Volume 8 Number 3 Fall/Winter 2006

...a Seeds of Hope publication

OSLO, NORWAY—In October, the Nobel Com-mittee awarded the Grameen Bank—and itsfounder, Muhammad Yunus—the 2006 NobelPeace Prize, “for their efforts to create eco-nomic and social development from below.”

The committee’s statement said, “Lastingpeace cannot be achieved unless large popula-tion groups find ways in which to break out ofpoverty. Microcredit is one such means. Devel-opment from below also serves to advancedemocracy and human rights.”

Yunus—a doctoral graduate of VanderbiltUniversity in Nashville, TN—was teachingadvanced economic theories at the Universityof Chittagong in southern Bangladesh, whenthe infamous famine of 1974 hit his country.

In his book, Banker to the Poor, (writtenwith Alan Jolis) Professor Yunus said that hetried at first to ignore all of the skeleton-likepeople who were showing up in the capital cityof Dhaka. But they kept coming, and he soonbecame disenchanted with the “elegant eco-nomic theories” he was teaching. In fact, hesaid that he began to dread his own lectures.

In response to what he saw, Yunus went tothe nearby village of Jobra and worked onseveral ideas with his students for improvingthe economic conditions there. He discoveredthat one of the many ideas he tried was moresuccessful than the rest—giving small loans tovery poor people, without collateral, for tinybusiness enterprises.

In 1976, he loaned $27 to each of 42 fami-

Yunus, Grameen BankAwarded Nobel Peace Prize

lies. He believed that they could create smallitems with this money, for sale, without theburdens of predatory lending.

He also believed that making similar loansavailable to a wide population could help re-lieve the poverty then rampant in ruralBangladesh.

The Grameen Bank (literally, “Bank of theVillages,” in Bangla) is the outgrowth of thisexperiment. Yunus founded the Bank as a re-search project, in partnership with the univer-sity, to test this method for providing credit andbanking services to the rural poor. The projectwas immensely successful.

In 1979, the government helped to intro-duce the project to the Tangail District (north ofDhaka, the capital). The Bank’s success contin-ued, and it soon spread to various other districts.In 1983 it was transformed into an independentbank by the Bangladesh legislature. The projectcontinues to expand across the country and stillprovides small loans to the rural poor.

In 1989 the new initiatives became so nu-merous that the Bank began to establish them asseparate organizations. Programs like theGrameen Fisheries Foundation, the GrameenKrishi Foundation (for irrigation projects), andthe Grameen Trust (which took on the interna-tional replication and health programs) are allconnected under the Grameen Family of Orga-nizations. By the middle of this year, Grameenbranches numbered more than 2,100.

The Grameen model is the basis for somecontinued on page 2

In This

Issue:A New Hunger

Glossarypage 2

Iraqis FaceCrippling Cycle of

Violence andPovertypage 3

ImmigrationIssues:

House and SenatePass Immigration

Billspage 4

‘Endless Exodus’—a Film aboutImmigrants

page 5

Hunger NewsHaiti and DebtRelief, ChildPoverty in the

Midwest, Changesfor WIC,

Rebuilding in theGulf

pages 10-11

Quotes, Poems,& Pithy Sayings

page 12

Hunger News & Hope 2 Fall/Winter 2006

250 microcredit and self-help group sys-tems now at work in more than 100countries. Within the Grameen system, agroup of five individuals borrows money,but the whole group is denied fur-ther credit if one person defaults.

This creates economic incen-tives for the group to act responsi-bly and increases Grameen’s eco-nomic viability. (Grameen’s pay-back rate is more than 98 percent.)Its success has inspired a globalmicroenterprise movement.

