Below is the narration I wrote for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank film of Nanci and my trip to Ethiopia. I’ll be filming a bit more this weekend and then the producer will begin to piece together the documentary.
I am quite exited about the END HUNGER FAST campaign to be launched this fall. I am increasingly convinced that there is no program to end hunger that will work in the long run unless we in the west voluntarily divest of some of our wealth and reduce our consumption drastically – hence Fast. Its a conviction I didn’t expect to come home with, but just giving money is not enough. I’ve begun to seek ways of using less, consuming less, eating less – I’ve all but stopped using my car and am going to sell it right away. I’m getting used to the bus system in Winnipeg and walking to places where I can.
It all seems so small and insignificant but our grossly disproportionate use of the world’s resources, mostly for pleasure, novelty and convenience is really hurting people in other lands. It’s hurting ourselves as well. Last week the news said that 60% of Canadians are overweight. The health costs to the government of an overweight population is enormous. Our government claims it can’t afford to meet it’s commitment to the UN Millennium Development Goals, while our health costs as a result of our own immoderation far exceed what we have committed (but apparently can’t afford) to combat world poverty.
What a fitting metaphor – here we are, sluggish and portly from empty calories – overweight and starving at the same time. Like a snake that doesn’t realize it’s eating its own tail.
My trip to Ethiopia began… with a fast.
Among other things, I was seeking direction from God regarding my growing awareness and concern around issues of World Hunger. As a Christian in an age of unprecedented wealth, how do I respond to the reality of millions people without adequate food, without adequate water? How do I find my way through the often contradictory or politicized solutions put forward to address an issue that, in the end, is really a crisis of justice and of love?
So I decided to enter into a fast, and I wanted it to be a fast that would constantly remind me to pray.What could I give up that would draw my attention throughout the day?
I decided to fast from coffee.
A month later, I receive a call from the Canadian Foodgrains Bank asking my wife Nanci and me to visit several development projects they sponsor in Ethiopia. Of course I was delighted at the opportunity to visit such a mythical, lengendary land, but I burst out laughing when I found out that Ethiopia was also the geographic place of origin for the coffee tree.
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Although Ethiopia is home to some of the poorest people in the world, what struck us first was the profound beauty of the land and her people. I had no idea! My images of Ethiopia were formed by media pictures of famine back in the early 80s. I remembered expansive wasteland, withered trees and withering bodies. Nothing in me was prepared for the wealth of breathtaking grandeur and loveliness that awaited us around every bend.
Ethiopians themselves have a strong beauty appropriate to their landscape. There is a grand tranquility and charm of people and land here that generates a curious longing and ache in a visitor like me.
77 million people living in an area 1/10 the size of Canada; children everywhere – playing… threshing…herding goats… returning from school hand in hand with books in arm. Always ready with an eager smile and a chance to practice their English on a foreigner – most requesting a pen to help them with their schoolwork.
Our first stop was a base camp in the Afar Desert.
Here 1.6 million pastoralists are facing the end of their traditional nomadic way of life as a result of climate change. For centuries this arid region has sustained the Afar people and its millions of goats and cattle. It has not been an easy life, but it has been a good life. Recently however, the frequency of drought has dramatically increased and the land is no longer capable of sustaining her people without some kind of intervention.
Under the guidance of an energetic group of young Ethiopian agricultural and engineering professionals, the Afar people have built a water weir on this meager river, diverting some of its water down a 5 kilometer irrigation ditch, effectively turning thousands of acres of dry land into a rich agricultural resource. Having never been farmed, the soil is wonderfully fertile – just add water and a little crop rotation know-how, and what was desert becomes a sustainable resource of glorious food. This is the first bumper crop – more than is locally needed. For the first time, these new farmers have the happy problem of getting their excess food to market.
Elizabeth coordinated the first irrigation project. She comes from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital city and has a degree in agriculture. At first the Afar men said that a project like this would never work if lead by a woman – but in her own shy, determined manner, Elizabeth proved them wrong. The result has been a bit of a cultural revolution in the community as women now sit on councils they have never sat on before.
The initial project has been so successful that a second one is now underway some ten kilometers down river. The workers come by the hundreds every day. They are paid in food supplied by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank to build a structure and new way of life that will eventually render such aid unnecessary.
This is a real cause for celebration! In the evening I was given the opportunity to sing some of my songs – and we were given the opportunity to receive the gift of song and dance in return.
We also visited a project in South Gondar – half way across the country from the Afar region.
Here, again, a group of dedicated young Ethiopian professionals are working with the community to rehabilitate tired, over farmed and badly eroded hillside with a multi-faceted program of reforestation, terracing and check dams to halt and reverse the damage of erosion. Crop rotation programs help to replenish the soil.
Most farm families are surviving off the harvest of 2 to 5 acres of land. With the population of Ethiopia expected to double in the next 20 years, any loss of arable land or soil fertility is a crisis.
Mobilizing the people with a food for work program supported by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Ephraim oversees the building of roads, construction of terraces, water harvesting, the rehabilitation of gullies and reforestation for firewood and construction.
Only a few years ago, these hills were stripped of trees and the soil was eroding at an alarming rate. The result of the work here has made sustainable livelihoods possible.
Back at the camp – a nursery produces 4.5 million seedlings a year. Again, a food for work program supported by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank employs many to plant, water and nurture the very trees, grasses and crops that will become their own livelihood. This is a soup to nuts project:
Some harvest seeds…
Some sift and mix soils …
Others make soil plugs…
Some plant…
Others water…
The result seems miraculous;
Olive trees… foraging grasses… sorghum…corn…
Food Security is not something that worries the average Canadian citizen. We don’t think much about it much at all. It is readily available and as a result we are free to invest our time and energy into relationships, personal development, business, invention, leisure and culture. It is not so for those whose labor can be undone by a single year of drought. It is not so for a country whose prime labor force is being decimated by AIDS, a disease which is greatly exacerbated by malnutrition. It is not so for a country whose stability has been undermined by internal warfare, the residual effects of colonization, unfair international trade rules, unsupportable debt and paternalistic aid that sometimes meets the needs of donors more than recipients.
Hunger is real, but it is not inevitable. Nanci and I witnessed amazing commitment, and thoughtful, sustainable solutions as a result of the work that Canadian Foodgrains Bank supports.
We also witnessed how far a little support goes. Roughly $35 can feed a family of five for a month. And that is certainly something that we can do. But here I also began to understand that our own lifestyle back home is an obstacle to long-term solutions. In Ethiopia, a family lives off of the fruit of less than five acres. In Canada, it takes roughly 30 acres per person to support our present lifestyle. Shockingly, for every human on earth to enjoy the same lifestyle as we do at home, would require the resources of 5 more earths.
So for me, what started as a fast will continue to be a fast; learning to live with less, learning to live more simply so that others can simply live. And I invite anyone who wants, to join me on this journey. Besides offering others a chance to contribute to the welfare of others financially, we have also set up a website to discuss and promote ways of living that show our kinship with all whom God loves.
Jesus once referred to himself as the bread of life. This is the same man who first appeared to us as a baby in a lowly feeding trough. While in Ethiopia, I suddenly recalled, with a sense of inspired urgency, that after his resurrection, several of Jesus’ friends didn’t recognize him until they began to share a meal. There is a profound connection between hunger and the gospel. Simply put, Christ is revealed in the sharing of bread, or perhaps, we are most like Christ when we share bread.
The kingdom of God is a banquet…
So gather what you can and come to the table…
It’s time for everyone to eat.
