I got new lenses in my eyeglasses last week. I had been noticing that distant signs weren’t quite as sharp as they used to be, so I wasn’t surprised that at my annual eye exam, the doctor said my prescription had changed. It wasn’t a big difference, but enough to warrant new lenses. I’ve been through many such adjustments since junior high, when I began wearing glasses.

As I drove away with my newly improved vision, I was thinking about how amazing it is that someone figured out such a simple way to make vision possible. Without my glasses, I can see clearly only about a foot or two away. Beyond that, things get blurry. But by putting some glass in front of my eyes, voila! Such a significant problem so easily fixed. Things snap into perfect focus and I can see the individual leaves on the tree across the street. And the lettering on street signs. And, back in junior high, the chalk board at the front of the room.

At which point it occurred to me: I don’t know how I would have made it through school without glasses. Indeed, so important is vision to school that our kindergartners are required to have an eye exam as part of their enrollment in public school.

If education is a critical component in combating poverty, so too is optometry. I’m fortunate on several counts. First, I live in a country with plenty of eye doctors, and I grew up in a family that had the means to take me to see one. I also was part of an education system that had plenty of books. Being nearsighted, even without glasses I still could have read anything up close. Without glasses, school would have been harder and I surely would not have done as well. But as long as I had access to books, I could have gotten the information I couldn’t see on the board.

But what of children in places that lack both optometrists and text books? Or children who simply lack access to those things? Or children who are farsighted and can’t see their books? I don’t know the percentage of children who need vision correction, but I’m guessing it’s not insignificant. I’ve seen plenty of pictures of children in one-room schools around the world, with or without text books, often without desks or even chairs, looking at a teacher and a board at the front of the room. But how many of the children in those pictures were wearing glasses? One more obstacle I’ve never really considered.

While we were in West Virginia visiting one of the sites affected by mountain top removal, I saw the stone monument above that, though weathered and difficult to read, quotes Psalm 95:4. In this verse, the psalmist asserts, “In God’s hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are God’s also.” This monument seemed to me to be a subtle protest against the hubris of the coal companies (and the government that empowered them) who felt that they had the right to simply lay claim to the mountains and utterly deface them.

Since my trip to Appalachia, I’ve continued to grapple with the concept of land ownership. As usual, I am still trying to find a coherent way of thinking about it. In the meantime, my son has been meandering around the house singing (with gusto) “This Land is Your Land,” courtesy of his kindergarten choir. So here are some preliminary thoughts.

As noted in an earlier post, this thinking began when Bishop Dunkin of the Western Maryland-West Virginia Synod informed me and my colleagues in Church and Society that coal companies owned the land under his house. In short, if a natural resource was found under his house that a company wanted to acquire, they hold the rights, and he would be forced to move. This is the case for 75% of the land in West Virginia. This felt somehow intuitively wrong.

We also heard the testimonies of two women who were suffering from the effects of land degradation. The biggest issue was water contamination. They were asked by one of my colleagues why they did not simply up and leave. The response was something along the lines of, “My family has lived on this land for 250 years. This is my land. The coal companies should be the ones going.” (While I could sympathize to a certain degree, I also wondered to myself, What about the Native Americans before her? What about the flora and fauna before all of us? Can we really lay claim to something that existed long before us and will continue to exist long after we are gone?)

The director of the Washington advocacy office, Drew Genszler, brought the Israel-Palestine issue into this discussion of land ownership. A key component (perhaps the key component) in that conflict is defining who has the rights to the land. How many other violent conflicts around the world have rights to the land at the center?

These three stories of land ownership highlight for me some of the tensions inherent in our current conceptualization of land ownership. The two big problems for me are 1) The abuses (both to each other and to the earth) that can be justified because of a sense of ownership and 2) The conflicts that inevitably follow a claim to the land.

