Myanmar's long walk to freedom

The last time I travelled to Myanmar was in June 2006. I was travelling in Shan State at a time when the ruling military government was presiding over a plummeting economy, had silenced iconic democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and was engaged in a devastating conflict against many of Myanmar’s ethnic groups. Access to the country for foreigners was very difficult, much less the presence of foreign iNGOs. The refusal to allow foreign aid agencies to assist the survivors of the deadly Cyclone Nargis – which killed 130,000 mostly farmers in the Irrawaddy Delta in 2008 – was just one example. The prospect of a transition from military rule where the people could take control of their own development seemed a distant hope. Many of the challenges faced by Myanmar still persist today but I would not have predicted the degree of change since my last visit. General Than Shwe’s rule has given way to a new leader, President Thein Sein, who has ushered in a period of reform since 2011. Control of the press has been relaxed. I was able to discuss politics in Yangon’s street food restaurants in a way which would have been impossible a few year before. Aung San Suu Kyi has not only been released from over a decade of house arrest but the party she founded, the National League for Democracy, has been officially registered and its party leaders released from prison. Suu Kyi herself is now a serving MP in the transitional parliament – something that seemed inconceivable back in 2006. Fragile ceasefires have also been signed with some of the ethnic armies, including with the Karen, which has seen a general reduction in fighting. A greater number of NGOs have been allowed to open offices and start to run programmes for the first time since the military took power in 1962. Economically, Yangon is opening up like a tulip in the spring sunlight. The modest market liberalisation is starting to take effect with new hotels, apartments and offices being constructed on Yangon’s ancient streets. The price of consumer goods like mobile phones has fallen sharply. Two years ago, it cost $1500 to purchase a SIM card. Today, it costs $1.50, opening up communications technology to ordinary people for the first time. Optimism should be tempered by the reality that the military is still in control in Myanmar with a minimum of 25% of the seats in the parliament. The health and education indicators are still the lowest in Asia, especially in the ethnic areas. According to Transparency International, Myanmar ranks 157th least transparent out of 177 countries. Aung San Suu Kyi has been effectively barred from standing for President in the 2015 elections on account of the Anglo identity of her two children and there continues to be significant oppression against ethnic minorities and in particular, the Muslim Rohingya people. However, VSO have grasped the opportunity to make a positive contribution to Myanmar’s development. Over the last 18months, VSO has established an office, recruited a talented and committed staff team and have currently got 30 volunteers placed across the country – mostly focused in building the capacity of English language teachers in 21 of Myanmar’s teacher training colleges. Having already established a program in education, the team in Yangon have set a three pronged strategy to make an impact in the sectors of health, education and strengthening civil society. While the civil society strategy is still emerging, the focus of the health and education teams will be on equipping Myanmar’s teachers and health professionals to increase the quality and access for children receiving an education and to increase neo-natal survival rates and maternal mortality rates. For a country that has experienced isolation for so long, VSO’s model of sharing expertise and knowledge, could scarcely be more important. Furthermore, because of the context of the country, working with national volunteers is not yet feasible, meaning that international volunteers are the critical intervention with which the team intends to deliver impact in Myanmar. The team’s aspiration is to grow its impact and influence rapidly and to have a strong presence of volunteers across the country by April 2016. Funds and volunteers will be needed to ensure VSO’s newest country program can help continue the pace of change in this remarkable country.

Memories of my brother

My memories of Dan - who died aged 38 on 6th Oct 2013

'Don't be so ridiculous, Mark' were some of the words I would most commonly hear being nearly spat from Dan's mouth. It was usually in response to a preposterous idea or an all too obvious ruse.  Dan could be endearingly credulous.  You could spin him a yarn and he would nod along until he would come to his senses and shake off his natural preference to accept people and ideas at face value. 

I had a recurring joke with dan that despite his fulsome facial hair and my hair free baby face, that I in fact had more stubble than him when he was my age.  This line was stretching it when he was 18 but was clearly ludicrous when he was 38! Instead of casually dismissing me, he would launch into a thoroughly unnecessary defence that he was the Esau of the family and i was patently the Jacob. It always ended in him telling me how ridiculous I was.... I will really miss that flailing fist in my direction.  

Dan didn't feel the need to observe social conventions.  He was liberal and spontaneous with his use of affection. I would often find his nose nuzzling in my neck in a completely outrageous invasion of my personal space (which is saying something coming from me!).  When he was feeling in need of physical attention, he would sometimes cling to me in a sort of homo-erotic, full body hug. Only a brotherly battering would be able to prize him off me. 

He was also quite casual with Cohens physical well-being too. I remember Cohen agreeing to a pillow fight with his uncle, aged around 4. Dan took no time in leathering a pillow around Cohen's head and sending him sprawling. Dan was unusually confident that Cohen would rise again,smiling - which he (almost) always did.. But, it was Cohen's uncle Dan who amazingly caught Cohen when he fell from a tree on the same holiday after stepping on a rotten branch from a height I shouldn't have allowed him to reach. 

