Latest Posting: July '07

Hello young adult friends. Welcome to the July edition of You asked for it ..., our monthly email to folks like you. Hope your summer is off to a good start. After our Amazon Learning Tour (reported in June edition) I had the chance to visit Zandi Llanos, a Peace Corps volunteer and friend of mine, at her project in Jilili, Peru. (You can check out photos of Zandi in Peru on my Facebook page.) Like a the rest of you, she's an incredible young adult with a deep commitment to the world around us. Highlights of the visit were seeing Zandi in action as a community development worker, picking coffee with her neighbor Francisco, an organic, shade-grown, Fair Trade kind of farmer (pic on Facebook), and hearing Zandi talk about her choice of the Peace Corps as a way of avoiding the "spiritual stuff" of religious volunteer agencies--and then running into God through her PC project. See Faith Fact below.

In this edition of You asked for it...

• Update on Sudan/Darfur
• Young adult team in Sudan
• Latest edition of NCPNS with DantheMan
• Guest from Nepal at Conference
• The ever-popular Justice Fact, Enviro Fact and Faith Fact

Keep in touch. Keep the faith. Keep up the good work.

David

Update: Sudan/Darfur

With over 200,000 dead and 2-3 million displaced, the crisis in Darfur is one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent years. It basically pits Arab (Muslim) herders against African (also Muslim) farmers over land and water, with political rights in the larger national scene being an additional factor. The government of Sudan is assumed to be tacitly if not overtly supporting the Arab factions (although denying it), represented by the Jajaweed fighters, and has only been willing to allow African Union peacekeeping forces on Sudanese territory. For various reasons, including lack of equipment, logistical support and perhaps will, this has done little to stop the carnage.   

Recently, the government has bowed to international pressure and says it is willing to allow a multinational force of some 19,000 UN/AU peacekeepers into the country to try to stabilize the situation. That's good news.   

In not-so-good news, a recent UN report blames climate change in part for this conflict, as it has made already scarce land and water resources even more problematic. Deserts are spreading and in general there is increasing resource depletion due to global warming and other environmental factors.   

NCP is doing its small part by supporting reforestation along the Nile River in Nimule, and assisting school in beginning tree nurseries in other areas. Pics of the Nile project here.

Sudan Four

Four young adults are volunteering in Sudan this summer through NCP and the Sudan Council of Churches. These brave ones are Emily Young, Sophie Beya, Melanie Blevins and Ian Christie. Here's part of a recent letter from Ian:

I look at some of the other twenty year olds I've gotten to know here and cannot stop thinking that behind all the laughter and smiles (which are, by means of their frequency, shocking by themselves) is the glaring fact that they have-literally-never known anything but war and displacement. 

DantheMan

Daniel Radcliff continues his rant about things large and small on YouTube--this time with a live interview from Mars.

Guest from Nepal

Roshni Rai, young adult from Kathmandu, Nepal and a leader of NCP's partner Women Empowerment, will be at the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference this week. Join Roshni and David Radcliff for lunch on Sunday; meet at the message board following the morning worship service. Roshni is currently studying in the US, but will return to Nepal to lead the NCP January Learning Tour.

Justice Fact

According to young adult community leader Ximena Alexandra Conlago Ortuna (in a briefing to our Amazon Learning Tour group), female workers in the flower industry in Ecuador are forced into retirement at age 30--due to all the chemicals involved in their work, the companies don't want to be liable for birth defects in any children they may have. The USA imports two-thirds of Ecuador's roses.

Enviro Fact

Turning all the corn grown in the US into ethanol would only decrease our use of gasoline by 12% (and only 2.4% savings on net fossil fuel consumption) and bring its own set of negative consequences, according to a study by two University of Minnesota scientists.

Faith Fact

As I serve the community by initiating healthy schools programs and organizing development committees and girls' empowerment groups, I feel closer to God. Each of us is responsible for the sustainability of this spiritual relationship through the choices we make and the battle we take on-whether it be humanitarian, environmental, etc. I challenge those of you reading this to get involved, because through service your relationship with God will grow. - Zandi Llanos, Jilili, Peru