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PDF versionA travel diary – part one
by Joan Chittister on Dec. 09, 2009
It's been quite a two weeks: first there was the Asia Pacific Women, Faith and Development Summit to End Global Poverty in Melbourne, Austraila, Dec. 2-3; then the Parliament of the World's Religions, also in Melbourne through Dec. 9, and now the trip from Melbourne to Copenhagen, Denmark for the U.N. conference on climate change.
The whole collection of events is a life-changing one. It’s like standing on the top of a global mountain and watching the caravan of a whole new world just topping the horizon at the end of a far-away road. I’ll tell you a little about all of them -- what they’re about and what I think they mean to us -- however faraway they may seem on a busy day in small town USA.
Entry One
The Asia Pacific Women, Faith and Development Summit to End Global Poverty is called “Breakthrough.” And it well may be. Thanks to the impetus gained from a summit of women’s groups at Washington National Cathedral last year, women in Australia set out on their own to focus on women’s issues in Australia and the island nations in the region. But they went about it in a very new way.
While an entire generation of women and men in the United States seem to think that the woman’s movement, that feminism, is over, another whole world full of women of all ages know that it is barely started. Otherwise, how to account for the fact that two-thirds of the hungry of the world are women, that two-thirds of the illiterate of the world are women, that two-thirds of the poor of the world are women.
Obviously, given the number of development programs and foreign aid programs around the world, money is being given to someone for something. But obviously not to the needs and development of women. “Breakthrough,” the Asian-Pacific conference of women is setting out to change that.
The purpose of the Breakthrough conference was to bring together three groups of groups: women’s groups in the region; development programs with projects in the area and faith-based communities whose works are outreach programs of various denominations in the area. The point is that if these three groups concentrate on -- make a priority of -- projects that promote the quality of life of women, then eventually, life for women around the world will finally change.
The alliance among the three that formed as a result of the conference commits itself to make gender equality the priority of all programs, grants and focus of their work. It is no small move. If it works, if groups really create and monitor commitments that attend to the needs of women, then the life of the entire community will change. What are some of those needs that enhance the life of both men and women, families as well as corporations? We’ll find out tomorrow. I’ll be back.
NCR: February 3-16, 2012
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New study by Notre Dame researcher about parish involvement in America
Entry Two
Breakthrough, the woman’s conference in Melbourne, Australia, was a conference of women many of whom are seldom seen, let alone heard from. They were women from Fiji and the Solomon Islands and Myanmar and the Philippines and Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. They were aboriginal women from Australia itself and, finally, of Australian women whose own needs are far from met yet, but who are committed to giving focus to the island women of the region.
The concerns of the women of this area are far different than ours. Only 32 percent of the births in the area, for instance, are attended by skilled technicians. So many women, and even more babies, die from the kind of sexism that puts military aid, for instance, above the health needs of pregnant women and families there.
These women worry about the high rate of HIV/AIDs being passed on to fetuses.
The “Young Women’s Leadership Action Plan for Asia and the Pacific, 2009–2012,” subtitled “Our Rights, Our Bodies: Young Women Leading Change in Asia-Pacific,’ is clear proof that the struggle against sexism is only beginning. Let no one doubt it.
Tomorrow, I’ll tell you what the next generation of women there want.
Entry Three
The Girl Effect – an initiative of the Nike Foundation – has the goal of ending global poverty.
It is premised on the idea that adolescent girls are uniquely capable of raising the standard of living in the developing world. Girls are the most likely agents of change, but they are often invisible to their societies and to our media.
To quickly learn about the program, visit the web page Girleffect.org. Click on the link in the lower right corner that says: "Play the Girl Effect Video." It's less than three minutes long, but is very intriguing.
Information on the Girl Effect Web site says the program has received "critical financial and intellectual contributions" from Nike Inc. and The NoVo Foundation in collaboration with the United Nations Foundation and the Coaltion of Adolescent Girls.
Joan is an inspiration. After
Joan is an inspiration. After seeing and hearing her at The Parliament of the World's Religions I can't wait to read all of her books and keep the inspiration flowing. Some Australian non-Catholic Christian women were astounded (and embarrassed) that we had not heard of Joan, but we quickly recognised her feisty nature and messages to the world. Thankls for the leadership and compassion. I'm on board and so are many others.
Kudos, Joan, for pursuing and
Kudos, Joan, for pursuing and sharing this sensible approach to eradicating global poverty!
After reading "Half the Sky," your thoughts, the actions of the conference participants, and the cool video give me hope.
As an advocate to end poverty and homelessness in America, especially for families, I wonder if any similar US movements have started? Would love to be contacted by anyone with info.
