Page 33 - PC Issue 14 Summer 2020

Connection
PRESBYTERIAN WORLD SERVICE & DEVELOPMENT
From a Global Challenge, a New Start
presbyterian.ca
SUMMER 2020
PRESBYTERIAN
33
By Guy Smagghe, PWS&D Director
There is so much turbulence in our world and so much uncertainty. By the time you read this, much will have changed again. Our global com- munity is facing a common challenge and has been forced to take unprece- dented measures to protect people’s lives. As with most sudden onset disasters, the world’s response is prompt. It puts into perspective the fact that we have neglected to care for the most vulnerable on our planet and deal with protracted situations that have left us unprepared as a global community.
As things progress internationally, we are particularly concerned with how the most vulnerable people will be affected by COVID-19. In Canada, we wonder if our health system, one of the best in the world, will have the capacity to deal with the potential number of people who might need ventilators or beds in hospital inten- sive care units, and fear that many could die if the system falls short.
At the same time, we think of those who live in the developing world, where health systems are over- stretched at the best of times, where facilities are inadequate or simply non-existent. We imagine the poten- tial disastrous scenarios that might emerge should COVID-19 spread in refugee camps, such as Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. A government en- forced lockdown, in a district where over a million refugees are crowded,
means that no one can enter or exit the camp in an effort to prevent in- fection and spread.
In Africa, equipment is scarce. The World Health Organization says fewer than 5,000 intensive care beds are available across 43 of the conti- nent’s 54 countries. This is about five beds per million people, whereas in Europe there are 4,000 beds per mil- lion people.
When it comes to functional ven- tilators in public health services across 41 African countries, there are fewer than 2,000. At the time of writing, Ontario alone has 2,000 beds equipped with ventilators. We need to keep these numbers in mind when assessing how the world is doing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This pandemic has hit everyone somehow. Some PWS&D staff have lost relatives to COVID-19 and our partners have requested help to as- sist their staff and the communities they serve.
PWS&D endorsed a letter initi- ated by the Canadian Council for International Cooperation asking the government to ensure that sufficient resources be allocated to the global response to the pandemic, as most of the focus so far has been on the domestic response.
“We don’t defeat COVID-19 if we don’t defeat it everywhere on the planet,” shared Minister of Interna- tional Development, Karina Gould, at a recent online Town Hall. The gov- ernment has been slowly increasing
Crowded refugee camps, like this one in Bangladesh, create ideal conditions for the spread of COVID-19. CREDIT: PAUL JEFFREY/ACT ALLIANCE.
its international commitments, hav- ing currently provided $50 million, mostly through the World Health Or- ganization, to help poorer countries deal with the pandemic, with hopes for increased contributions by the time you read this.
PWS&D is working with our part- ners to adapt programming as nec- essary—reallocating funds planned for activities that are not possible at this time and ensuring increased capacity to access supplies that will further prevent the spread of the vi- rus and assist those who may be sick. We are also keeping in mind the safety and protection of partner staff and community members.
PWS&D has made an initial fi- nancial contribution to the Rapid Response Fund of the ACT Alliance,
specifically geared to proposals for urgent action and life-saving initiatives and, where appropriate, interventions for preparedness. PWS&D will sup- port this global response to the extent made possible by resources provided by Presbyterians in Canada.
As I complete the reading of N.T. Wright’s Lent for Everyone, I want to share a few lines that seem most relevant to today’s reality: “There is every reason to hope that this year, or this decade, or this century, God will do new things. Jesus is still Lord— but he rules in the same way that he lived, taught and died. When his fol- lowers learn again to do the same, we shall see a fresh start...‘I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”
Thank you for your solidarity, sup- port and prayers, as we work toward
The Rev. John Bannerman with Dunny Lusale, a staff member at PWS&D partner Embangweni Mission Hospital.
will not soon forget.
The women and men we visited
in Malawi taught me much about re- siliency, leadership, hospitality and hope. May God inspire us as we
In Afghanistan, midwives raise aware- ness with community members about coronavirus. CREDIT: COMMUNITY WORLD SERVICE ASIA.
this new start.
To stay up to date on PWS&D’s COVID-19 response or to make a donation, please visit WeRespond. ca/covid-19.
Veronica, a teenager who has been able to return to school after dropping out, with her mother and daughter.
strengthen our partnerships with the people of Malawi, and as we contin- ue to be with and for our sisters and brothers there in the name of One who is with us always.
Making a Difference in Malawi
By the Rev. John Bannerman, minister at Chalmers Presbyterian Church
in London, Ont., and a PWS&D committee member.
I’m writing this just over a month after returning from a PWS&D moni- toring trip to Malawi in February and yet it seems like so long ago now, as we deal with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. I worry that the coronavirus will lead to even greater devastation and death in Malawi. I pray that this will not be so.
As a member of the PWS&D com- mittee, I had the great privilege to travel with PWS&D staff and visit with Malawian partners engaging in the crucial relief and development work that we are doing through PWS&D.
At each and every field visit to rural villages in the south and north of Malawi, we were welcomed with warmth, enthusiasm and often beautiful singing. Village leaders ex-
pressed their deep gratitude for the ways in which the projects and part- nership with PWS&D have improved their quality of life. They told us that the very fact that we made the effort to be with them, to listen and to learn, was a source of encouragement and gave them hope for the future. And I learned so much from their strength, resilience and perseverance.
We gathered for a field visit in Mangwanani village. Standing before us was a 15-year-old mother in her school uniform. With tears streaming down her cheeks, Veronica shared her story, saying, “I love school.”
With the support of her parents, vil- lage leaders and PWS&D’s local par t- ner, Veronica had been able to return to school after leaving when she be- came pregnant. What a difference this will make for this teenage mother, her child and their future. The hope is that through this project many other girls will either remain in or be able to re-
turn to school so that they may enjoy the benefits of a formal education.
As I reflect on my experiences in Malawi, I am left with the clear im- pression that we are making a real and enduring difference in the lives of the people supported by PWS&D projects. The work we are doing is making an impact and providing help and hope to families and communi- ties in rural Malawi.
During another field visit to Kaweche in northern Malawi, the women of the village demonstrated how a new outdoor oven allowed them to bake bread for their commu- nity bakery business. Although we had a busy schedule that day, they insisted that we stay for lunch. The hot meal of chicken, nsima (thick porridge made of maize flour) and greens was delicious. Even with their limited means, the women of the vil- lage cooperative generously offered their gifts of hospitality in a way that I