The Grameen Bank is nowowned by its borrowers, most ofwhom are women of low income.In a country in which few womenare allowed loans from commer-cial banks, 97 percent of Grameen’sloan recipients are women. Morethan half of Grameen borrowers(close to 50 million) have risen out

of acute poverty thanks to their loans.What this means is that all of their

children of school age are in school, allhousehold members are eating three mealsa day. In addition, they have sanitary toi-lets, rainproof houses, clean drinking wa-ter, and the ability to repay 300 takas aweek (about US$8).

Grameen,continued from page 1

The Grameen Bank is hailed byeconomists and political scientists as oneof the most important developments inthe developing world in the last 100 years.

Yunus is the first Bangladeshi to winthe prestigious Nobel award. The 65-year-old said he would use part of hisshare of the $1.4 million prize to create a

company to make low-cost, high-nutrition food for the poor, and sellit for a nominal price. The rest wouldgo toward setting up an eye hospitalfor the poor in Bangladesh, he said.—sources: the Grameen Bank(www.grameen-info.org), the NobelFoundation (www.nobelprize.org),“The New Heroes” and “Bankingon People,” PBS Online Newshour,Public Broadcasting System(www.pbs.org). See also theGrameen Foundation in Washing-ton, DC (www.grameenfoundation.org).

1. Malnutrition. A broad term for a range of conditions thathinder good health, caused by inadequate or unbalancedfood intake or from poor absorption of food consumed.Refers to both undernutrition and overnutrition—conditionsof both deprivation and excess.2. Undernutrition. The result of prolonged low level offood intake and/or low absorption of food consumed.3. Undernourishment. The status of persons whose foodintake regularly provides less than their minimum energyrequirements.4. Chronically undernourished. Those whose estimatedannual energy intake falls below that required to maintainbody weight and support light activity.5. Micronutrient deficiency. Lack of essential vitaminsand minerals resulting from unbalanced food intake andspecific problems of absorption of food consumed.6. Micronutrient malnutrition. Refers to vitamin andmineral deficiency disorders. Often occurs as part of generalundernutrition due primarily to overall inadequate food

intakes (through poor access to foods that are good sources ofthese nutrients or poor dietary habits).7. Overnutrition. Result of excessive food intake in relationto energy requirements.8. Food security. Exists when all people at all times have bothphysical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritiousfood that meets their dietary needs for an active and healthylife.9. Food insecurity. Exists when people lack access to sufficientamounts of safe and nutritious food, and therefore are notconsuming enough for an active and healthy life. This may bedue to the unavailability of food, inadequate purchasingpower, or inappropriate utilization at the household level.Note: Energy requirements are determined by body size,activity level and physiological conditions such as illness,infection, pregnancy, and lactation.—adapted from a 2006 statement by Feeding Minds, FightingHunger, partnering with the Food and AgricultureOrganization of the United Nations.

A New Hunger Glossaryfrom Feeding Minds, Fighting Hunger

Hunger News & Hope 3Fall/Winter 2006

Poverty on the Rise SinceBeginning of War

BAGHDAD, IRAQ—Violence and deterio-rating security cause a host of problemsfor today’s Iraq, diminishing the country’sintegrity and hope for food security. Un-employment, displacement, and lack ofbasic needs were identified as problemareas for the country in several IRIN re-ports in the last few weeks.

More than 60 percent of Iraqis areunemployed, according to reports byNGOs that have been confirmed by theMinistry of Labour and Social Affairs. Asmore children leave school for work tosupplement their parents’ income, Iraq’sstate of affairs becomes graver.

Since the 2003 US occupation of Iraq,it seems that concerns have only increased,including a 35 percent increase amongthose living below the poverty line. IRINreported that 5.6 million live under thepoverty line, and that 40 percent of thoselive in absolute poverty, with no access tobasic human needs.

Like drug dealing and prostitution inthe United States and other nations, ter-rorism is often the last resort for the unem-ployed in Iraq. Terrorism is the manifes-tation of violence as the beginning andend of Iraqi problems.

