Posts Categorized: Advocacy

Haitian farmers and civil society peacefully demand social reforms

By Cindy Corell | Mission Co-worker Haiti Haiti operates daily in crisis mode. Eighty percent of Haitians survive on less than $2.40 a day. Inflation puts the price of daily necessities further and further out of reach for the average family. The cost of education, too, is rising, so parents will do without to send… Read more »

The Hunt for Gold and Diamonds Leads to Deeper Poverty in East Cameroon

Families abandon farms and schools for small-scale mining only to be trapped in a cycle of poverty By Jaff Bamenjo | RELUFA, Joining Hands Cameroon Artisanal mining, or small-scale mining using limited machinery, is the only direct means through which local communities can benefit economically from the mineral endowments of their country. In the east… Read more »

Faithful Action During October Food Week

The 2018 Food Week of Action is coming! The week goes from October 14-21 and is a time to celebrate the abundant and precious world that we inhabit — whose diverse ecosystems provide everything we need to thrive. We also acknowledge the inequality and threats to life brought about by human greed and systems that… Read more »

Presentation of PHP’s International Work

Learn more about PHP’s international development and advocacy work By Eileen Schuhmann | Presbyterian Hunger Program Recently the staff of the Presbyterian Hunger Program put together PowerPoint presentations, complete with narrations, with the goal of helping Presbyterians and others to understand better the work that we do in the world. The hope is that the presentations can… Read more »

Why Visit?

By Jed Koball, PC(USA) Mission Co-Worker in Peru ¨I don´t understand why you are here!¨ The words came from an elder woman in the group we were meeting with in La Oroya. She had not spoken the entire time. In fact, it was the first time I had ever heard her speak. She was someone… Read more »

Haiti: Land use and the environment

By Fabienne Jean | Coordinator for FONDAMA   Before it was colonized, the island     of Haiti was inhabited    by a people who depended mainly and traditionally on natural resources. These people lived and produced their food with methods that respected the “Pachamama,” a term meaning “Our mother, the earth.” With the Treaty of Ryswick (1697), the island… Read more »

Peruvian Communities Affected by Mining and Oil Make Formal Demands

By Conrado Olivera | Red Uniendo Manos Peru Representatives of the communities most impacted by contamination from mining and oil industry activity met earlier this year with Health Minister Abel Salinas Rivas. Leaders from Espinar, La Oroya, Pasco, San Mateo, Chiriaco, Bambamarca, Puno and Cuninico were present, and they requested that the dialogue begun with… Read more »

Mining Fails Communities in DR Congo

cobalt mine DR Congo Civil society works to revise the mining code so that communities benefit from increased mining investment By Jean Marie Kabanga | Joining Hands DR Congo Since the enactment of the new mining code of the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2002 and the implementation of its mining regulations in 2003, promises for the development of local communities… Read more »

Faithful Journey Towards Justice

Joining Hands networks continue to advocate for change despite the long and unpredictable road By Doris Evangelista | Coordinator of Asociacion Red Uniendo Manos El Salvador, Joining Hands El Salvador In August, I traveled from El Salvador to Peru to gather with Joining Hands leaders from Cameroon, Sri Lanka, Haiti, Bolivia, and Peru to share experiences with each other:… Read more »

The Time is Now to Care for Water

From Water Wars to Climate Change, Bolivians are Faced with Growing Water Scarcity By Oscar Rea Campos | Foundation for Community Axión, a member of UMAVIDA The year 2000 in Bolivia was the year of the “Water War.” Under pressure from the World Bank, the government of Bolivia privatized the public water supply of Cochabamba,… Read more »