Dan would not ask permission to be him; I recall introducing my then wife to be to the family -  all was going well when Dan decided to lay in the middle of the floor with a pile of books underneath his head to get into the Alexander position - seemingly oblivious of those who were trying to work out if this was some weird Rowland rite of passage and if they had to follow suit....

It was his zany energy and creativity was what made Dan hilarious fun as a father and uncle. He was at his best when he was gallivanting into a wood, trousers tucked unedifyingly into his walking socks, setting clues for a treasure hunt or starting a camp fire. Adventure and fun were the themes of what seemed like dozens of holidays that Dan would organise for us and our boys. 

Of course Dan had a complicated relationship with clumsiness. We all knew he wasn't clumsy but it was also true that glasses did smash and plates did drop in and around Dans orbit. Dan would repeat the mantra that he wasn't clumsy and I didn't dare dispute that. In the end you had only to conclude that these inanimate objects were to blame for getting in Dan's way....

Dan had great intellectual curiosity. A  cursory glance at Dan's unopened mail since he died  revealed copies of the new internationalist, new statesman and third way - testament to his interest in international affairs, theology and social justice. He was a spiritual man with a reflective faith I admired. I loved sparring with him - secretly using debates with him to educate myself on everything from the 2008 credit crunch (i learnt what credit default swap was from Dan) to the role of the Mau Mau in colonial Kenya.  Post university, we even completed a huge chart of western philosophers with a summary of each thinkers key contribution since the renaissance. It was a wonderful product of Dans thirst for understanding.  Dan didn't see it but I was hanging onto his intellectual coat tails and am so grateful that he let me hang there....

It is embarrassing how wide Dans interests and skills lay. Accomplished sailor, tennis player and cyclist. A-grade student, amateur dramatist, photographer, drummer and guitar player. Fantastic chef and skilful artist. Resourceful Builder, carpenter and fantastic scout.  Devoted father and husband. What a panoply of gifts. 

Dan was also vulnerable. His vulnerability was to find in others reasons to doubt and undermine his self worth. Perhaps because of this, more than anyone I have known, Dan didn't put up a pretence or hide behind image. Instead Dan had depth of thought and true integrity. Dan never saw how precious his gift was to people; radically giving others permission to be who they really were and to let go of the image. And yet he couldn't extend to himself the acceptance he offered so freely to others. 

I will always remember being loved by Dan and how much I love and treasure him. Nothing ridiculous about that.

Wax on Wax off

I have signed up to run the Paris Marathon in April with a target of raising £1000. As the Head of Fundraising for VSO, I of all people should have no problems in raising the cash – right? As Greg Wallace would say, ‘jobs don’t get easier than this.’

Well, I don’t mind admitting it but I don’t find fundraising easy. At first I thought I’d make the fundraising job simpler if I upped the stakes in the challenge itself. So, I have publicly declared my goal to run the marathon in under three hours. A part of me hoped that by making a big claim, I could just sit back watch the money flow in. Like running a marathon, I knew it took more work than that.

So I have set about doing the basics; set up my just giving page, breaking down the target to manageable chunks, found a good case study, emailed friends and family and posted links on facebook. For more ideas see our Fundraising page. That has got me most of the way. I have now raised £700 towards my target. But really good fundraising now demands we go the extra mile. The guys who do this well find ways to surprise, delight and provoke generosity.

I needed a plan. If I was a tweeter, I would have tweeted. If I was a baker, I would have baked cakes. If I was a musician, I would have serenaded colleagues. If I was a poet, I would penned a sonnet. Turns out I am none of those but in a moment of inspiration, I realised I do have hair on my legs!

So, on March 19th, I am going to wax both my legs. We are going to sell wax strips and even sell the right to tear the strips off! One colleague told me that it took him one year to grow back hair he’d waxed from his legs! The waxing industry must be grateful that isn’t the same grow back period for women.

Anyway, with the waxing plan in place, I am confident I can reach my goals (both financial and running-wise). The pain will be worth it; both when I sail through the finish line in Paris and crash through my fundraising target - or will it be the other way around!

See the leg wax here:
http://vine.co/v/bpXiYPVMxqU 

www.justgiving.com/mark-rowland1977

Helping Africa Develop pro-poor growth

Our view from the summit of the Rwenzori mountain range in Western Uganda was breathtaking. A young Ugandan entrepreneur, Vincent Biyara, had been our guide as we struggled to the top. It was from here that he described the development he wanted to see in the Karagutu valley that tumbled before us. It was a vision of enterprise: a community able to utilise its natural assets to establish agricultural and tourist businesses that would create jobs and enable the community to prosper.