Violence Is a Way of LifeReaching into the deepest grooves of

Iraqi society, violence brings about aninability to cope with a wide range ofconcerns. Violence breeds fear amongIraqis as they are pushed away fromsources of hope or comfort.

NGOs report that parents are afraid tosend their children to school and familiesare compelled to flee their homes. Insur-gent violence has forced others out oftheir homes or out of the country, leavingstartling numbers of internally displacedpersons and refugees.

Iraqis Face Crippling Cycleof Violence and Poverty

by Meredith Mull

The Ministry of Education reportsthat only 30 percent of Iraq’s 3.5 millionstudents are currently attending class—the worst attendance since the US-ledinvasion in 2003. Insurgent bombings andthreats have forced the closure of manyschools.

Delaying hope for many of these Ira-qis, donors to the United Nations refugeeagency (UNHCR) have drastically scaledback their contributions for 2007.

According to UNHCR, more than 1.5million Iraqis are internally displaced and1.6 million are refugees in neighboringcountries—the largest displacement of anyUNHCR project in the world. Yet withbarely half of the agency’s already insuf-ficient budget, the future looks grim.

Refugees who still face unemploy-ment and little support in their destinationcountries. Refugees come for safety tocountries like Syria and Jordan, with fewor no resources, and then face unemploy-ment and lack of support there.

For many, there seems to be littleescape from the spread of violence. IraqiChristians and media workers are amongthose targeted by militants. Letters andintimidating leaflets predict increasingdanger for Christians, who are now call-ing on the international religious commu-nity to help them leave Iraq.

Though the number of threats hasincreased since Pope Benedict XVI’s Sep-tember comments about Muslims, thisviolence has been ongoing. Iraqi journal-ists and media workers also face contin-ued threats.

Disrupted InfrastructureIraq faces a seemingly endless cycle

of sectarian violence and deterioratingsecurity. Violence leads to unemployment,which leads to poverty, which leads todecreased access to basic necessities—allof which lead back to violence and insecu-

rity as some Iraqis turn to desperate mea-sures to provide for their families.

This vicious cycle also brings grief toIraqis who are not involved in the vio-lence. A disrupted infrastructure bringsabout a number of hardships.

According to IRIN, Iraqis typicallyhave only a few hours of power a day, noclean water, and little infrastructure sup-port. Broken sewage pipes are normal.Although the US and Iraqi governmentspromised 6,000 projects to repair and up-grade infrastructure after the 2003 occu-pation, only 35 percent have actually beencompleted.

A monetary inflation of 30 percent inthe past year has also strained the budgetsof Iraqis. In a population of 30 million, 70percent require food rations—double thenumber who required it during SaddamHussein’s regime.

Maintaining support of constituentshas become an increasing struggle for thegovernment, and vice versa. The Iraqigovernment lacks control over its increas-ingly violent and divided constituency,and Iraqis feel unsupported by a frailgovernment.

Boosted international effort will beneeded for Iraq to move out of this quag-mire. Cultural and religious differencesneed to be pushed aside for the sake of theIraqi people.—from various IRIN reports. IRIN is theIntegrated Regional Information Net-works, a humanitarian news agency cov-ering sub-Saharan Africa, eight countriesin centra Asia, and Iraq.

Hunger News & Hope 4 Fall/Winter 2006

immigration issues

Hundreds of miles of fencing line theborder between the US and Mexico,

burdening taxpayers and closing offcommunities. Millions of residents in theUS play a vital role in its society andeconomy, yet are officially recognized asundocumented and illegal.

Lawmakers and private citizens havea wide range of opinions about the issue ofimmigration, and a myriad of solutionshave been proposed, but what is actuallybeing done to address this complexproblem?

There are various concerns to beconsidered on the topic of immigration.Obviously, one question that must beaddressed is what to do about the estimated12 million undocumented immigrantscurrently residing in the US.

