Bread Blog

Live Blogging from the Idaho Hunger Summit

I'm live blogging today from the Idaho Hunger Summit at the Doubletree hotel here in Boise, Idaho. Over 260 service providers, church leaders, advocates, nutritionists, and citizens are gathered to learn about hunger issues in Idaho and organize our voices together. Organizers of the summit include the Idaho Interfaith Roundtable Against Hunger (IIRAH) and the newly-formed Idaho Hunger Relief Task Force. (Special thanks to IIRAH convener Gayle Woods and family for hosting me during my time in Boise!)

This morning Governor Butch Otter welcomed an excited crowd and signed a proclamation to declare October "Hunger Awareness Month" in Idaho. Gov. Otter’s proclamation was followed by an address from Kate Houston, the Deputy Under Secretary for Nood, Nutrition, and Consumer Services at USDA.

It's hard to communicate this across a blog entry, but there’s a fantastic energy in the air, and it's amazing to see so many committed people join together in the movement to end hunger. Roughly one in seven families in Idaho are hungry or at risk of Hunger according to USDA, so there is much work to be done.

Today’s workshops are focusing on everything from improving how state and federal programs are administered on a local level, bolstering public-private partnerships, and becoming effective advocates.

I'll be updating throughout the day.

Back from Zambia

Elaine Van Cleave is a Bread activist from Alabama.  Read previously posted updates from her trip to Zambia.  This is her wrap-up email.

I am back from Zambia.  What a long trip home that was!! We awoke Sunday a.m. and rode in a jeep, a ferry, a bus, and 3 airplanes. You could even say we rode on a train if you count the rail in the Atlanta airport that gets you between terminals.

The experience was incredible.  The extremes we encountered were mind numbing - from the incredible wild life in Botswana's Chobe National Park to a dusty, barefooted orphan in tattered clothing beaming at you and asking you to be his friend. 

One day, I tagged along on a trip to an outreach clinic 65 km into the bush.   The trip was 2 hours each way on the worst sandy, bumpy road I have ever ridden on .  There were 11 of us in a Land Rover provided to Mwandi Mission Hosptial by Catholic Relief Services with money from PEPFAR (US funds for AIDS relief)!  The "clinic" was a two room mud hut (about 8 x 12) with a thatched roof - no electricity or running water. The clinic ended at dusk because the medical personnel could no longer see to examine patients and fill prescriptions.  I mostly observed and got to see how PEPFAR  money is providing medical care and drugs to people in remote rural areas who would die without it.  The nurse practioner from Mwandi who goes on these weekly outreach trips into the bush told me that these clinics would not be possible without money from PEPFAR.

I also learned that Kandiana, the "old folks home" at Mwandi Mission, receives $600 a month from the Zambian government - money that is available because of debt relief. These funds also provide students at Mwandi Mission's school with free examination books. 

One afternoon we also spread the message of ONE at a bible school we conducted for area children.  We presented the message in the context of Jesus as the good shepherd and that we are all a part of His flock, that we are all ONE big family. We sang "He's Got the Whole World in his Hands" and banded all the kids and adults with white ONE bands. Thanks Kim!

It is a trip I have been needing to take for a long time.  I really can't adequately put into words how powerful the experience was. 

If I ever in the past for just one second thought advocacy was useless, I can never have that thought again.

If you want to read the daily blog written by Rev. Susan Clayton who lead our trip, go to www.ipc-usa.org.  There are about 7 brief entries with pictures. I haven't read them all myself and am looking forward to doing just that and to reflecting on our trip.

Hiking with Congressman Schiff

Brittany Miles (CARE field organizer), Congressman Adam Schiff and me.

Last night, Brittany Miles from CARE and I attended a town hall meeting.  Well, it wasn't your typical town hall meeting like the type that happens in a high school gymnasium or a church fellowship hall.  This meeting took place on a mountain.  Our local congressman organized a hike with his constituents in Burbank, CA.  It was a beautiful way to experience nature and meet up with our representative.

Despite running late AND getting lost, we made it up the mountain in record time.  We felt like we were on a scavenger hunt.  Mission: Find the Congressman.  Once we found our way to the group of hikers, it was amazing to see the diversity of constituents who turned out for the hike.  There was a small group of girl scouts who asked GREAT questions like, "How did you decide to run for Congress?"  "What did you do before you were elected?"  They were super cute!  Other constituents used the opportunity to speak with Adam Schiff about their concerns - human rights abuses in China and preserving our open space. 

