Posts Tagged: land grab

Doctrine granted Europeans right to indigenous nations

Cruel land thefts continue 500 years later, taking livelihoods and lives By Cindy Corell | Mission Co-worker Haiti Five rooms of the house had been laid out. Cinder blocks outlined the home; some walls were as high as an adult. Room-by-room, block-by-block, Rita Lucas and her family were building a new house. It had taken… Read more »

Fighting colonialism and poverty globally through the Joining Hands initiative

By Eileen Schuhmann, and Valery Nodem | Presbyterian Hunger Program *This article was originally published in the PHP Post Spring 2021/Matthew 25 Edition In our international work, the Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP) is in many ways working with partners to remedy the past injustices that are the legacy of colonialism, as well as to fight… Read more »

Poem: Once Upon a Time There Be… A Tale of the Doctrine of Discovery

By Rev. Ellie Stock I Once upon a time there be . . . There be a Doctrine of Discovery, Dum Diversas, Romanus Pontifex, and Inter Caetera, three decrees, Papal bulls of the 15th century (lead bulla sealing with the heads of Peter and Paul, two saints they be), Promised Land conquest, Christendom, and Crusading… Read more »

Land Rights Victories Post Tsunami

Joining Hands Sri Lanka continues to make gains in the fight for land rights as tourism grows By Herman Kumara | Praja Abhilasha “Building Back Better” continues to be the World Bank’s motto for “rebuilding stronger, faster, and more inclusively” after natural disasters. The motto was first introduced during the post 2004 tsunami development process…. Read more »

Two decades of journey for social change

Joining Hands Cameroon celebrates gains for communities By Jaff Bamenjo | RELUFA In September 2009, I joined RELUFA, the Joining Hands network in Cameroon, as an intern after finishing my master’s degree in development at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, Netherlands. As a young Cameroonian graduate, I came back home with a… Read more »

Fifteen Years of Land Rights Work in Sri Lanka

Praja Abhilasha network has been fighting alongside communities to regain lands taken during wartime and after the tsunami By Raajan Francis | Praja Abhilasha On December 26, 2004, a powerful tsunami waves devastated the Sri Lankan coastal areas around the country destroying fishing villages, flooding rice fields and plantations and sowing grief among rural and… Read more »

FONDAMA celebrates 10 years amid chaos

Joining Hands Haiti continues to fight for peasant farmers as political and economic instability grow By Ernst Abraham | FONDAMA, Joining Hands Haiti The 10-year anniversary of FONDAMA, the Joining Hands network in Haiti, has come at a difficult time for the country.  All citizens are protesting. As the population took to the streets, the… Read more »

Fires in Indonesia and Beyond

Palm oil industry fuels land grab, deforestation and climate change By Eileen Schuhmann | Presbyterian Hunger Program Imagine looking straight ahead and seeing a perfectly straight line of oil palm trees. Everywhere you look, to the left, to the right, at every angle, a perfectly straight line. This is what it is like in an… Read more »

Homes and Livelihoods Fall into the Sea

Sri Lanka builds a man-made island and fisherfolk lose everything to coastal erosion By Herman Kumara and Prasad Purnimal Jayamanna | Praja Abhilasha, Joining Hands Network Sri Lanka The Sri Lankan Government’s Port City project is well underway.  The project, carried out in partnership with the China Communication Construction Company (CCCC), extends the city of… Read more »

Communities Struggle for Fair Compensation in Cameroon

Large-scale development projects destroy property and livelihoods By Jaff Bamenjo with contributions from Prosper Kouayep  and Jacques Bile | RELUFA, Joining Hands Cameroon Since 2000, large-scale development projects have been on the rise in Cameroon. The implementation of oil pipeline, road , port infrastructure  and agribusiness projects have resulted in the destruction of property and… Read more »