This question is one focus of the billsthat passed in both houses of the USCongress in early fall. The Senate’s billdeals more directly with the issue ofimmigrants who are already living in thecountry, proposing guest-workerprograms and a three-tiered system forsecuring eventual legal status for manyresidents who are currentlyundocumented.

A few years ago, President Bush putforth a proposition for a temporary-workerprogram in which foreign workers couldobtain jobs in the US (jobs which hadproven otherwise unwanted by Americanworkers) for a specified period—such asthree years—and then would leave thecountry once this period ended.

This plan would have used“tamperproof” identification cards, itwould not have offered citizenship toworkers, and it would have imposed a fineon illegal immigrants before they enteredthe program. Still, it was seen as “overly

Amid Strong Controversy, House and SenatePass Bills to Stem Flow of Immigrants

by Jessie Campbell

amnesty-like” and rejected because ofthat.

The current Senate bill is more“comprehensive,” meaning that itcombines guest-worker programs andlegalization paths (to address currentimmigrants and undocumented residents)with stricter border security measures (tostem the immigration flood and protectAmerican interests).

The tightening of border security isthe main topic of the House bill. It proposes700 more miles of fencing along the US/Mexico border that would be protectedby the thousands of Border Patrol agentsalready stationed in these communities.This type of fencing is no averagebackyard, chain-link project.

Past fences have been composedof two to three layers of 15-footwalls, surrounded by a large securityzone that is monitored 24 hours aday with high-tech surveillance,agents, and guard dogs, and isgoverned by military protocol.

Construction of such fencing isalso a serious undertaking cost-wise,as one such project in San Diegogave actual estimates of $4 millionto $12 million per mile of fencing.

Past surveys have shown theAmerican public to be against suchfencing projects, but the new billincludes this component as part ofits “comprehensive” approachdespite such opposition.

Some lawmakers are concernedabout the practicality of getting thesebills implemented right now. Theypropose alternatives such asconcentrating on the guest-workerand border control programs this yearand leaving the more complicated

legalization issue until next year in orderto avoid a road block of too many legislativedetails at once.

Immigrants and their supporters arecalling for legalization, familyreunification, rights in the workplace, andparticipation in the community. Thegovernment has seemingly tried to respondwith the compromise of recognizing thevital role that these residents play in theeconomy and society, while continuing tomaintain enforcement of the law.

As the issue has heated up over thepast year-and-a-half, hundreds ofthousands of people have marched in thestreets for immigrant rights. A year ago,

To learn more about the issue of

immigration and current legislative

activities, go to the following web sites:

• American Friends Service Committee:

www.afsc.org

• Border Working Group:

www.rtfcam

(See their Las Posadas Packet.)

• Christian Peacemaker Teams:

http://cpt.org/arizona

• Justice for Immigrants:

www.justiceforimmigrants.org

• Mennonite Church USA:

www.mennonitesusa.org

(See their statement on

immigration; also their

“Strangers No More”

congregational resource.)

• Mennonite Central Committee US:

www.mcc.org

• Third Way Café:

www.thirdway.com

continued on page 5

Hunger News & Hope 5Fall/Winter 2006

immigration issues

President Bush proposed sending National Guard troops to assist the Border Patrol.Union organizations like the United Farm Workers of America and the AFL-CIOresponded with skepticism, which continued as they monitored legislative activitythis fall.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney told People Weekly, “Reasoned bordersecurity is important, but it will not fix our broken immigration system.” Sweeneycalled instead for immigration reform that provides “protection of rights andstandards” for all workers including the millions of undocumented workers.

While there is rarely a perfect solution to such complicated issues as these, thereis the hope that lawmakers, citizens, and immigrants can work together to achievea satisfactory result that benefits and strengthens the community as a whole.—Jessie Campbell—a native of Longview, Texas—wrote this article as part of aclass in poverty issues at Baylor University.Sources: Sacramento Bee, Washington Post, People’s Weekly, American FriendsService Committee, Mennonite Central Committee; and Justice for Immigrants. Seealso www.imminfo.com and www.cirnow.org.

