, national, and international level. We also need to fully use the “gifts” of officers, employees, volunteers, soldiers/adherents, advisory members, community friends, and FBO/NGO partners. This will require some new ways of thinking and working. I believe that we as an organization have abundant resources that often are underutilized. We have what it takes to accomplish our mission of “fighting sin and poverty”. The internal resources of The Army and all its friends are tremendous. We need to discover them anew and perhaps reallocate them for maximum mission impact. I would challenge us to evaluate each resource and our stewardship of it; for example our “good name”. We don’t often think of it as a resource … but are we fully using the moral authority we are granted to trigger “a conscience attack” with national governments to promote justice? (Dr. Bob Doctor)