Along the trail, we met up with Rep. Schiff's executive assistant Jessica Howard.  We asked her about the purpose of the hike.  She said the Congressman was a lead supporter of the Rim of the Valley Corridor Study Act, which the president signed into law in May.  The study could result in the preservation of 500,000 acres of land in the mountain areas of Southern California.

Rep. Schiff asked how things are going at Bread for the World and we had a few moments to speak with him about our work.  The congressman serves on the House Appropriations Committee and helps make funding decisions about accounts that fight global poverty.  In the past we've urged him to support increases in poverty focused development assistance, which includes: the Millennium Challenge Account, Development Assistance, the Peace Corps and other accounts to strengthen public health, nutrition and agriculture in the developing world.  The hike was a pretty cool way to connect with the congressman, talk about our concerns and meet up with his staff.

Rev. Sudhir Sharma on poverty in his region

In response to yesterday's post about the global hunger crisis, I received a message from Rev. Sudhir Sharma.  He serves as the Director of the Centre for Studies in Rural Development and the Institute of Social Work and Research in Ahmednagar, India.  He also pastors two churches, where they are working hard to respond to the needs of the people in their community. He writes:

There is a drought in our district Ahmednagar. There is no water in some villages and no fodder for animals. Situation is difficult. In one of the churches in a village Walki, we have special prayers for the rains and also we are trying to teach to save the water and to use water properly. This village church people are poor Christians who work as labourers and very few are marginal farmers. We have concern for the poorer people who cannot buy good quality food and have to depend on public distribution system through which government provides low quality wheat. We shall submit our protest letters to the government office about this kind of food.
We shall also raise some funds for the orphanage. As our own people ofthe church are poor, we may not do much to raise funds, but we shall awaken rich community to think about the sufferings of the poor.
If possible, the Institute of Social Work and the Christ Church, Walki will start providing one time food to poor and needy people, and also would like to start project like food for work.

Calling all Justice Gardeners

Planting seeds in Senator Inouye’s office.

The challenge of making hunger and poverty history requires the use of our voices, and there is no better way to use them, than to sit down with your local congressional member’s office and plant a mustard seed. 

On a recent field trip to the beautiful islands of Hawaii, myself and four other local Bread activists sat down with one of the legislative assistants in Sen. Inouye’s Honolulu office for a chat about global and domestic hunger, the Global Poverty Act (S. 2433) and how to get the Senator’s attention through our letter writing.  We left feeling energized and positive.  This process not only helped us educate the Senator’s office about our concerns, it gave us the sense that the Senator actually cares for what his constituents think and say. 

Setting up the meeting was very easy.  We simply called and made an appointment with the legislative aid in Honolulu.  She took notes while we talked that she will pass on to the D.C. office.  That means our voices will travel from Honolulu directly to Washington D.C. where the policies that affect hunger are made.  Given that Senator Inouye is on both Appropriations and the Foreign Operations/State Department subcommittee (the department where poverty-focused development assistance is managed), his knowledge of these issues is essential to moving the dollars in the U.S. budget to helping the most vulnerable.

One of the most poignant things we learned was how important it was for Sen. Inouye to hear from his constituents.  The Senator, we were told, prefers to hear from his constituents in Hawaii more than from national lobbyists.  Letters are an important way for a Senator, so far away, to hear from the people who voted him into office.  But not surprisingly, the letters that mean the most are those hand written personal letters that show the writer understands and cares about the issue.  Form letters or dictated letters that are all the same have less of an impact.  We were told that it was quality not quantity that made the biggest difference. Check out Communicating with Congress.

It only takes a few minutes to write a personal letter.  Three sentences!  First, state your motivation: I’m writing because I’m speaking for those unable to speak up.  Next, write out the “ask” :  Please increase the funding for Poverty-/Focused Development Assistance by $5 billion for FY09 and co-sponsor the Global Poverty Act.  And finally, add a fact (unfortunately, there many to choose from): 28,000 children under the age of 5 die every day from preventable causes, half are hunger related. 

Mustard seeds are tiny, but “. . . when it is sown, it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” (Mark 4:32)..  By having the compassion for those in need and using our tools of voice or simply writing a tiny letter, we can watch that plant grow and those braches can provide the life sustaining food for so many in need, changing the structures that have left them in the scorching sun.   After visiting Sen. Inouye’s office, I felt as if our group had planted just one seed.  By taking an hour from our busy day, we educated the Senator’s office and by building that face to face relationship, may indeed see our plant grow.  I challenge all you gardeners of justice, to follow our example.  Make a call to the legislative assistant in your home district.  Plant a seed and watch it grow. 