It was Saturday afternoon when I satdown to watch Gerard Thomas Straub’s

film, Endless Exodus. As I sipped my hotchocolate, the documentary on migrantworkers from Mexico and CentralAmerica began, as did my ownintrospective journey.

The film was broken into threesegments. The first looks closely at theinhumane conditions and poor quality oflife that migrant workers and their familiesendure in their homes in Mexico andCentral America.

The second part takes the watcheralong the long, arduous journey of migrantworkers from their homes and families tothe United States. Finally, the film endsby examining the lives of migrant workersin the States, if they ever make it here.

Since 1995, over 3,000 immigrantshave died trying to get to the US. Today,as uninformed American citizens, it iseasy for many of us to fall into the trap ofthinking that these immigrants want tolive here.

In many cases, this is simply not true.The migrant workers do not wish to leavebehind their families, culture, traditions,

Endless Exodus:

and homeland to come to the US, butrather they are forced here by starvationand poverty. Forty percent of the Mexicanpopulation is unemployed.

These workers’ families are starving,and in order to feed their children, theymust leave them.

This documentary was eye-openingand filled me with overwhelming sorrow.I began to ask myself, “How is it possiblethat such social injustice exists, andnobody is doing anything to put an end toit?” I was shocked, and then convicted,by Straub’s harsh words, “the poor willalways be with us because we do notcare.”

This made me think about the waysin which my own self-centerednessrenders me unable to see the sufferings ofothers. As I sat in tears of conviction,Straub finished his thought by saying that“a society that turns a blind eye to such ashameful place has lost its soul.”

I introspectively wondered, “Have Ilost my soul? Has humanity lost its soul?”I cannot survive plagued by such thoughtsof hopelessness. I have not—we havenot—lost our souls, but this documentaryis a potent reminder that our souls areimperfect, and need polishing.

People across the globe are suffering.Rather than dwelling on the bad, I startedthinking about ways I could help. If weall did something, even a little something,then something would be better—noteverything, but something, and somethingis as good a place as any to start.—Tracie La Brie is a writer in Arcadia,California. She is a recent graduate of

Immigration Bills, continued from page 4

A Review and Introspectionby Traci La Brie

This documentary was eye-opening and filled me with

overwhelming sorrow. Ibegan to ask myself,

“How is it possible that suchsocial injustice exists, and

nobody is doing anything toput an end to it?”

Baylor University in Professional Writingand served as editorial assistant at Seedsof Hope.

Endless Exodus is available from the San Damiano Foundation in Burbank, CA. Formore information, go to www. sandamianofoundation.org.

Hunger News & Hope 6 Fall/Winter 2006

hunger news

Jubilee USA Calls forBroader Relief for Haiti

WASHINGTON, DC—The folks at JubileeUSA are calling for US citizens to contacttheir representatives in Congress, askingthem to House Resolution 888. The reso-lution calls for 100 percent debt cancella-tion in Haiti, the poorest country in theWestern hemisphere.

“People in Haiti and around the worldare hopeful that 2006 will mark a positiveshift toward just and equitable develop-ment in the most impoverished country inthe Americas,” Debayani Karr wrote inthe Jubilee USA newsletter.

Under the 29-year rule of the Duvalierfather-son dictatorship, the Haitian peoplesuffered immeasurable human rightsabuses, increasing poverty levels and sky-rocketing debt. In 2005, the country’s totalexternal public debt reached $1.3 billion,nearly half of which was accrued under theDuvalier regime.

In April of this year, shortly after theFebruary election of President Rene Preval,Haiti finally became eligible for admis-sion into the Heavily Indebted Poor Coun-tries (HIPC) program. Countries listed asHIPC countries will hopefully receive debtcancellation from the World Bank andInternational Monetary Fund (IMF).

