To Change the World?

Last week, I was deeply inspired when Brittany Merrill came to our Ethnoviolence class. For years I have been told, "you can do something that can change the world," yet, aside from reading about individuals like Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. I had never come across a "real life" example of someone who had done just that on a global scale.

Perhaps what is so unique about Brittany's story is how it all started. She was an admittedly "selfish" college student who grew up in a wealthy neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia. She had no innate passion for the African country or its people. The Summer before her junior year, she and a few friends traveled to Uganda to teach in a school for a few weeks. While she was there, Brittany met an impoverished woman who housed several orphan children. Little did she know, this woman would forever change her life.

Several months later, Brittany felt an urgent twinge in her heart to send money to the women she had met in her summer in Africa. As it turned out, her inquiry about helping was an answer to desperate prayer, as the woman and her many children were in dire need of assistance...but not just monetary assistance. Before she knew it, Brittany had bought land in northern Uganda and was set to start an orphanage for the woman and her children... and more children... and more.

Today, the UAPO supports 2 orphanages, is involved in water well initiatives, and employs dozens of women through the Akola project, where the women sell jewelry to make money for their families. You can read more about this amazing ministry and operation here: http://www.theuapo.org/projects/

Back to being encouraged.... though I haven't started a nonprofit organization in Africa (or the U.S. for that matter), it is my hope that the 3 mission trips that I have served on over the past year have made the countries of Haiti and Peru more open to the gospel of Jesus Christ. With every rock I've carried up a hill, every head of hair I've braided, and every tree I've planted, people's lives have in some way been touched and I am confident that this work is all part of a bigger plan to change the world as we know it... for the better.

Who Is James Farmer Jr.?

When I think about the Civil Rights movement in America, I picture divided buses, schools, and restaurants, signs prohibiting "negros" from entering buildings, riots in the street, and, of course, Martin Luther King Jr. on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial delivering his "I Have a Dream" speech. One man I had never heard of before this ethnoviolence class was James Farmer Jr., one of the "Big 4" of the Civil Rights Movement. So, who is Mr. Farmer?

James was born in Marshall, Texas in January of 1920. He was the son of James Farmer Sr., a professor at Wiley College who also held a Ph.D. in Theology.

James Farmer Jr. was first introduced to the reality of segregation at a young age, when he was forbidden by his mother to buy a soda at a local store because of his race. It was, perhaps, this moment that sparked an unending fire of James to fight against segregation for the rest of his life. At the young age of 14, James Jr. enrolled in Wiley College and soon became the captain??? of the debate team. It was while participating in debate that James learned to effectively articulate his arguments against the rampant Jim Crow laws, which at that time invaded the South.

After his successful years at Wiley, in which he and his debate team defeated the Harvard University, Farmer moved on to further his work in the Civil Rights initiative. In 1942, Farmer co-founded the Committee of Racial Equality (C.O.R.E.), which sought to bring an end to racial segregation in America nonviolently.

Another initiative came in 1961, when Farmer began his involvement in the Freedom Rides, a plan for mixed races to test segregation (which, at that time, was ruled against) on interstate buses. The group, who traveled half by Trailways and the other half on Greyhound passed through Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, and eventually ended in New Orleans. Though the riders faced harsh cruelty, violence, and discrimination in Alabama especially, their momentous journey raised awareness and inspired African Americans across the country to fight for their rights in times of deep despair.

After a long life of courage, trials, and triumph, James Farmer Jr. died in July of 1999 from diabetes complications.

In learning about the efforts of James Farmer Jr., I am deeply encouraged by a man who endured violence, hatred, and brutality for fighting for his rights as an American. Because I wasn't alive during the Civil Rights Movement, I often forget about the hardship that so many endured to be seen and treated as equals in our country. While Martin Luther King Jr. was definitely one of the most influential Civil Rights Activists of the 1960s, we must not forget the efforts of men like James Farmer Jr., who helped make the United States society what it is today.

To see a clip from The Great Debaters, featuring the young James Farmer Jr. at Wiley College, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-ORiYP3O9g

The Truth About Africa

For as long as I can remember, I have associated Africa with images of starving children, internal warfare, and sadness. The mass media's images, stories, and statistics of heartbreak leave individuals thinking that Africa's problems are seemingly too difficult for even America to tackle. However, in recent days, I have adapted a new outlook on this land of 22.4 million people. According to recent statistics from the World Bank, many African countries weathered the recent brutal economy better than in years past, and Africa is considered one of the fastest-growing developing regions in the world. In addition, maternal mortality decreased by 26% between 1990 and 2009, and HIV and AIDS numbers have drastically declined in some places, while stabilizing in most. Other promising facts are:

-primary school completion rates are the fastest growing worldwide

-the percentage of individuals living in extreme poverty is declining (though about 1/2 of the population still lives on $1.25 a day)

-direct investments in the African economy are increasing

-Ethiopia, Gambia, Malawi, and Rwanda reduced child mortality rate by 25% in the past 10 years

-malaria infection is decreasing

Reading these statistics not only encouraged me, but made me realize how biased our media are and how misinformed I am about third world civilization. I am now more motivated to make a conscious effort to seek information and news from world organizations, not those who seek to saturate television with images and sound bytes to create drama and high ratings.

Though much of Africa, no doubt, has a long way to go before reaching first world status, the numbers and statistics are encouraging and need to be distributed around the world to recognize the great efforts that have been made to improve life in these countries.

Last semester, I had the pleasure of working with a nonprofit organization called Empower African Children, who seeks to empower children and teenagers in Uganda through schooling and scholarship programs. EAC also works to provide food, shelter, clothing, and medical care for those in need, while providing psychological care for those who need it. Recently, EAC launched a for-profit initiative called UWEZO brands, which promotes sales of shoes made by Africans to support EAC's efforts.

Check out Empower African Children's website here to learn more: www.empowerafricanchildren.org and for more information on UWEZO: www.uwezobrands.com

For more encouraging information on the continent of Africa, read here: http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/0,,menuPK:258652~pagePK:146732~piPK:146828~theSitePK:258644,00.html