Every day in the paper from
Every day in the paper from Ciudad Juarez "the most violent city in the world" we read of another set of women violently killed, of teenage mothers living in absolute poverty and abandonment, without education and a chance to get a life, but in plastic sheet shacks in this freezing cold, abandoned with their babies, of elderly women in equally uninhabitable conditions, without food, not eating one day in order to have something left for the next, of women organizing to confront oppression simply to survive and for their children to survive. It has all of the marks of the extreme poverty I witnessed and lived in back in Nicaragua 25 years ago, without the benefit of the warm sun, but now a very bitter and biting and unrelenting cold wind.
I pray for the strength tomorrow to catch the bus to Juarez for a weekend celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe, starting at nine o'clock Friday night at the beautiful Cathedral, in which the priest will break free of the written liturgy and pray everyone join hands and repeat to each other face to face words of God's love for us, words of solidarity, words which create peace, friendship and mutual support. It is a liturgy which brings tears of joy, of sorrow, of relief, of touching the transcendent love of God, of loving my neighbor.
And during the "through him, with him and in him" part the priest invites us to recite it along with him, rather than telling us to shut up and just say amen . . .
cf.:
http://www.ewtn.com/Library/Liturgy/zlitur20.htm
I am, I am back in Nicaragua, DEO GRATIAS, except it is here bitter cold . . .
I shall bring the pence I can find (won't be easy), and find the poorest I can, the most abandoned (that'll be easy), the most bitterly cold, and share the little I have, from my shameful abundance, and pray for peace, and for each one of you, in deep gratitude for this flowing wellspring of clean living waters which is the NCR.
God bless you for your
God bless you for your humanitarianism, Frère Charles. It’s especially heartwarming to those of us reading of your travels south of the border that you aren’t staying in deluxe hotels and eating in five-star restaurants ... like someone we know ... while you’re busy about God’s work!
"Half the Sky" by Nick
"Half the Sky" by Nick Kristof and his wife Sheryl (can't remember her last name at the moment) does a great job of describing the evidence for focusing on strengthening women and girls as the best way to improve life for women, men and children, as well as describing evidence from research about what does and doesn't work.
I wish you could meet my
I wish you could meet my daughter's best friend, Sarah. She's like a daughter to us, as well. Sarah started designing jewelry and works with MEDA to have her jewelry made in China at a factory that employs mostly handicapped people. People who otherwise would be left to beg on the streets. Sarah uses a percentage of her profits to fund micro-loans to women in Third World Countries, and each piece of her jewelry is named for the woman who has received a loan. She and my daughter started with an idea and now Sarah's jewelry is sold in 34 states, I think. One faith-filled woman--and what she has done. I would urge women to look for Sarah's Hope Jewelry, and buy a piece, and help Sarah help another woman. Besides, it's beautiful, tasteful and uniquely Sarah. Bobbie
I recommend the following
I recommend the following site for Nike's policies and practices:
http://www.educatingforjustice.org
How far the 32 billion
How far the 32 billion dollars spent in the U.S. for the sex abuse scandal would have helped women and girls in the effort for education, help with young mothers with babies, and elderly women with little hope for a comfortable old age. What a failure to deal with the gospel message!
How far the 32 billion
How far the 32 billion dollars spent in the U.S. for the sex abuse scandal would have helped women and girls in the effort for education, help with young mothers with babies, and elderly women with little hope for a comfortable old age. What a failure to deal with the gospel message!
How far the 32 billion
How far the 32 billion dollars spent in the U.S. for the sex abuse scandal would have helped women and girls in the effort for education, help with young mothers with babies, and elderly women with little hope for a comfortable old age. What a failure to deal with the gospel message!
It's a beautiful thought.
It's a beautiful thought. Can we really change the world? It's a beacon of hope you offer, Sr. Joan (and all you who have written these eloquent comments!). I get so discouraged at times, but lectio divina with the words of Sr. Joan are a healing balm, a call to action, an in-spiration.
I have thought for some time that the Beast (ie the elaborate, heirarchical, bureaucratic institutional church) would soon collapse of its own ineptitude. That's definitely a more negative way to think about changing the world, though, than Joan's.
Bless you, Joan!
Kathy
Birth control should be the
Birth control should be the first step in freeing girls from poverty. Without the ability to control unwanted unexpected pregnancies education will be wasted. More than a cow is needed to allow women to bring about a more humane godcentered world.
Birth control should be the
Birth control should be the first step in freeing girls from poverty. Without the ability to control unwanted unexpected pregnancies education will be wasted. More than a cow is needed to allow women to bring about a more humane godcentered world.
KIVA Micro Lending is a
KIVA Micro Lending is a wonderful opportunity to empower women from our living rooms. KIVA loans change lives. Check out KIVA.org and give KIVA gift cards for Christmas gifts instead of more stuff that none of us really need. I sound like a commercial, but I believe in empowering women will change our world. Peace Paula
I love Kiva, great program!
I love Kiva, great program!
Happy women's day to all dear
Happy women's day to all dear ladies. Have a great day!
Lara from buenos aires youth hostels
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