There is now widespread recognition in the development community that poverty cannot be defeated without stimulating enterprise and achieving inclusive economic growth. This is especially important when you consider that six out of the top 10 fastest growing economies are in Africa: Uganda, for example, is one of the fastest growing non-oil producing countries in the world. Growth alone is not enough; it must be harnessed to ensure the resulting job creation, development of management capacity and the transfer of technology benefit the poorest. This will require NGOs, businesses and governments to collaborate in new ways to provide greater opportunity for the next generation of entrepreneurs, to ensure that the benefits of growth are not just shared with the poorest but are generated by the poorest.

This won't happen by accident. Starting your own business is difficult in any context; if you are from somewhere like Karagutu, the challenges are multiplied. That is why VSO has developed an innovative partnership with Ben & Jerry's, who source fair trade vanilla for their ice-cream from Western Uganda. Together, we are combining Ben & Jerry's experience of doing business in Uganda with VSO's knowledge of local communities to support fledgling enterprises – from an eco-tourism initiative to a briquette business.

We brought together 15 young entrepreneurs from Europe, who all had experience of setting up a businesses to address a social issue, to work with 15 Ugandan counterparts. Their task was to answer a single question: how can we accelerate the building of enterprises that are commercially viable and also create prosperity for poor communities?

The process highlighted three key obstacles that stand in the way of enterprise flourishing in Uganda and across Africa. These are the challenges of capital, capacity and corruption.

No business can succeed without capital to invest in an idea or take it to scale. In much of Africa, that capital is a very scarce resource. Across the world, only 1% of global capital markets are invested in Africa. That is a scandalous disadvantage to Africa's entrepreneurs. For example, one entrepreneur I met in Uganda described his difficulty in finding an investor to help him purchase new technology that would allow him to fuel a cotton factory through biomass technology instead of using thousands of gallons of diesel per month. The savings on fuel would enable the 30,000 local farmers who supply the factory with cotton to get higher prices for their products. And yet the investment for the technology is not forthcoming.

NGOs have both reach and local knowledge that is often invisible to commercial capital markets. VSO, for example, is working on strengthening livelihoods with 275 local partners in 18 countries. Despite the much-needed emergence of online lending sites such as Kiva and the launching of some innovative social impact funds, NGOs' role in linking opportunity to capital is still nascent and remains a fundamental challenge.

Second is the challenge of capacity. Investment flows to Africa will be inhibited unless there is confidence in the management capacity of those who are entrusted to use that investment to return a dividend. One potential investor told me "I don't invest in ideas; I invest in management teams who can execute on a plan."

It's in the area of people that organisations like VSO and our partners such as Ashoka are ideally placed to play a proactive role. Volunteers with the right expertise and knowledge can act as a catalyst and build the capacity of African entrepreneurs to compete effectively. Our Making Markets Work for the Poor partnership with Accenture over the last 10 years has focused on just that: using its commercial expertise to help analyse value chains and support poor communities to access them better.

Finally, there is the threat of corruption. Studies by economists such as Joel Kurtzman have demonstrated that there is a clear correlation between levels of opacity (the degree of easily discernible and transparent business governing practices) and levels of per capita income. If one falls, the other falls with it. Corruption was cited as a death nail by the Ugandan entrepreneurs we worked with, increasing the cost of vital products and eating into already slim margins. A strong and vibrant civil society is a prerequisite for exposing and confronting corruption, and NGOs' contribution is a vital part of work to create an enabling environment for trade and enterprise.

Working on enterprise-based approaches to development is still new ground for many NGOs. For some, it doesn't sound like the sort of activity NGOs should be engaging in. But what this visit to Uganda made clear to me was that enabling people like Vincent to realise his vision for Karagutu is exactly what we should be doing.

Mark Rowland is the head of fundraising and partnerships for VSO and has spent the last 15 years working for a range of international development agencies

A call to build a nation

The moment Aung San Suu Kyi made her way down the steps of Westminster Hall, 2500 people rose to applaud her. We didn’t stop applauding until she finally took her seat.

Her diminutive figure belies her huge stature.  This beacon for democratic freedoms was speaking at the home of parliamentary democracy; the first Asian to do so, the first woman to do so, the first non head of state to do so. She joined Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela and Pope Benedict XVI in a very small group of international figures to have addressed parliament at all. This was an opportunity to hear and to honour an individual who chose to endure 15 years of detention and even surrendered her right to see her dying husband, Michael Aris, in pursuit of a cause for which she was prepared to give her life.

With all the key figures from British political life present, Suu Kyi spoke of her passion for political engagement and participation. She spoke of the cost that the people of Burma have paid; living since 1962 under the iron grip of a military regime which denied the very basic of human freedoms. She spoke of her commitment to pragmatic, constructive dialogue with the same regime which had imprisoned her for so long. She spoke of her conviction that without political freedom, people’s aspirations will go unmet and that no other form of economic or social development is then possible. She spoke of the need to usher in a culture of political settlement in Burma to bring an end to the conflicts with ethnic groups which have raged for over 40 years and led to the worst excesses of human rights violations; the use of children as human mine sweepers, rape as a weapon of war and the forcible displacement of hundreds of thousands of ethnic minorities. She spoke of her pride to have stood and voted in her first election in March 2011 – in which she won a seat as an MP. She spoke of her gratitude to Britain for being the largest bi-lateral donor to Burma of any Western country.