“After three years of exclusion fromdebt relief programs, Haiti’s entrance intoHIPC signals a renewed hope that theunrest that has plagued Haiti for decadesmight come to an end,” Karr said. Unfor-tunately, it does not look like this willhappen very quickly.

Under the conditions of the WorldBank and IMF’s debt relief program, Haitiwill not see any debt relief until December

2009 at the earliest. By that time, thecountry will have paid $220 million indebt service that could have gone towardeducation, health care, and other socialservices. The existing program also ex-cludes cancellation of Inter-American De-velopment Bank (IDB) debt, which makesup nearly half of Haiti’s debt to interna-tional financial institutions.

Immediate debt cancellation for Haitiis a matter of justice and as an essentialtool in the global fight to end povertyunder the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs), the set of development targets towhich world leaders, including US Presi-dent Bush, committed themselves in 2000.Jubilee grassroots activists and concernedlegislators are working to make this debtcancellation happen.

To accelerate the process to cancelHaiti’s debt, several members of the USCongress introduced HR 888 last summer.The measure urges the World Bank, IMFand IDB to completely and immediatelycancel Haiti’s debt.

Organizers have helped to secure morethan 50 cosponsors for the resolution, butJubilee spokespeople say that many moreare needed for the resolution to make it tothe floor of the House of Representatives.To find out how your representative hasresponded, or to find out how your repre-sentative can join the cosponsors, go towww.jubileeusa.org.

In the coming months, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) willdecide whether or not to extend debt can-cellation to the small group of countries inLatin America that qualify under the termsof the 2005 G-8 nations’ debt deal.—From the Fall 2006 edition of Drop theDebt: NEWS and ACTION from JubileeUSA Network, Washington, DC. DebayaniKarr is the Communications & AdvocacyCoordinator for Jubilee USA.

Child Poverty Surgesin Midwest

WASHINGTON, DC—While overall childpoverty in the US has risen dramaticallysince 2000, a new report by the NationalCenter for Children in Poverty (NCCP)

reveals that children and families in someregions have been harder hit than others.The report, The New Poor: RegionalTrends in Child Poverty, finds the greatestincrease in child poverty among workingfamilies in the Midwest.

Although child poverty has increased12 percent nationally since 2000, the risein the Midwest was a stunning 29 per-cent—by far the most substantial of anyregion. Accounting for nearly half of theincrease nationwide, the Midwest was theonly region where poverty increasedamong children with employed parents,due in part to the loss of relatively well-paid manufacturing jobs.

Child poverty increased in the North-east by 11 percent and in the South by ninepercent. In the Northeast, the increase wasgreatest among white children; in theSouth, the most substantial increase wasimmigrant children. The child poverty ratein the West remained virtually unchanged.

The report calls for policy solutionsthat strengthen regional economies andaddress the wide-ranging problems asso-ciated with low-wage work. The NCCPpoints to a number of immediate policychanges that would improve conditionsfor low-wage workers and their children,including raising the minimum wage, en-acting or expanding state earned-incometax credits, restoring immigrants’ accessto health care, and strengthening Unem-ployment Insurance.

When this report was published, thenewest poverty statistics from the CensusBureau were not reflected. Therefore, thesenumbers do not account for the effects ofHurricanes Rita and Katrina, which willalmost certainly have a significant effecton the statistics.—To read the full report, visit www.nccp.org.

Changes in Storefor WIC Food Packages

WASHINGTON, DC—In August, the US De-partment of Agriculture (USDA) issuedproposed changes to the Special Supple-mental Nutrition Program for Women,Infants, and Children (WIC). The revi-

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Hunger News & Hope 7Fall/Winter 2006

distributed to repair 82 homes on the GulfCoast. The effort is aimed at helping low-income individuals and families displacedfollowing Hurricanes Katrina and Rita toreturn to their homes.

The funds and repair projects will bemanaged locally by nine long-termrecovery organizations in the region.

