WASHINGTON WATCH MICHELE LEARNER & KIMBERLY BURGE
Bread for the World: Taking Action for Hungry and Poor People Taking the five loaves and the two fish, Jesus looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. And all ate and were filled. Mark 6:41-42 Offered with faith, five loaves and two fish once fed thousands. When we turn our faith into action, God uses our voices. Our actions are multiplied. Bread for the World, a collective Christian voice, takes this kind of action by urging our nation’s decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad.We work to change the policies, programs, and conditions that allow hunger and poverty to persist. God’s grace in Jesus Christ moves us to help our neighbors, whether they live in the next house, the next state, or the next continent. We seek to provide help and opportunity far beyond the communities in which we live. The United States has promised to work with other countries—rich and poor —to help meet the needs of the world’s most vulnerable people. In 2000, our country and 189 others agreed to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of eight achievable targets for human development. Goal #1 is to cut hunger and extreme poverty in half by 2015. We are more than halfway to the deadline. The world has made a good start, but much remains to be done. We need to finish the job. In 2008, Bread for the World is renewing the push for more and better devel-
opment assistance.We’re asking Congress to meet the commitments we’ve made to hungry and poor people and to pass the Global Poverty Act, which will better coordinate U.S. assistance to reach our goals. U.S. development assistance is critically important in helping poor countries meet the Millennium Development Goals. Since 1999 our country has tripled federal funding for effective development assistance to the world’s poorest countries. More children are being immunized. New wells give people access to clean water for the first time. Hundreds of thousands of AIDS-infected Africans now receive lifesaving medication.Where poverty has been persistent, hope is replacing despair. Why did this happen? People raised their voices. Concerned people of faith wrote letters to their representatives in Congress; others called and e-mailed. They told their elected officials that helping our neighbors—even those in other countries—is the right thing to do. All people deserve the opportunity to live productive lives and provide for their children. We’ve won some incredible victories. But our work is not over. Even with that tripling of funding, the United States currently gives less than 1 percent of our federal budget to programs that fight poverty worldwide. The world still has nearly a billion people living on less than one U.S. dollar per day. This kind of poverty forces families to spend most of their income on food, with little left over for shelter, clothing, medical care, and education. And very often they still face hunger and malnutrition. When a family has so few financial resources, parents and children must do without many of the things we would consider basic necessities. U.S. development assistance can fill some of the gaps in ways that promote long-term improvements in health, education, and economic
potential in poor countries. Here’s an example from Zambia, a small country in southern Africa. Malaria is the number-one killer of Zambian children under the age of 5. In Kampekete, a rural area about 30 miles outside the capital, 200 women and their children gather under the only tree large enough to provide a bit of shade from the glaring noonday sun. As a woman and her baby lie on a table serving as a bed, community health volunteers demonstrate how to use a bed net to keep mosquitoes away as they sleep. People are also advised to wear long sleeves and skirts for coverage, especially in the evenings. Then packages of bed nets—purchased with U.S. development assistance funding—are distributed to the mothers. Since this type of distribution has begun, local health clinic reports show that the incidence of malaria is decreasing. We in the United States can make these changes happen, because with the stroke of a pen, U.S. policies are made that redirect millions of dollars and affect millions of lives.When our voices are heard in Congress, we’re helping to pass laws that are more compassionate to people in need. Please add your voice, and the voices of people in your church, campus, or community, to call for more development assistance focused on reducing poverty.Write a letter or organize an Offering of Letters —then watch the actions multiply and bring about improvements in people’s lives. For more information about Bread for the World’s work and how you can get involved, please visit bread.org or call 1-800-82-BREAD.We can offer resources and connect you with other people in your area who are also seeking to put their faith into action. ★ Michele Learner and Kimberly Burge work in Bread for the World’s communications department.
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