Then she turned her attention to the help needed to build Burma’s future. This was not the moment to relent, to retreat or assume that the battle for a brighter tomorrow had been won, she said. Two issues were needed more than anything else; firstly  the need to build the institutions of civil society that will ensure that democracy and the rule of law take root in Burma. Secondly, she called for desperately needed help for Burma’s education sector - to train teachers, develop new curriculums and to increase access to education for ethnic groups.

On all counts, it seemed obvious to me that  the organisation I work for, VSO, has an opportunity to provide the volunteers to address both issues which will be so important to sustaining and protecting Burma’s fledgling reforms.  Now is the time to re-double our efforts and  consider what we can do to assist Burma  on the path of becoming a free nation. Any takers to volunteer in Burma?

a limiting theory

I have a simple theory. It is also an important theory. One that if proved right could change our experience of the life we live.

The theory is about the depth of human potential within each one of us. The power within. My absolute, sure fire conviction is that we are all capable of greatness; breath-taking courage, resilience and compassion.

It is not just that most of us walk around with untapped potential but that we completely under-estimate the extent of that potential in first place. There is a yawning gap between our perceived limits and our true capacity. We live so far within the safety zone that even limited risk taking is perceived as reckless. I found this in a small way running from Amsterdam to London. People were quick to say the body won't be able to stand what you are asking it to do. For me too, it started as an impossible mission and ended in realisation that I could have ran back to Amsterdam if I had to!

The limits we place on ourselves are a powerful construct. They have the ability of dimming our imagination, narrowing our view and preventing us experiencing life in all its boundless possibilities, wonder and mystery. The years of political stagnation across north Africa is surely testament to the fact that we can so easily put up with the status quo even when it is within our collective gift to create a different, better, brighter reality. When the flames of revolution were fanned, the people found they did have power to change their nation’s history.

So we need the audacity to have big ideas, to go beyond the comfortable and find out for ourselves what we can really do and be. Because that where the good stuff happens. Life transitions from the mundane to the extraordinary when we drive right past the sign that says ‘your limits end here’.

the final assault

Duncan and I completed over 1.1million steps and 140miles over 5 and half days and arrived in Soho Square at just before 11am this morning. It was done with a passion to raise awareness about the reality of human trafficking. People should not be bought and sold.

That said, i have taken off my running shoes and promised my battered feet never to get in those particular trainers again! some semblance of revenge for my feet, I suppose.

overall, I will remember this run not for the euphoric highs of completing each day - even though they were some of the sweetest moments of my life! I will remember this adventure for what it has taught me about pain and its benefits. Pain strips away your pretences. Pain pulls courage out of you. Pain forces you to rely on others. Pain helps you identify with the suffering of others. Most importantly, pain extinguishes the numbness of life and helps you cherish the good things.

I will also remember the sparks of kindness and generosity that we were shown along the way. I don't particulalry need my faith in humanity revived but there was plenty of evidence on offer as we ran. From Vince the masseur who gave up 2 hours of his time today to rescue our legs to the east london mini cooper driver who kept driving past us and shouting 'you can do it', we saw people at their best during this run.

a really big thank you to everyone who has supported Duncan and I in small ways and big!

hello london!

i have never been so excited to see the cars rumbling slowly down the M25! 120 miles of pounding runs had brought us to this first glorious glimpse of London. We danced and sang under the bridge like school boys.

today was super-fun (also painful). the day started in BBC Radio Essex. when we were done, we had two support cars in front and behind and Duncan and I ran every step together - literally pushing each other through. We had planned to run 24miles but Duncan was so excited to get to London that we stuck on a couple more to reach a full marathon.

the sun was out and our spirits were high. we knew this was the last big push. I struggled for the first hour or two but slowly the body started coming to terms with running again and found the groove.

the support cars with big banners and the radio interview meant that drivers were honking their horns and pedestrians were cheering as we went by. People took a double take when they realised the two guys had run from Amsterdam!

Lots have people have said we are crazy to be doing this. But running through the daily commute made us think; what's crazy is letting life slip past and not trying to make the world a better place!

marathon montage

payoff run

today, i cashed in my chips for getting through three really tough runs. For the last three days, I have run like Quasimodo - shoulders hunched and dragging my painful leg behind me.

today, i warmed up and the leg felt stronger. As I started to run, the most amazing thing happened - there was no pain! I kept my head down and got into a groove. For the first time on this adventure, I wasn't holding people up - this time, I was out in front and wanted to stay there!