Recipe for Hope: Respond to the Hunger Crisis

You can make a difference in the global hunger crisis.

It's in the news nearly every day: Food prices are soaring worldwide. More low-income people in the United States are making trips to food banks, whose stocks are quickly depleting. In developing countries, for the world's poorest people—who spend up to 80 percent of their income to buy food—the situation is even more devastating. 

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But you have the power to be part of the solution.  JOIN THE CAMPAIGN

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For six weeks, from Mother's Day through Father's Day, Bread for the World will conduct an online campaign to help hunger activists raise awareness and take action. Each week, an email from Bread will offer the ingredients for:

• Recipe for Despair
  More information on the causes of this crisis; and a


• Recipe for Hope
  Specific actions you can take to help end it. You can also invite your friends to join the campaign.

It's easy to feel helpless when you watch people around the world suffering for lack of food. Be part of the Recipe for Hope, and be part of the solution.

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JOIN THE CAMPAIGN 

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Learn more about rising food prices and the hunger crisis.

Read Bread's press release on the Recipe for Hope and invite your friends to join on Facebook.

We'll also be updating the blog during the six-week campaign with the actions we'll be urging folks to take - thank you in advance for joining!  It's quick and free to sign up, and it matters - right now.

If bread could talk and all of you could listen...

We'd call it something like a 'breadcast'.  If only bread could talk...oh wait...

Give us feedback on 'breadcast' and win a Bread for the World iPod Nano(!)

We released an especially excellent breadcast yesterday. It features excerpts from Bono’s historic speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, an interview on the Millennium Development Goals with Eric Muñoz of the Bread for the World Institute, music from Opiyo Bilongo and Extra Golden and reminds listeners that the deadline for applying to be a Hunger Justice Leader is fast approaching.

And, we invited listeners to give us feedback on the podcast by sending us an email telling us what you’ve enjoyed and what else you’d like to hear to breadcast@bread.org. One lucky podcast listener who gives us feedback will win their very own limited edition iPod Nano with the words “Have Faith. End Hunger.” engraved on the back. So, be sure and send us your thoughts today!

You can listen here on your computer, or better yet, just search Bread for the World on iTunes and subscribe to the podcast for free. Then you’ll automatically receive breadcast each month!  

"I want to be part of the problem"

Good morning!

We first posted about applying to be a Hunger Justice Leader a month ago or so, but today we have a special added bonus in case you were on the fence about whether to apply or just hadn't gotten around to it yet -

Check out this link or watch the embedded goodness below today and then make sure you post it to your Facebook profile, share the link with all of your friends, etc!  They're bound to at least be intrigued - and maybe they'll "wanna be part of the solution"...

What are you hungry for?

Last Sunday, I had a chance to worship with St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Albany, CA.  I was invited to the welcome breakfast before the service where I was treated to homemade waffles!  They were delicious. =)

After the service, I met with Pastor Linda and a few members of the church.  We brainstormed ideas for an upcoming Lenten series on the topic, "What are you hungry for?"  Pastor Linda hopes the service will reach out to young people in the congregation and offer them a way to reflect more deeply on their faith.  The theme of hunger so clearly fits with Lent, because it's a time when we ponder our hunger for God and perhaps, in a more global sense, the hunger in our world.  A creative worship idea emerged from the discussion.

At the first service, people will take a few minutes to write a letter to themselves or God on the topic of their personal hunger - what am I hungry for?  The second service, people will write a letter to the church - what am I hungry for at church?  At the final service, the group will write letter to their members of congress about global hunger - specifically asking for significant increases in poverty focused development assistance and urging their senators to pass the Global Poverty Act.  Pastor Linda thought this was a great way to introduce the idea of letter writing to a group of young people.

What is your church doing during this Lenten season?  Are you engaging in activities personally or collectively that lift up the needs of people who are living in poverty?

Bread - A Cinematic Sensation

And a Happy Monday to you.  Here for your viewing pleasure is Bread's 2008 Offering of Letters video in the magic of Youtubery - sure to be shown at a Bread workshop near you this spring and also something that comes in the magic of DVD when you order/buy your own 'Offering of Letters' toolkit to use back at your church, campus, local advocacy group, etc.  We like it, enjoy -

Also, must give a shout-out to Jeremy, an activist from Weatherford, TX (just outside Fort Worth), for heeding Shawda's call (from the post below) and writing up and having published this letter to the editor yesterday in the Weatherford Democrat: Help the Hungry (It's the fourth or fifth one down).  Way to make "our region" proud!  The gauntlet has been thrown down from Texas --- who will get one published next?!