The $446,000 project is the first stageof a house repair grant fromHabitat to CWS, who willdisburse the $3 million over twoyears to support residentialreconstruction projects inAlabama, Louisiana, Mississippi,and Texas.

Church World Servicetraditionally plays a key role afterdisasters by facilitating thedevelopment of long-termrecovery groups, and Habitat forHumanity has a long history ofbuilding homes. The CWS andHFHI partnership draws on theorganizations’ strengths to betteraddress the extensive recoveryneeds facing communitiesthroughout the Gulf Coast region.

A CWS spokesperson saidtheir local long-term recoveryefforts are guided by focus onvulnerable populations, are ledby community leadership, andare often wholly dependent uponfinancial resources from outsidethe community—especiallywhen it comes to theoverwhelming costs of rebuildinghomes. The local groups use bothvolunteer laborers and paidcontractors to complete the repairor building work on the homes.

In all, 500 homes will berepaired or rebuilt through thispartnership. The twoorganizations say they intend tonot just repair homes but alsorebuild lives. In the words of onesurvivor in Mississippi, “whenthey started work on my home, itbrought us hope, but the

hunger news

sions improve the nutritional value of theWIC food packages, last updated in 1980.

In 2005, at USDA’s request, the Insti-tute of Medicine (IOM) issued a reportwith recommendations for a revised set ofWIC food packages to reflect current nu-tritional science. Per USDA’s request,IOM’s recommendations were intendedto be cost neutral. Many of the IOM pro-posed changes were consistent with rec-ommendations made by Food Researchand Action Center (FRAC) and others inpublic comment letters and meetings aspart of the review process.

USDA’s proposed WIC food pack-ages increase participants’ choices, im-prove the health and nutritional quality ofthe foods in the program, and expandcultural food options by offering fruits andvegetables, whole grain bread (with theoption to substitute corn tortillas, wholegrain rice, or other whole grains) and theoption of soymilk and tofu.

The proposal also includes packageenhancements that will better promotebreastfeeding (such as allowing cannedsalmon instead of tuna) and expand sup-port for medically fragile participants.USDA has also proposed allowing stateagencies to authorize farmers at FarmersMarkets to accept WIC vouchers for fruitsand vegetables from WIC participants.

The American Dietetic Association(ADA) supports the increased flexibilityof choice offered by the proposed pack-age. WIC currently serves eight millionwomen, infants and children.

For more information about theproposed food package, contact GeriHenchy at FRAC for more information:ghenchy@frac.org, 202/986-2200 x 3025.See the 08/07/06 Federal Register forUSDA’s complete notice.

Habitat for Humanity, ChurchWorld Service Team Upto Rebuild Gulf Homes

NEW YORK, NY/AMERICUS, GA—As partof a first-time partnership, Church WorldService (CWS) and Habitat for HumanityInternational (HFHI) announced in Augustthat $446,000 of a $3 million grant will be

Different Worlds

by Nadine Doughty

Lunching with our son downtown,

We picked a sleek and costly spot,

“Rosebud” was the restaurant’s name.

The outside world we soon forgot.

“And did you have a reservation?”

Hostess asked with silken voice.

“Here’s your table. Enjoy your meal.”

We scanned the menu, made our choice.

“Reservation?” the word, it captured

Thoughts of yet another place,

A vast and sprawling reservation,

With struggling missions, and as its base,

A town called “Rosebud”, a central site

For Native Americans to buck their plight.

West of us five hundred miles,

Drinks don’t come in a frosted glass,

But likely from a simple pipe,

Available, but second class.

I could not find more different places

That strangely share a common name.

They’re worlds apart in every way,

Yet both are “Rosebud” all the same.