Duncan on the other hand was entering a different place. Every step sent shooting pains up his legs. He made it in the end but was in bits. I held him at the end as the whole frame of his body heaved with pain. I looked at him and pure courage looked back!

the support from so many people has been humbling. yesterday, two of Duncan's friends drove 2 hours each way to give us a massage. Phil Lane is anohter hero. He has cycled behind me for most of the route from Amsterdam - encouraging me, pusing me on. Today, he inspired me with a story of a woman he knew in Brussels. She had been trafficked to Brussels and Phil said that today, she was likely to be raped 5 times by 'clients'. That made me angry! Phil told us to put our pain in perspective and get out there!

the day ended in a doctor's surgery. His advice; stop running! Not likely...

I learnt a lesson today; there is a reward when you don't give up when the pain starts.

www.justgiving.com/markdrowland

tear jerker

what a great night! duncs had got us an upgrade on the overnight ferry from Holland so we went delux class! the mini bar was free but we had to refrain from turning to heavy drinking at that juncture...

we decided to dedicate the day to a two year old girl, Babou. Her mother gave birth to her unaccompanied on the roof of a train station in Mumbai after the hospital turned her away. not able to make ends meet, Babou's mother was sold to a trafficker, aged just two. she hasnt been seen since. it was all the motivation we needed to run another 25 miles today.

As we set off, I felt emotion welling up - part empathy for the reasons we were running and part in apprehension for the run ahead. Nearly six hours later, the emotions burst out again - this time in pure relief. Duncs blubbed too - so i knew it wasn't just me going soft!!

no snow today but was harder in some ways on the concrete roads. the body was in open revolt: knees, achillies and calves led the attempted coup. i had to hold the line - obedience was a non-negotiable!!

tomorrow's run includes a six mile hill - so sure the revolutionary body parts will plot another uprising. more tears likely.

www.twitter.com/stopthetraffik
www.justgiving.com/markdrowland

running in ice blocks

you have to back to 1901 to find a december that was as cold as the one we ran in Holland today! duncan and i raunthrough snow for almost 5 hours and slipped and slidded our way to the Hook of Holland.

It was a mamouth experience! it started in such great pain as our legs started working after the 30miles of yesterday. Profanities spilled from my mouth as I tried to come to terms with running on a dodgy knee. i whinced with pain every time it bent - which isn't great when you have 20 miles to go. Duncan was dealing with his own private hell and we got through singing various hits from Simon and Garfunkel.

the snow started to fall and the wind blew. Icicles formed on our hats and scarves. but it was going to take more than a blizzard to stop us! I got passed by a cyclist who wanted to know where i was running. I told him. 10mins later he returned pushing 35euros in my pocket. Amazing!

Duncan had to go faster than my shuffling pace and I lost sight of him after about two hours. From there it was just about taking every half hour. i didn't think the end would come but the euphoria when i finally saw the ferry was incredible.

the day was finished with an all you can eat chinese and the most amazing armed military policeman who was a sports masseur! he spent half an hour giving duncan and i a massage in the ferry terminal. I didn't even realise that Angels carried guns!

message for cohen

cohen - i wanted to post a video so you could see us running but it won't load up. here is a pic of us instead.

when you run long distances, you get weak and you realise afresh the things you most value. and for me, its you!

hope you are doing ok

epic day 1

incredible first day - am sitting with both knees iced up after Duncan I ran 30miles from Amsterdam. It took us 6 hours of running in sub zero conditions. it was beautiful but FREEZING running along flat Dutch countryside.

We were joined by Dutch media to set us off which was great. Tried to make sense to the reporters but only really got as far as saying we run because small steps get us along way - and it will be the same in combatting trafficking!

A fool hardy band of three other runners who made it most of the way.

Tomorrow will be equally cold as we try to get another 20miles under our belt. My knee is protesting LOUDLY - we will see who wins the battle of wills!

Why I am running from Amsterdam to London

13th Nov 2010

On Dec 3rd, my friend Duncan Parker and I plan to run 136 miles from Amsterdam to London. It is just over five marathons in six days – enough to stretch the body and mind to new limits. It is in part an experiment to discover what lies beneath for me when the veneer of easy living is stripped away.

That is important because I need to find ways to identify and remember that for many people, life is not comfortable.

UNICEF for example, cite that 1.2million children are trafficked each year. Children sold and transported into slavery for sexual exploitation, sweat shops, child brides, circuses, sacrificial worship, forced begging, sale of human organs, farm labour, domestic servitude. That is the antithesis of comfort. The trend is growing too – with over 2-4million people in total trafficked each year.

For many people, enduring their daily routine is much more demanding than running long distances will ever be.

I remember seeing that endurance in the eyes of a village elder called Waling when I visited Shan State in Burma several years ago. Standing on the spine of a mountain ridge with incredible vistas of Burma’s jungles, Waling told me how he had fled his village when the Burma Army had attacked. Out of 70 families, only 4 had made it to safety. Just before I finished speaking with him, I asked if he had lost any family members in the attack. He told me that his elderly parents had been too slow to leave and were burnt alive in their home.

