Going Global with Youth: Global Poverty

Volume 6, Issue 7

March 2006

"As long as there is poverty in the world, I can never be rich, even if I have a billion dollars. As long as diseases are rampant and millions of people in this world cannot expect to live more than twenty-eight or thirty years, I can never be totally healthy, even if I just got a good check-up at Mayo clinic. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the way our world is made. No individual or nation can stand out boasting of being independent. We are interdependent. "

Martin Luther King, Jr.
The work of promoting development for impoverished people and to overcome poverty and its devastating effects must stem from an awareness of the social fabric of relationships that defines our very nature and through which we come to realize the dignity of human beings. If we are to remain committed to the task of helping the poor, we must begin to see the life and world that we share with the poor, with the Nigerien nomad seeking access to food in barren desert, with the woman in India who sells one child in a desperate attempt to feed her other children, with the Sudanese child whose parents have been killed in the war, with the Latino farmer struggling to recover from destructive fall rains and mudslides. The work of ending poverty begins when we recognize our call to live in solidarity with these, to discover “neighbor” equal in the value of life in these and all others throughout the world.

In the Catholic Campaign Against Global Poverty, The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Catholic Relief Services call upon Catholics to deepen such awareness and to translate that awareness into action that aims to address the causes of poverty and advocates for US policies that promote economic and social development throughout the world. There are three areas of US economic policy focused in the campaign: Trade, Aid and Debt.

Numerous resources for prayer/worship, education, action steps, and stories that put a face to global poverty are available on the USCCB website by clicking here. Additionally, this issue provides a number of resources and ideas that aid young people in broadening their understanding of and involvement in efforts that address global poverty.

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Announcements

New Food Fast DVD Now Available! Journey Against Hunger: Securing Food in Niger Today and Tomorrow, the first Food Fast DVD is finally out! The 13-minute video profiles Nigerien communities who are involved in long term action to ensure food security in their community through education, food for work and women empowerment programs. The DVD also includes a printable discussion guide, photo essays and prayer meditation. Order the first Food Fast DVD by clicking here.

Find your Catholic Relief Services Diocesan Director Do you want to know about Catholic Relief Services programs in the US and overseas? Would you like to know when a CRS event comes into your area? Would you be interested in hosting a CRS event? Would you be interested in making arrangements for a local Catholic Relief Services speaker for a presentation or workshop? Every diocese has a CRS diocesan director appointed by the Bishop. Contact your diocesan director for Catholic Relief Services for any of these requests or needs by clicking here.

Walk the World - May 21 Join the United Nations World Food Program and tens of thousands of individuals around the world to help end child hunger. The goal is to get people from all 24 time zones to walk for hunger in what is hoped to be the "world's largest humanitarian event. " For more information, click here.

Catholic to the Core The National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry has published its latest Youth Ministry Resource Manual, Catholic to the Core. This year’s manual promises to help young people embrace the fullness of our Catholic identity, important at time when many young people are wondering what it means to be Catholic. The sessions help them to explore various beliefs, traditions, and practices that externally mark one as Catholic that they may discover the richness and deeper meaning of their own Catholic identity in today’s world. Resources for the annual National Celebration of World Youth Day in October are also incorporated. Visit the NFCYM website to purchase the manuals, posters, and prayer cards for your school or parish by clicking here.

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Life in the Field

Operation Rice Bowl As we continue to move through the season of Lent, you are encouraged to pray, fast, learn and give in the effort to live in solidarity with others throughout the world. Education and reflection resources are available on line if you have not yet received any materials. One resource to explore is the home resource guide as it provides daily personal reflections and weekly reflections on life in a different country around the world. By signing up for the Operation Rice Bowl on-line community, you can receive regular emails during the season of Lent that will highlight unique ways you can live in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in those countries that are highlighted. To learn more about the work of CRS in each country highlighted in the ORB program, click on the links below:

Active Solidarity

Hope for the Poor: Scripture Refection Small Group Process CRS has developed a small group discussion activity that provides youth groups with an opportunity to turn an ear to the cry of the poor, connecting the biblical call for justice for the poor with the call to recognize and to end global poverty today. Passages from Scripture have been paired with corresponding stories of real people currently struggling with poverty, conflict, hunger and disaster throughout the world. The handouts allow small groups to explore and discuss these stories and consider ways to act upon them. To download a pdf file of this document, click here or contact Ted Miles to make arrangements for a copy.

Global Campaign for Education: Send My Friend to School Week With 100 Million children unable to set foot in a classroom this year, the Global Campaign for Education Send My Friend to School Week unifies NGOs and teachers unions in over 150 countries to promote education as a basic right and to build awareness around this grave situation. Make plans now to participate during the week of April 24-30, 2006. Lesson plans, leaflets and sample activities for elementary and high school students are available at the US GCE web site by clicking here.

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Called To Action

Urging Senators to Support Real Solutions to the Challenge of Migration Catholic Relief Services serves displaced people, refugees, migrants and victims of human trafficking worldwide, daily confronting the suffering and exploitation of migrants and families separated across borders often for years. At the same time, CRS works with the Catholic Church throughout the world to create economic opportunities so that people are not forced to migrate. As part of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Justice for Immigrants Campaign, Catholic organizations including CRS are raising concerns about current immigration legislation that prioritizes enforcement rather than comprehensive immigration reform. For more information about the Justice for Immigrants Campaign, click here.

The Senate Judiciary Committee with jurisdiction over immigration issues has begun debate on immigration reform. While a number of bills have been introduced, the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), recently presented his own legislation, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006. The bill is an improvement over the legislation that passed the House (H.R. 4437) but falls short of what is needed to fix our broken immigration system. (In December 2005 the House of Representatives passed one of the harshest immigration bills in years, the H.R. 4437, the Border Protection, Anti-Immigration, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005. ) For a complete overview of Sen. Specter’s bill, click here.

Your urgent action is needed today! Please work with the young and not-so-young alike in educating others about this issue and in contacting your Senators, particularly those who are members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Click here for the list of Senators and to view the full action alert. Urge them to enact immigration reform that fixes our broken immigration system rather than causes additional hardship for immigrant families. Visit our web site to send a message today by clicking here or contact Tina Rodousakis 1-800-235-2772 x 7462 for more information.

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Global Thoughts

Bono Speaks at the National Day of Prayer In examining social messages with young people, celebrities should be used with caution as their personas can easily overwhelm the message itself or send conflicting messages. Perceptions of celebrities hinder on a variety of factors that often change very quickly especially through heightened media attention, and negative publicity can easily run counter to the important messages or efforts being promoted. That said, a rather powerful message that can be shared with young people comes from the lead singer of the rock band U2, Bono. On February 2, Bono presented the keynote address at the National Day of Prayer Breakfast, attended by President Bush, members of Congress and numerous world leaders. Especially notable was Bono's insistence on an examination of both biblical justice and charity as needed to alleviate the conditions that give rise to global poverty.

To read Bono’s remarks, click here.

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CRS Regions

Catholic Relief Services upholds a vision that "Solidarity will transform the world," placing priority on relationships between the United States Catholic community and people overseas. In the effort to help US Catholics live in solidarity with others and to more fully express their faith with a global perspective, CRS has established four of five regional offices across the United States. The regional offices will bring a broader range of opportunities for engagement to dioceses, institutions and faith-based groups on a regional basis. The links below provide contact information for each regional office and highlight youth-related events and information within each region.

Click here for CRS Regional Office Contacts in the Midwest, Northeast, Southwest and West.

Northeast Region

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