—Dee Doughty, a longtime contributor to

Seeds publications, has worked in soup

kitchens and ministries for the poor in

Evanston, Illinois for many years.

compiled by Meredith Mull

rebuilding has healed our hearts.”Habitat for Humanity International’s

long-term hurricane recovery effort,Operation Home Delivery, intends to builda thousand new homes in the affectedregion by mid 2007.—from Habitat for Humanity International(www.habitat.org) and ChurchWorldService (www.churchworldservice.org).

Hunger News & Hope is publishedquarterly by Seeds of Hope Publishers,

in partnership with the followingdenominational groups:

• American Baptist Churches USA• Baptist General Convention of Texas• Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

• Christian Reformed Churchin North America

• Cooperative Baptist Fellowship• Covenant World Relief

• Evangelical Lutheran Churchin America

• Presbyterian Church USA• Reformed Church in America

• United Methodist Committee on Relief

Staff and VolunteersEditor.......................................L. Katherine CookBusiness Manager.................Laura SchmeltekopfCopy Editor..........................Brent LosakWeb Designer...............................Riley SimmonsEditorial Assistant...................Meredith MullArtists......................Robert Askins, Sally Askins,

Peter Yuichi Clark, Robert Darden,Van Darden, Erin Kennedy Mayer,

Lenora Mathis, Kate Moore,Sharon Rollins, Susan Smith, Rebecca Ward

Seeds of Hope Council of Stewards2005-2006

Dale A. BarronH. Joseph Haag

Skip LondosDaniel B. McGee (President)

Kathryn MuellerCharles ReedJon SingletaryDavid Tatum

Ashley Bean Thornton

Statement of PurposeSeeds of Hope is a private, independent

group of believers responding to a common bur-den for the poor and hungry of God’s world, andacting on the strong belief that biblical mandatesto feed the poor were not intended to be optional.The group intends to seek out people of faith whofeel called to care for the poor; and to affirm,enable, and empower a variety of responses tothe problems of poverty.

Editorial AddressSeeds of Hope Publishers are housed by the

community of faith at Seventh and James Bap-tist Church. The mailing address is 602 James,Waco, Texas 76706; Phone: 254/ 755-7745; Fax:

254/753-1909; E-mail: seedshope@aol.com.Web: www.seedspublishers.org. Copyright© 2006; ISSN 0194-4495. Seeds of Hope, Inc.,holds the 501(c)3 nonprofit tax status.

Seeds of Hope Publishers also produce quar-terly packets of worship materials for the liturgi-cal year—with an economic justice attitude.

quotes, poems, & pithy sayings

These include litanies, sermons, children's andyouth activities, bulletin art, and drama.

Scripture quotations, unless otherwisenoted, are from the New Revised Standard Ver-sion, Copyright © 2001 by the National Councilof Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by per-mission.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our great-grandchildren really did have to go tomuseums to see what abject poverty was like?—Argye Hillis

If ten percent of the world’s military budget were converted to meet the needsof the hungry in the world, hunger would be totally obliterated.—World Bank

I do not want to die...until I have faithfully made the most of my talent andcultivated the seed that was placed in me until the last small twig has grown.—Kathe Kollwitz

All we’re ever asked to do in this life is to treat our neighbor—especially ourneighbor who is in need—exactly as we would hope to be treated ourselves.That’s our ultimate responsibility.—Fred Rogers, Life’s Journeys According to Mister Rogers

Yes, I am my brother’s [and sister’s]keeper. I am under a moral obliga-tion to [them] that is inspired, not byany maudlin sentimentality but bythe higher duty I owe myself. Whatwould you think me if I were ca-pable of seating myself at a table andgorging myself with food and sawabout me the children of my fellowbeings starving to death?—Eugene V. Debs, in a 1908 speech

When we meet around our confer-ence table at Caritas, we look fornew ways to enlarge our circle ofcaring. That circle is limited only bythe size of our hearts. And, in a way,we gather around a larger table offellowship to share the blessings oflife and the bounty of labor with ourneighbors, the ones the scripturestell us to take care of…—Eugene F. Jud, former director ofCaritas of Waco