Girls who left behind a life on the streets of a slum surround their teacher at the Pan- gani Lutheran Children’s Center in Nairobi, Kenya. Their teacher, a former resident of the girls’ home, returned to serve after earn- ing her teaching credentials. The center pro- vides education, food, clothing, case man- agement, health care and, in some cases, housing for more than 80 girls. All names withheld for privacy.
child sponsorship? It’s certainly more authentic to who we are as an evan- gelical church. Ryan Cumming: With child spon-
sorship there’s very much a focus on one group being needy and the other group having all the resources. As the ELCA, we fi nd that it’s not that one partner has the resources and one partner has the need. We come together in mutual need. We remain open to God
DANIEL RIFT
Why not R
Here’s why ELCA World Hunger practices accompaniment By Elizabeth Hunter
ecently T e Lutheran interviewed ELCA World Hun- ger director Daniel Riſt , hunger education director Ryan Cumming and Mary Marete, ELCA Global
Mission program director for sustainable development, about why the ELCA doesn’t use child sponsorship to help people who are vulnerable or living in poverty.
The Lutheran: ELCA World Hunger takes a different approach. Why? Daniel Riſt : Our approach is
aimed at accompanying communities to care for their own … principally through church-related integrated development and relief eff orts. We provide fi nancial support that will
24
www.thelutheran.org
allow those communities to care for children of their community themselves. In the long run, we see effi ciency in equipping a commu- nity, building up self-suffi ciency for a family, [and] instilling a sense of local stewardship and responsibility. Is accompaniment better than
child sponsorship?
and open to stories of our his- tory together [that] are sometimes uncomfortable. T is is an important part of the ELCA’s relationships with our global companions. We can’t forget there’s a history that we’re all still living in of colonization, marginalization, subjectifi cation and violence. One of the problems with child sponsorship is that [it] ignore[s] those realities or [doesn’t] bring enough attention to them.
Those are important differences. Can you say more about accompaniment? Mary Marete: As a church we
uphold values of mutuality, inclu- sivity, vulnerability, empowerment and sustainability. Our companions identify and prioritize the projects and problems they want to focus on. We walk with our companions to help them address those needs, also building a relationship between com- munities—the companion churches and the ELCA synods. T is is a rights-based approach
that builds the capacity, competence and confi dence of people to address their needs as individuals, family members and community members. For example, our companions
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