All of this said, some good can come from a clear definition of who has rights to the land. First, it strikes me as somehow fundamental to our sense of wellbeing to have a “place.” Perhaps it is learned, but the idea that coal companies could kick people out of their houses and off the land on a whim just doesn’t feel right. Second, in the current system, land and property rights make development possible. If someone knows that they own the land, they will make personal investments, knowing that they will be able to reap the benefits. Likewise, outsiders will be more likely to make investments, trusting that the owner of the land will be able to make good on his or (much less often) her promises, and if not, the bank or the lender will receive the collateral.

In this post that is already too long I’ve painted a picture in pretty broad strokes. I will follow up later this week with some theological musings on the topic. In the meantime I welcome your feedback and insight on the question.

David Creech

Join Bread for the World members on June 14-16 in Washington, DC, for Bread for the World’s Gathering 2009. There will be worship, workshops, meals, music, visits to Congress, and of course, a celebration! Learn more about the event by visiting http://www.bread.org/.

Are you in need of financial assistance to attend this gathering? The ELCA Washington Office is offering a limited number of scholarships for this event. Applications are being accepted now until May 29, 2009. Go to www.elca.org/advocacy to download the application.

Scholarships will be awarded immediately until June 8, funds permitting, and be processed as a reimbursement. The amount reimbursed will be for both the “2009 Gathering that includes 35th Anniversary Dinner and Lobby Day” option and three nights housing on the American University campus.

Questions? Contact Jodi Deike, ELCA Director for Grassroots Advocacy and Communication, at jodi.deike@elca.org or 202-626-7947. David Creech

Hunger Rumblings will periodically highlight the work of organizations that received financial support through an ELCA Hunger Education/Advocacy grant in 2008.  We hope you are as inspired by these stories of our faith in action as we have been!

CREA – Center for Reflection, Education and Action (www.crea-inc.org)

2008 ELCA World Hunger Education Grant Recipient

Poverty, and the hunger it causes, is directly related to the ability of workers and their families to achieve sufficient income.  CREA works to bridge the gap between cooperative artisans in countries around the world and consumers in the United States.  We educate U.S. consumers about Fair Trade, expose them to Fair Trade-Peace Trade products made by global artisans, and create a market so that these workers can achieve a sufficient income.  We have named our program “Fair Trade-Peace Trade” to help consumers understand that economic, social and environmental peace are just as important as cessation of fighting with weapons.

Our educational message helps consumers understand that the “lowest” price is not always the “best” price, and that the people who bear the true costs of cheap products are the workers who produced that product.  In our Fair Trade work, we are able to tell that story and challenge those who are buying the craft items, coffee, tea, and chocolate to understand that what we buy and how we buy directly affect the lives of men, women and children around the world.

Our reports on Sustainable Living Wages are available for congregations and schools and directly connect the Fair Trade – Peace Trade products with the goal of sustainable living wages in countries around the globe.

We have also developed a Systemic Analysis program which teaches people how to understand globalization, its inequities and impacts.  It also highlights the economic components of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (www.udhr.org/UDHR/default.htm).  We continually create story boards and educational materials for use by various congregations and groups.

CREA works to ensure that global artisans have the means to feed their children, send them to school, and provide access to better healthcare.  Working with these global artisans reminds us that Fair Trade is a year round commitment, not just during the holiday season. 

To learn more visit the CREA website at: www.crea-inc.org

Ruth Rosenbaum, Executive Director

posted by Erin Cummisford

Women around the world are models of strength and perserverance. In spite of the fact that they along with their children suffer disproportionately the effects of poverty and hunger, women nonetheless

+ produce an estimated half of the world’s food;
+ are responsible for about 60-80% of food crops in the developing world;
+ and are more likely to spend their income on the wellbeing of their children–buying more nutritious food, purchasing school supplies, and paying for healthcare.

For this reason, women are key players in the fight against hunger and poverty. Consider the following facts.