Pain like that takes some carrying. Waling carried it without a trace of self-pity. Our conversation has stayed with me because as I returned to my life in the UK, I didn’t want indifference to corrode my soul.

So, this run is a simple way to keep me connected to people like Waling and those caught up in the murky world of traffiking. I want to send a message; I do care; I will act; their plight is not forgotten.

To support our run go to; www.justgiving.com/markdrowland

See more info; www.partnersworld.org and www.stopthetraffik.org


ENDs

Running from Amsterdam to London

Why the Church should care about injustice?

Frontline Church, Liverpool 31st Oct 2010

Good morning. Its great to be back here - over a decade since I left as a student. It is great find you have lost none of your warmth, dynamism and energy.

I come here today with a simple message. It is this; that issues of justice are right at the core of the Christian faith and that the renewal of the church and our own spiritual growth depends upon the commitment we have to those issues. Social Justice is not an issue Christians can add as an optional extra - like ordering extra cheese on your pizza. It is the pizza.

I want to start with a story.

There was once a devout man who lived in a world where all religious belief was illegal. He was accused of being a follower of Christ, arrested and dragged before a court.

He had been under clandestine surveillance for some time and so the prosecution had been able to build up quite a case against him; photographs that show him attending church meetings, speaking at religious events, and participating in prayer and worship services; poems and journal entries concerning his faith; a well worn bible, with scribbles, notes, and underlinings throughout.

Once the prosecution had finished presenting the case, the judge looked deep into his eyes and began to speak;

‘Of the charges that have been brought forward, I find the accused, not guilty’. ‘Not Guilty?’. Fear and terror turn to confusion and rage. He demands that the judge gives an account concerning why he is innocent of the charges.

‘What about the poems and prose that I wrote, the services I spoke at?’ He said. ‘They simply prove that you think of yourself as a poet – evidence you are good actor perhaps - nothing more’. replied the judge. ‘But this is madness. It would seem that no evidence would convince you!’

‘Not so’ replies the judge. The court is indifferent towards your bible reading and church attendance. It has no concern with your worship with words or a pen. We exist only for those only for those who would lay down their life in an endeavour to create a better world – not describe it. They are a threat to our state. So until you live as Christ and his followers did, until you challenge this system and become a thorn in our side, until you die to yourself, then my friend, you are no enemy of ours..’
Peter Rollins

After leaving Liverpool as a student, I have had the real honour to travel across in Asia, South America and Africa and hear the stories of the poor; stories of great suffering, but stories of faith and a struggle for justice.

My first job after University was to work with the Foreign Office and the family of James Mawdsley – who was a 27 year old imprisoned in Burma for a peaceful protest against the military regime. I saw up close where a deep Christian faith and a belief in justice for the world’s poor can lead you. It’s a dangerous calling. For James, it meant 17months in solitary confinement with just a copy of the bible and Thomas A Kempis’ Imitation of Christ for company.

We eventually made ourselves enough of a nuisance that the Burmese regime released James. It was good to make use of my God-given gift to make a nuisance of myself! I had worked myself out of a job but found a vocation.

The concept of justice does not need explaining. We know it when we see its anti-thesis; injustice. I’ve seen it in the tears of my son when his Buzz Lightyear toy has been snatched from him; I’ve also seen it in the ashes of a Burmese home, burnt to the ground before an elderly grandmother had time to escape.

We need to get angry about injustice but not act in anger.

No issue of injustice is so endemic, so scandalous, so damaging than the issue of poverty. In today’s world there are a billion people living in conditions comparable to feudal Britain in the 14th century. The bottom billion of our world live in about 40 countries that instead of moving forward, are on a slow train that is decisively moving backwards. If you live in one of those countries, 14% of your children will die before they are four years old. Average life expectancy is 47.

I recently visited another of these countries. Sierra Leone only comes ahead of Niger and Afghanistan – in the UN Human Dev index. Sierra Leone is resource rich – it has diamonds, iron ore deposits, beautiful beaches. But the reason people live in poverty are rooted in its 15 years of civil war – a war that ordinary people did not ask. It is also rooted in the unequal playing field that allows Western companies to mine their precious natural resources without paying fair rates of tax that could be used to build schools, roads and hospitals. I met with executives of a mining firm in SL and they flatly refused to comply with SL’s own legislation about how much tax should be paid by mining companies. It is also rooted in the worsening climate that has seen more erratic weather conditions and lower yields for poor farmers. It complex but lets be clear. It amounts to a huge injustice.

We all need light bulb moment to shake us from accepting the world as it is. I remember that moment for me. I was visiting a village of Leffe in the Siltie region of central Ethiopia. It was the rainy season and on the surface at least, all seemed lush and fertile.

