An old college friend of mine speaking about the MDG's. He is the executive director of Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
World MDG Blogging Day
"The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight goals agreed to in 2000 by 189 heads of state and government -- including the United States -- from around the world that address the deepest material brokenness in the world today." Please see more at the Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation website.
I've always tried to be a spiritual person - from the time, at 6 years old, I first got on a church bus alone to go to Sunday school, through my conversion to the Episcopal Church, to my 20 year long absence from the body of Christ, to now. I think of things in spiritual terms and no matter how I've addressed The Unknown, I've always talked to Him, Her, It, Them intimately and lovingly. To me there is no question that there's a Creator, that we are Created Beings, loved and watched over.
That belief, though, gives me problems in some areas - why, if God loves us, is there anguish in the world? Why is there pain, heartbreak, why are the following statistics true?
*1.2 billion people living on less than $1 a day.
*110 million children who aren't allowed even a full course of primary education
*Half a million women a year dying of complications from childbirth and pregnancy.
*A child under 5 dying every three seconds from preventable, treatable causes
*8,000 people (more than died in the September 11 attacks) dying each day of HIV/AIDS
I've never been able to understand, and I strive every day to reconcile what seems and feels like two very differing things - a loving God and a dying world. Maybe that's the key - a loving God for a dying world.
What can I do today, on World MDG Blogging Day? Not much from my tiny corner of the world, but I will make some promises, if I can. Small things at first, and strive to find larger ways I can help.
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. I can't solve hunger or poverty. I can, however, try to help hunger where I find it. I resolve to contribute more regularly to the food bank via my church, and to find other places where I can help feed the hungry.
2. Achieve universal primary education. I will continue to support groups that seek to educate people all over the world, sending small gifts of educational supplies and equipment where I can.
3. Promote gender equality and empower women. My Mother-in-Law and several other members of my family are missionaries in the Philippines, and they work hard to do just these things. I will continue to support them as I can, and try to educate others about their work. Here at home I will continue to work with my husband to teach our son that his parents are equal humans, each with a job to do, and that no choice of job or role is less equal or less important than the other as long as it is chosen, developed with care, and respected.
4. Reduce child mortality. Again, I will continue to support my sister-in-law who works as a midwife and my other family in educating mothers-to-be in the Philippines.
5. Improve maternal health. See 3 and 4. I will also try to use the skills I learned in my breast feeding mentor program to help mothers I know prepare for breastfeeding and in feeding their children.
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Try to find ways through my church and other group to contribute to causes that will support the fight.
7. Ensure environmental sustainability. Continue to recycle and look for ways to recycle more. Continue to work toward a more green household, and to teach my son to be green his whole life long.
8. Create a global partnership for development with targets for aid, trade and debt relief.
I can't think of ways that I can be an active part of this, but perhaps I will over time.
Each of the MDG's is worth meditation on, and more research. I'll strive to do this and be a small cog to help move a bigger machine.
That belief, though, gives me problems in some areas - why, if God loves us, is there anguish in the world? Why is there pain, heartbreak, why are the following statistics true?
*1.2 billion people living on less than $1 a day.
*110 million children who aren't allowed even a full course of primary education
*Half a million women a year dying of complications from childbirth and pregnancy.
*A child under 5 dying every three seconds from preventable, treatable causes
*8,000 people (more than died in the September 11 attacks) dying each day of HIV/AIDS
I've never been able to understand, and I strive every day to reconcile what seems and feels like two very differing things - a loving God and a dying world. Maybe that's the key - a loving God for a dying world.
What can I do today, on World MDG Blogging Day? Not much from my tiny corner of the world, but I will make some promises, if I can. Small things at first, and strive to find larger ways I can help.
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. I can't solve hunger or poverty. I can, however, try to help hunger where I find it. I resolve to contribute more regularly to the food bank via my church, and to find other places where I can help feed the hungry.
2. Achieve universal primary education. I will continue to support groups that seek to educate people all over the world, sending small gifts of educational supplies and equipment where I can.
3. Promote gender equality and empower women. My Mother-in-Law and several other members of my family are missionaries in the Philippines, and they work hard to do just these things. I will continue to support them as I can, and try to educate others about their work. Here at home I will continue to work with my husband to teach our son that his parents are equal humans, each with a job to do, and that no choice of job or role is less equal or less important than the other as long as it is chosen, developed with care, and respected.
4. Reduce child mortality. Again, I will continue to support my sister-in-law who works as a midwife and my other family in educating mothers-to-be in the Philippines.
5. Improve maternal health. See 3 and 4. I will also try to use the skills I learned in my breast feeding mentor program to help mothers I know prepare for breastfeeding and in feeding their children.
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Try to find ways through my church and other group to contribute to causes that will support the fight.
7. Ensure environmental sustainability. Continue to recycle and look for ways to recycle more. Continue to work toward a more green household, and to teach my son to be green his whole life long.
8. Create a global partnership for development with targets for aid, trade and debt relief.
I can't think of ways that I can be an active part of this, but perhaps I will over time.
Each of the MDG's is worth meditation on, and more research. I'll strive to do this and be a small cog to help move a bigger machine.
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