The following article contributed by Jubilee USA gives a clear description of why International Debt is so unjust and also such an obstacle to overcoming extreme poverty. We have urged you to write in support of debt forgiveness in the past. The following example by a Kenyan college professor shows why we must keep up the pressure for debt forgiveness.

By Dominic Odipo Op-Ed in The Standard
There are many strange and ridiculous stories that have sprouted out of Kenya’s unholy experience with its public or national debt. One of the most ridiculous of these goes all the way back to 1953 at the height of the Mau Mau rebellion for Kenya’s independence.
During that year, the colonial government borrowed, on behalf of the Kenyan people, more than Sh500 million [Blog the Debt Note: 1 Dollar = 61 Kenyan Shillings, so a little more than $8 million] to be repaid by us, with interest, in future. The money was borrowed to enable the colonial government to buy specialised military aircraft from Europe with which it would bomb the Aberdare Forest and kill or maim Mau Mau freedom fighters who were believed to be hiding there.
At Independence in December 1963, the Kenyatta-led government inherited all the loans that had been contracted by the colonial government, including this one. And so, over the years, we have been paying off — through our noses — a loan that was contracted to acquire the military capability to kill our own people!
Strange debt
There are many other strange stories about Kenya’s national debt which have unfolded over the years. If you could scrutinise the Public Debt Register at the Treasury, you would probably find that, in the mid-1980s, the government borrowed more than Sh100 million for the construction of a giant meat processing plant called Halal, which was to be built near Ngong’ Town.
The site of this giant plant is about two kilometres from the Shade Hotel on the Karen-Ngong’ road. Visit this site today and you will find that this giant meat processing plant does not exist. Yet we, the Kenyan people, are still paying through our noses every month for this meat processing plant that was never built.
The full story of Kenya and its rather dubious national debt can drive even the coolest and most collected among us up the wall. Every month, as our children die in their thousands all over the country for lack of basic medical drugs, the government is forking out Sh12 billion [Blog the Debt Note: $193.7 million] to service our so-called national debt.
For every shilling that we invest in the education sector (development expenditure), five shillings are set aside to pay off our national debt. For every shilling that we invest or spend in the health sector, seven shillings are spent to service debt. If we turn these figures around, perhaps the message gets clearer.
If we were to stop paying off Sh12 billion each month to service this debt, we would have five times as much money as we now have to invest in the education of our children.
All education in this country, from primary school to university, would be absolutely free and we would still have billions left over.
If we were to stop servicing this debt, we would have seven times as much money to spend in the health sector overnight. This means that we would be able to build a modern hospital in every constituency, fully equipped and staffed, in only three years. In other words, every shilling we pay to service this dubious national debt translates directly into the death or disability of our people. The people are being slowly hanged on the cross of this ‘national debt’.
Usury
But this debt nightmare gets even more frustrating and infuriating as one delves further into it. According to reasonably reliable estimates from the Treasury, since independence in 1963, the government has borrowed almost Sh1 trillion (Sh1,000 billion).
Over the same period, we have managed to pay off approximately Sh3.5 trillion or about three and a half times what we are supposed to have borrowed. Yet the end is still nowhere in sight.
According to the same estimates, our outstanding national debt today is just over Sh750 billion, a figure that is rising by the month due to cumulative interest charges. And then, believe it or not, we are still borrowing for, among other things, the construction of ghost factories and laboratories. We have realised that we are already deep inside this dubious debt hole, but we are still digging.
There are very few political problems facing this country that are more serious that this debt crisis. This problem seeps into every facet of our national life. Continued servicing of this dubious debt is a matter of life and death. We need to thoroughly interrogate this debt and quickly decide whether we are going to remain enslaved by this dubious debt or whether we are going to find an alternative way forward.

Washington, DC, May 14, 2008–Bread for the World president Rev. David Beckmann issued the following statement today concerning the 2008 Farm Bill that is expected to pass both houses of Congress this week and is also expected to be vetoed by President Bush:
“The 2008 Farm Bill represents half a loaf. Congress has increased funding for vital domestic nutrition programs but has failed to substantially reform the U.S. agricultural system.
“We rejoice that additional funding has been given to nutrition programs especially in light of the growing global hunger crisis that is hindering the efforts of struggling parents to feed their children. We celebrate the increases to the Food Stamp Program and funding for food banks. We are happy that the bill authorizes the Hunger Free Communities grant program, which will enable community-based organizations to work together to plan and implement local strategies to end hunger. We are also encouraged that it contains a pilot program that allows for the local purchase of food aid from sources closer to the countries in need.
“But we are missing the other half of the loaf–substantial reform of the commodity programs. Congress has failed to make our commodity programs fairer and more equitable. The bill does little to target subsidies to where they are most needed, but continues to concentrate payments to the largest and wealthiest landowners.
“This missing half has long-term and pernicious effects on global agriculture and trade. Current policies have helped stymie agricultural development in poor countries, leaving millions of people mired in poverty and helping to create the current hunger crisis worldwide. Rather than respond to the new reality of global agriculture, the 2008 Farm Bill locks the United States into another five-year protectionist system that hampers the desperate efforts of small farmers to feed their families.
“We celebrate the important and urgent increases in nutrition funding. But we deeply lament the lack of serious reform of agricultural subsidies in this bill. Many will praise the 2008 Farm Bill as ‘the best we can do.’ We think the United States can and should do better. Therefore, with a heavy heart, we have chosen a middle of the road stance as the bill moves toward final passage.
“Our stand on the 2008 Farm Bill comes from a Biblical imperative that calls for a ‘harvest of righteousness’ (James 3:18). We will keep on working to reform the farm bill until it truly serves the needs of poor farm and rural families and all people around the world who struggle to feed themselves and their children.”