But the green vegetation flattered to deceive. The water table was dangerously low and access to clean water was a huge problem.

As I climbed up a bank, what confronted me needed to be seen to be believed. Half a dozen women are wading knee deep in turgid, brown coloured water. They were helping each other fill brightly coloured jerry cans as part of a daily routine to collect and carry the 20 litres of water they need. Buzzing mosquitoes surround them – this is a natural breeding ground for malaria, typhoid and water-borne diseases.

I spoke with one of the women, Fatima Ahmed, who was carrying her three year old daughter on her back as she collected water. She told me that she sometimes she sees worms swimming in her water but she has limited choice. The only alternative is a three hour round trip to the nearest stream. I asked her what she used the water for; she said, cooking, cleaning and drinking.

In the 21st century, women are still collecting water that could kill them.

As Bono said ‘Africa didn’t just blow my mind, it opened my mind!’ Poverty is a scandal – because it exists as a result of the active choice of the empowered and privileged. Did you know that there is more money spent on treating baldness than treating malaria? A million people die each year from malaria – 90% are children under 5 in Africa. I have to tell you that if a million American or European children were dying of malaria, we would find the money for treatment.


That is exactly why Christ gave us the prophetic mandate to address issues of justice. Christian are surely called to make choices that support the weakest not exploit or expose them.

And we know where different choices can lead. Revd Jesse Jackson was with us in London last week and he reminded me that the civil rights movement, led by the churches, created the reality in which he now lives. He now lives in a country where he no longer gets jailed for stepping into a public library. That’s justice.

There are over 2000 verses that point us to God’s view of poverty and justice. Psalm 82 3-4 is one; ‘Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy.’ So, the gospel is emphatically good news for society as well as the individual.

In Luke 4.18, in one Jesus’ first public pronouncements, he sets his mission statement for his ministry when he unrolls the scroll in the synagogue; ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed.’ This was a man with a vision of spiritual and social transformation.

Theologically, there is a danger of privatising salvation to an emotional experience which fails to fully lead us into the challenge of Christ’s calling on our lives. The mystery of the gospel is that it draws us inward to understand ourselves and God and pushes outward to love and act. This is the essence of faith captured in Micah 6 8;
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy (that’s the outward process)
and to walk humbly with your God (that’s the inner life)

My reflection of my own discipleship is that it majored on the inner journey to the neglect of the outer one. We need a clear theology of justice so that we ensure it does not become relegated to an optional extra. For me this comes with an understanding that relationships at every level, individual, local, national and international, are fractured. It is from these fractured and unequal relationships that creates much of the pain and injustice we see in today’s world. Christ’s redemptive mission was to restore right relationships between Himself and His people but also between people, communities and nations.

So the relational theology brings together the inner and outer journey – something that it elusive. The Franciscan writer Richard Rohr writes ‘All of us (every church) have evaded the unmistakable teaching of Jesus’ challenge on poverty. All of us have evaded his straightforward doctrine of loving your enemy. Jesus is too much for us.’

For me, the quest for a more just world is the defining challenge of our generation. I believe that the dividing lines between churches for the next generation will not be between Protestants and Catholics or between evangelicals and liberals; I think the great distinction will be between those Christians who build issues of justice into the very DNA of their faith.

So where to start? what can we actually do? Jesus wasn’t prescriptive about how to respond. No easy answers. His use of parables left his audience an active part to find their own conclusions. And that’s the same challenge for you today but here are a few hints.

1. Courage – it always takes courage to fight injustice because you will be exposing vested interest and powerful alliances. We need courage to decide to challenge our own self-interest and make choices that carry a cost
2. Creativity - there are many options to respond; to volunteer time, perhaps giving your expertise as a trustee, to give money, to review your own carbon consumption, to buy/invest and use your money more ethically, to learn about a specific issue, to educate and inspire others, to use your voice in protest. The key is to match your God-given talents and harness them in a just cause. If you are a teacher, teach the young to fight injustice, if you are an intellectual, use it to help shape policy that will benefit the poor, if you are a writer or muscian, tell the stories of the poor.
3. Commitment – we have to decide to do something. To reject indifference and align our values, choices and actions.

Just like the man in the story we have to make sure we are ‘not too busy doing church work that we fail to do the work of the church’.

The Scandal of Sweet Home Farm

It was the morning after the dreadful night before and I was making my way with my best mate in a gold, rust-ridden 1985 Volkswagen Passat into one of South Africa’s informal settlements – Sweet Home Farm.

We hadn’t even driven round the first corner when the young boys from the community spotted our car. Worse, they knew we were English. Before you could even utter the words ‘goal-line technology’, these boys were running up to the car laughing and holding up four fingers with one hand and just one solitary finger with the other. ‘Germany 4; England 1’, they shouted with glee. And with that went my faint hope that this might be the one place where that news had filtered through...

