Response Magazine for United Methodist Women (April 2000)

The May 2000 edition of Response is a resource for this year's mission study, "The Children of Africa." It explores the stories of war, famine, drought, disease, displacement from home, loss of family, and no access to education. . Response editor Dana E. Jones writes:

"Reading articles in this issue, most of which were written by African women, gives us a glimpse of the concerns facing that continent. Their words and stories offer rays of hope even as they describe conditions unimaginable to most members of United Methodist Women. And their words and stories push us to ask what we can do."

On the cover: A boy pauses on a beach in Gambia, Africa. Many of the children of Africa face challenges unimaginable to those of us in the United States. This issue looks at their lives. Cover photo by Michael Lutzky/WFP.

Bible study author Una Jones looks at 1 Peter 3-21 as a black South African woman who believed that during the apartheid she was a "second-class citizen who would never have rights as a human being."

Ms. Jones found hope in the verses of 1 Peter and she writes about the hope that other people from the continent of Africa are finding--amidst unfathomable trials-- in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In Rwaki District of Uganda, children as young as nine are heads of families with seven or more younger children whose parents have died from AIDS. They farm the land for food with no hope of an education or usual childhood dreams. They have no medical care. And for children with the HIV virus, there is no option except to suffer until they die.

The challenges for the Christian community to address human rights and justice issues are great in Uganda, Namibia and Zambia as HIV/AIDS proves to be of astronomical proportions.

Author Melvin Foote writes the facts about children diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in Africa and U.S. policy toward the pandemic. In July 1999, the United States committed $100 million to AIDS-related programs in Africa. Yet this and other similar policies demonstrate a misunderstanding of the severity of the problems faced by African children. By the end of this year, 13 million children worldwide will have died of AIDS. Ninety percent of them will be African children.

Selling girls into sexual slavery has been outlawed in Ghana. United Methodist Women, by supporting the Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights, joined efforts to build public support for legislation in Ghana that banned selling girls as penance for crimes committed by relatives. The Fund has been instrumental in making grants to address issues such as political participation, economic and property rights, domestic violence, harmful traditional practices and armed conflict.

In a traditional African setting, a child was considered a unique gift from God-- celebrated at birth and the responsibility of the whole community. Today, things have changed. Children have been trampled as villages have been attacked. Girls have been sexually exploited. Little boys are forced to take up arms and commit violent acts. Nightmares and terror seem to be all they know. This is the children's story and their search for a zone of peace.

Girls and boys as young as 6-10 years old have been used as soldiers by both government and rebel forces in African nations. Normally, children start out in supportive roles of the soldiers. However, the proliferation of light-weight weapons has made it easier for children to step into the role of soldier in exchange for food, shelter, security or other reasons.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes 18 as the age of adulthood with one exception: it permits the recruitment and participation of children in armed conflict at age 15. Before the General Assembly of the United Nations will come a draft optional protocol, raising the age to 18. Ms. Moore explores the U.N. document's tenants and why it is important for children.

Flooding: Latest Challenge for Chicuque Rural Hospital
by Beth Ferrell

A woman plowing the same plot of fields as last year thought it safe. But severe flooding displaced landmines, and one exploded injuring both her legs as she worked in her garden. A young boy fell from a mango tree and didn't seek treatment until the leg was so badly infected, it had to be amputated. These are two of more than 5000 stories heard each year at Chicuque Rural Hospital-- a hospital so remote that the floods have brought about problems of electricity, water, fuel, and disease, among many others. Yet, the ministry continues.

Close to 45% of the population in South Africa are children and 6 out of 10 of them live in poverty. Years of apartheid have left severe racial and economic disparities. Yet, as the government promises to make children's needs a priority, the challenge is to translate intentions into actions. Access to basic healthcare, a healthy environment and education are key strategies to improving the children's circumstances and the Church plays a key role.

"Together We Learn" is the school motto of Port Reitz School in the Coast Province of Kenya. What makes this school unique is that it is the only primary school for children with handicaps in the province and it reflects an integrated program so that children with disabilities can learn from other children. This is the school's story.

When a woman threw a disabled son into a well in Zimbabwe, she allegedly told the police that her burden was about to worsen because she was pregnant and would have to care for two children. Growing unemployment, political conflicts and the HIV/AIDS pandemic are making life across Africa more difficult. Yet the United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe is responding by investing in the well-being of the nation's children and youth.

Engaging children in outdoor games; going into the bush where people are still afraid of the rebels; giving education and healthcare; and collecting data on children affected by war is just part of the work of Sierra Leone's United Methodist Church. Girls have been raped. Children have lost parents. Survivors of the war have little food or education. So, the challenge to the Church is great. This author explores the Church's response that is making a difference.

The Children of Africa

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