As we previously reported, Jim Beezhold, a 72-year- old retired teacher, is preparing to bicycle 3,750 miles across North America next summer hoping to raise more than $1.5 million to help the world’s poor! Jim is one of 211 riders, ranging in age from 18 to 76, currently registered to participate in what is likely to be the largest group of cyclists to ever cross North America! The Sea to Sea 2008 Bike Tour begins June 28 in Seattle, Wash., and ends nine weeks later in Jersey City, NJ on August 30. For his part, Jim hopes to raise at least $10,000.
Jim has reported that he has acheived his goal of raising $10,000! That won’t stop Jim from raising more and going beyond his goal though! A fundraiser is being planned by his home church on May 31st. See our events calendar for details and watch this site for more news as Jim begins his coast to coast cycle ride raising awareness about the Millennium Development Goals and raising money for the world’s poorest.

Voices of local Congregations Ignored by Three Republican Congressmen who voted “No” Despite Bipartisan Support in Congress By Jean O’Leary

Leaders of churches, development agencies, and civil rights, labor, and human rights groups praised the passage by the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote 285-132 of the Jubilee Act (2634). The legislation calls the U.S. Treasury Department to negotiate a multilateral agreement for debt cancellation for up to 24 additional poor countries that need cancellation to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Jubilee USA Network, which includes 20 Jubilee Congregations from a variety of churches and faith communities in San Diego County, is an alliance of 80 national organizations that has been leading the advocacy for the legislation. “We commend the US Congress for its bold step in passing the Jubilee Act and listening to the people of the impoverished nations who have borne the burden of unjust debt for far too long,” said Rev. Bill Harman, a retired Encinitas pastor and member of the Board of Jubilee USA Network. “We hope that House passage will inspire the US Senate to move quickly to also pass the Jubilee Act and send it to the President for immediate action.”

Representatives Bilbray, Issa, and Hunter all received several delegations and messages of support for the Jubilee Act over the past months from local people of faith. Despite verbal and some written expressions of probable support for the act, after receiving thousands of written appeals from their constituents, they all failed to join Representatives Filner and Davis in voting “yes.”

WHY? We await replies from each of them soon. We hope their replies will reflect a reasoned response based on their faith perspectives and moral values and not on purely political considerations.

Can Representatives Issa and Hunter explain to us from their faith and moral values perspective their failure to join their fellow 69 republicans who publicly project “compassionate conservativism” and the importance of faith in the shaping of public policy as well as democrats like Representatives Davis and Filner to vote for this piece of legislation?
We await their replies.

Inspired by a meeting with Wahu Kaara.
Last month we wrote about going beyond charity and acting to see that justice is done. This requires understanding of the root causes of poverty and injustice, and then acting to address those root causes. I recently had the privilege of hearing Wahu Kaara speak. Wahu Kaara is an extremely dynamic, knowledgeable Kenyan woman. Since retiring as a teacher she has been a Kenyan presidential candidate, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, a spokesperson for Jubilee and ecumenical coordinator for the Millennium Development Goals among many other things. She speaks all around the world on global social justice issues, but more than that she “walks the talk”. This lady who is called on for her knowledge and expertise around the world chooses to live modestly with her family in her home village in a home without electricity and without running water.

I was fortunate enough to have a few minutes to speak with her and asked her what she felt Americans could best do in response to extreme poverty. Her answer was not surprising to me as it reflected the answers of most people from the global south I have met. She told me; “We do not want your charity or your sympathy. We want you to speak out for us, and with us, to learn about us and from us.” She pointed out that those in poverty in the global south have much to give us, in terms of spiritual depth and trust in God. We have much to give them because of the material and political power and stability we enjoy. In other words she would like us to enter into relationship with her and her people; a partnership of mutual respect not of donor and dependent. She emphasized that climate change was a significant root cause of poverty and had to be addressed.

Ways that we can speak out are varied but include writing and visiting our representatives in support of development aid, and in support of fulfilling our obligations to the Millennium Development Goals that address the root causes of poverty, this would include fairer trade policies (such as farm subsidies included in the farm bill,) supporting the Education for all Act and relief of crippling international debt.