+ Women’s education has the greatest effect on reducing child malnutrition, accounting for 43% of the reduction in malnutrition in the developing world from 1970-1995.
+ In India’s economic transformation, the states with the highest percentage of women in the labor force grew the fastest and had the largest reductions in poverty.
+ The total value of women’s unpaid house and farm work adds one-third to the world’s gross national product.

ELCA World Hunger recognizes the importance of supporting women in our efforts to combat hunger and poverty here and abroad. Your gifts to the World Hunger Appeal can (among other things) finance a micro-credit loan to woman to start a business or buy a machine to spin wool to increase her productivity. As you celebrate your mom this weekend, consider empowering other women around the globe with a Good Gift.

David Creech

All statistics in this post were taken from the Bread for the World Institute’s 2009 Hunger Report, pp. 60-67.

Literally. We have new light from above. Check out the picture of my family room. That bright circle on the ceiling isn’t an electric light. It’s the sun! In the past couple of weeks, we’ve had three solar tubes installed in our house – two in the family room and one in the kitchen.

If you follow this blog, you know we’ve been talking about coal and electricity recently. I’d love to say that my family’s decision to install solar tubes was in response to our desire to use less electricity, less energy, less coal. And that was a consideration. But the bigger reason was more self-serving: I wanted more natural light in some of the darker areas of our house just because I like natural light. The way our house is situated, we don’t get nearly as much of it as I would choose, and I’ve always wished for more. We have considered skylights from time to time, but they always seemed too expensive and work-intensive, what with all the drywalling and painting that’s required with their addition. But then we learned about solar tubes! We could have them less expensively than skylights, and each one took only about an hour to install (done by a professional). That was it! The result is wonderful. Unfortunately, I don’t have before and after pictures, but you can get a sense of the increased light from the shadow cast by the pillow onto the arm of the couch. That most certainly was not there before.

What I love about this little anecdote is that one largely selfish act is so beneficial! By getting something I wanted – more natural light – I’m using less electricity, which reduces my use of coal, lowers the demand on the power grid, and hopefully lowers my electric bill. It also supports jobs in the “green economy,” as we purchased a solar product and paid a professional to install it. And it is another step in our household’s efforts to live more sustainably. I find it all very hopeful. Or maybe I’m just giddy from all that natural light.

As you may already be aware, ELCA World Hunger just released a new curriculum, Taking Root: Hunger Causes, Hunger Hopes. This curriculum is an excellent tool to help raise up the next generation of people who will be passionate about addressing the root causes of hunger and poverty.

To help get the word out about the curriculum and to answer any questions that folks may have about it, I will be hosting three WebEx sessions with the author, ELCA pastor Stacy Johnson. I invite you to join us on Monday, May 11 from 1-2pm CST, Tuesday, May 12 from 7-8pm CST, or Thursday, May 14 from 7-8pm CST. If you are interested, please contact me at david.creech@elca.org and I will give you the details you need to join us for the conversation.

If you know of anyone else who may benefit from this opportunity (such as pastors, Sunday school teachers, Christian education directors, etc.), feel free to forward this post to them.

David Creech

Getting ready to move takes lots of time and work. It also brings you face to face with just how many belongings you have. As a simple living sort of person, I thought I didn’t have many possessions. Was I wrong!

Last weekend I held a freecycle and basement sale to clear out some of the stuff I didn’t know I owned. One side of my basement held stuff with price tags. On the other side, everything was free! People loved helping themselves, and all my free (and most of my priced) treasures found new homes. Very little had to be recycled or discarded, and I felt like Lady Bountiful, telling people, “yes, it’s really free–please take it!”

The Bible invites us to construct an economic system based on God’s principles. A freecycle is a great way to boost the economy of grace. (Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the water!) At www.freecycle.net you can learn more about freecycling and participating in freecycling groups. And it’s something a church can easily do on its own–perhaps at church, after worship.

I’m hooked on freecycling now. I’ve already started a new stack of stuff for my next freecycle, so I can be sure my stuff stays out of the landfill…and so I can watch more people smile.

Anne Basye