But if I needed a perspective for my football blues, I had come to the right place. Sweet Home Farm is one of 323 informal settlements in Cape Town. It is located East of Cape Town's Southern Suburbs within the district of Philippi. The settlement started in 1995 on a rubbish dump when 12 families arrived from the Eastern Cape – looking for the promise of work in the aftermath of apartheid. Today, there are 17,000 people in Sweet Home Farm. The result of this massive urban migration (some one million have arrived in Cape Town since 1994) is an unemployment rate of up to 70%. The consequence is predictable; grinding poverty.

The constitution of South Africa confers the right for families to stay in a location unless the government can provide a suitable alternative. In the case of Sweet Home Farm, no alternative has been given. But the people live in a legal limbo land. An informal settlement means that residents don’t enjoy the same privileges as those living in formal settlements . For example, it took Cape Town City Council ten years to provide any toilets in Sweet Home Farm and basic water points have only just been provided. Only in formal settlements can families attain the title deeds in order to own a plot of land and then your own home. Home ownership is one of the main ways poor families can pass on a better hope for their children’s future. As Joy Klimbashe – the co-ordinator for the SHF team which works through 'The Warehouse' charity - put it, ‘if people have a home, it brings dignity and dignity changes people’s mindset – suddenly they have rights.’

I asked Joy why on earth the government hadn’t designated Sweet Home Farm a formal settlement so that the community could start to develop? He told me that the issue comes down to two men in Johannesburg who own half the land and have so far refused to sell it to the government. If the land isn’t municipally owned, then it cannot be declared a formal settlement.

My reaction? Appalled. Apalled that two men could halt the progress and development for 17,000 people. Appalled by the apparent desparate lack of urgency on behalf of the City Council to resolve an issue that has been rolling for a decade. Appalled that the power of the wealthy could be used to undermine the future of the poor.

However, hope is a renewable energy resource that is still there to be harnessed. The Warehouse is one of the few organisations committed to seeing the development of Sweet Home Farm. They have also identified a window of opportunity. In 2011, there are local government elections in Cape Town. It is a chance to put the scandal of Sweet Home Farm firmly on the local political agenda. A targeted and determined advocacy campaign to see the city authorities designate Sweet Home Farm a formal settlement is needed alongside work to mobilise community leadership from within Sweet Home Farm to articulate their own struggle.

That is much easier said than done. But in a country that has defeated apartheid, you have to believe that it is within the realms of possibility to see Sweet Home Farm transformed into a entitled, represented and even prosperous community. Gaining formal settlement status is the critical first step and like England’s goal that wasn’t against Germany, there is no sensible reason why the authorities haven't allowed this.

roll up, roll up - lets change the world

http://www.christianaid.org.uk/philanthropy/

Memoirs from North Korea - Day 1

From Feb 3rd-7th I joined a parliamentary delegation visiting the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) headed by Lord Alton and Baroness Cox. Here is my daily account:

Feb 3rd

As we touched down in North Korea, the landscape appeared barren and brown. Although the sun was shining, the lakes were frozen over as a result of minus 13 degree conditions the week before. From the plane you could see small silhouettes of people skating on the ice.　However, my concerns over a frosty reception were allayed when we were met on the tarmac by an enthusiastic welcoming committee, including the DPRK Ambassador.

We were ushered into the VIP lounge in which we exchanged pleasantries. After a few minutes, we were asked to hand over our mobile phones。 Although not unexpected, this was a reality check for me。 With my digital umbilical chord temporarily severed, I was driven to our hotel in a brown 1960s Mercedes. Its beige seats and flannel covered steering wheel were symbolic of the fact that time too had frozen here.

On the road to Pyongyang, we passed ordered villages built in symmetrical rows. We were told that in Pyongyang everyone had jobs, a house and enough to eat. However, outside the bubble of the capital, life was much starker. The separation with the south has meant that the North can't easily afford to feed its own people. As a result, almost 2million people died of food shortages in the 1990s and still more than 37% of six year olds in North Korea are chronically malnourished.

We arrived at our splendid Koryo Hotel and unpacked bags. Baroness Cox and I went for a walk before dinner. After a few minutes we realised we had been tracked down by our North Korean guide. He told us it was not possible for us to walk alone。 We witnessed a quiet city full of greying high rise apartment blocks and ordinary people who kept their heads down as they walked past, shy of catching your eye.

We returned from our walk for a formal dinner at the hotel。 The setting was almost opulent. After a series of speeches and course after course of food, the conversation drifted to anecdotes of the North Korean's visit to London. Apparently our host had visited the Tower of London in 1989 for a reception and parked his car in the space reserved for Lady Thatcher! He said he had been invited to the UK by a young Scottish, Labour MP. No-one could think who that would have been. 'Scottish…Labour MP?' I ventured, 'it wasn't Gordon Brown was it?' They seemed to get the joke.

The night ended with a coffee with the newly installed British Ambassador. he was obviously knowledgeable and very supportive of our visit to North Korea.