We can tell our friends and acquaintances at church about the desires and goals of this humble yet very wise Kenyan lady. We are to speak out about poverty, inequality and climate change. This was perhaps the most surprising impression from her talk: climate change and poverty are inextricably linked and must be addressed as a root cause of poverty.

may we suggest you get to know someone from the global south or someone who is or has lived in poverty. Perhaps you might even be able to visit the global south and build a relationship with a community there. Not as someone going to hand out resources, and solve other people’s problems before you even get to know them, but as a friend willing to learn about them, their dreams and goals and the resources they have to work with. Then work together to reach the goals you set together.
So, wake up to poverty, speak up about poverty and join hands with those living in poverty as equal partners in the battle to overcome poverty.

Charity alone is not enough.

For a group such as ours, claiming to have compassion for the poor it may seem like a strange thing to knock charitable efforts. That’s most definitely not what this article intends to do. But it is the focus of this group to urge our members and others to go beyond charity or mercy and do justice. To do justice we must examine the systemic causes of poverty and examine how our own lives are linked to the systemic causes of poverty. We must then use whatever tools we have been blessed with to change the systemic causes of poverty, (such as poor health education and provision, poor hygiene, lack of education, lack of accessible clean water, gender inequality, unfair trade practices, lack of entrepreneurial opportunity, and unsustainable farming practices.)

Working for justice is far less rewarding than charity. There are no quick fixes,and the most common reason for quitting is discouragement. But we do not have a choice. God has clearly stated that He requires us to not only have mercy, but to do justice (Micah 6:8) Without working for justice the systemic causes of poverty will continue to exist, and the need for charity endless.

So, can charity be a bad thing? Only when it gets in the way of doing justice. When we become so focused on our charitable efforts that we have no time or energy left for advocating for change to the system that creates poverty. When charity becomes the only element in the equation then it is a problem. When a charitable act makes you feel like you’ve ‘done your part” and have no need to do anything further, then charity is a bad thing.

So we urge you to examine the way you use your time and energy. Is your equation balanced? Or is your commitment to charity an obstacle to your doing justice?

One way, and a very simple way, in which some people do justice, is to use their blessings (literacy, democracy,etc) to write letters of concern and encouragement to our elected representatives. We can express concern about issues that cause systemic poverty and encourage action on our behalf in support of poverty focused aid. This year, the advocacy group, Bread for the World is urging letters to representatives and senators in support of the Global Poverty Act. It takes about 5 minutes to write a letter and costs only 41c. for the stamp. This is not much more time than it takes to write a check for your favorite charity and certainly cheaper. Why not try doing justice in this way? Go to the Bread site for more information and sample letters.
If you think you are too busy or letter writing is not effective, watch this!

The United Nations warned yesterday that it no longer has enough money to keep global malnutrition at bay this year in the face of a dramatic upward surge in world commodity prices, which have created a “new face of hunger”.

“We will have a problem in coming months,” said Josette Sheeran, the head of the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP). “We will have a significant gap if commodity prices remain this high, and we will need an extra half billion dollars just to meet existing assessed needs.”

With voluntary contributions from the world’s wealthy nations, the WFP feeds 73 million people in 78 countries, less than a 10th of the total number of the world’s undernourished. Its agreed budget for 2008 was $2.9bn (£1.5bn). But with annual food price increases around the world of up to 40% and dramatic hikes in fuel costs, that budget is no longer enough even to maintain current food deliveries.

The shortfall is all the more worrying as it comes at a time when populations, many in urban areas, who had thought themselves secure in their food supply are now unable to afford basic foodstuffs. Afghanistan has recently added an extra 2.5 million people to the number it says are at risk of malnutrition

“This is the new face of hunger,” Sheeran said. “There is food on shelves but people are priced out of the market. There is vulnerability in urban areas we have not seen before. There are food riots in countries where we have not seen them before.”

Read the full report here

This is a 60 second video from Bread for the World and it’s really worthwhile and funny into the bargain. View it here

In an article in Christianity Today, it was noted that Ban Ki-Moon was urging Christians to put their power behing the Milennium Development Goals. That’s something we really want to encourage;

Ban Ki-Moon, the secretary general of the United Nations and one of the world’s most influential leaders, did the unimaginable a few weeks ago: He met with a diverse group of evangelicals near Washington, D.C., and asked for help from the church.

Speaking on behalf of 192 nations that committed themselves to cutting global poverty in half by 2015, Ban told evangelicals, “We cannot do it alone. We need good allies such as you. We need … the faith community to help be a voice to the voiceless people. Your engagement can push governments to push through on their commitments. Do not underestimate your power. With faith and the will, we can make a difference.”

Read the full article

“Widespread use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets and state-of-the-art drugs has succeeded in cutting malaria deaths in half in two countries most heavily affected by the disease, the World Health Organization is reporting today.” Nets and New Drug Make Inroads Against Malaria “The report was one of the most hopeful signs in the long battle against a disease that is estimated to kill a million children a year in poor tropical countries.”