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June 1996 Case Study: Zambia's Church Toward the Year 2000
No full textIn many ways, Zambia offers a clear case study for what is happening on the African continent in society at large and within the church. The country a former British colony that attained independence in 1964, is undergoing tremendous change as it struggles to make multi-patty democracy work amidst severe economic hardships. The twin movements of the 1990's in Africa are the structural transitions to political democratization and economic liberalization.The Catholic Church in Africa has been given a profound challenge for moving into the Third Millennium. This challenge has come from the African Synod and is expressed by the question raised by one of the Synod leaders: "Church in Africa, what do you need to do in order to make your message relevant, credible and effective?"
The African Synod ("Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops") is in reality a three-staged process. The first stage was the preparatory period begun in 1969t which included wide-spread consultation from grass-root levels of small Christian communities all the way up to national and regional episcopal conferences, This stage produced observations and recommendations on the general theme of evangelisation and on the five specific topics of proclamation, inculturation, dialogue, justice and peace, and communication.Irish Aid and Joint Country Programm
Zambia: A Case Study Of Economic Reform And The Impact On The Poor
Full text linkThe purpose of the present paper is not to do fresh research but to survey key areas/issues in the Zambian economy and in particular to note the impact of these issues on some of the Partners of Christian Aid. Part I will analysis the macro-economic areas of (1) SAP economic reforms, (2) trade, (3) investment, and (4) debt; Part II will highlight responses by Partners; and Part III will explain advocacy efforts.Zambia is a '‘classic case" of a poor African country struggling with the problems of political and economic transitions. In 1991, it moved out of 27 years of one-party/one-man rule by the leader of its independence fight, Kenneth Kaunda, and embraced multi-party democracy with the election of Frederick Chiluba as President. While today the structures of - democracy may be more or less in place (e.g., many different parties, periodic elections, relatively free media), the attitudes of democracy still are weak (e.g., tolerance, commitment to the common good, transparency and accountability). The movement away from a socialist economy to a liberalised capitalist economy has accompanied the political transition and caused considerable hardship among the people. The government's full-scale implementation of a Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) has particularly hurt the poor
January 1996 Case Study: The Pastoral Circle: Background and Use
No full textAt the heart of Social Analysis is the "Pastoral Circle." As we developed it in our original explanations, we saw it as an integral approach to emphasis the relationship between reflection and action. We knew that it was related to what authors like Paulo Freire refer to as praxis, or reflection based on experience, an experience shaped by reflection. Hence it could also be referred to as the "circle of praxis." Moreover, it was related to what liberation theologians like Juan Luis Segundo call the "hermeneutic circle," the interpretative method that raises new questions to older explanations because of contact with new situations.For several decades, church pastoral workers have followed the "see, judge, act" methodology introduced by the Cardin-related movements (e.g., Young Christian Workers* Young Christian Students), This method is a popular approach that gets the pastoral workers to reflect on their experience in the light of their faith, before responding in practical ways.It was a desire to sharpen the approach of this method by including more explicit attention to analysis that gave rise to what has been widely referred to as the "pastoral circle." The work at the Center of Concern in Washington, DC, that Joe Holland and I did in the late 1970's and early 1980's in sociology-economic-cultural research, writing, workshops, etc., found a focus in the book Social Analysis: Linking Faith and Justice.Irish Aid and Joint Country Programm
January 1996 Zambia: A Case Study of Economic Reform and the Impact on the Poor.
No full textZambia became independent in 1964, with the break-up of the Rhodesian Federation of British colonies, Nyassaland (now Malawi), Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). Because of its copper wealth, Zambia was one of the richest of the newly-independent African states. But today it is one of the poorest. Its economic difficulties, accompanied by decline in social services and deterioration of infrastructure, were caused by (1) a development model inherited from the colonial period (e.g., over-reliance on copper as an export-earner, under-appreciation of agriculture), (2) a series of policy decisions (e.g., adoption of an inefficient controlled economy model, dosing of the border to Rhodesia), and (3) negative external structural forces (e.g. i declining price of copper, rising price of petrol and other imported goods, increasing foreign debt burden).Zambia is a "classic case" of a poor African country struggling with the problems of political and economic transitions. In 1991 , it moved out of 27 years of one-patty/one-man rule by the leader of its independence fight, Kenneth Kaunda, and embraced multi-party democracy with the election of Frederick Chiluba as President. While today the structures of democracy may be more or less in place (e.g., many different parties, periodic elections, relatively free media), the attitudes of democracy still are weak (e.g., tolerance, commitment to the common good, transparency and accountability). The movement away from a socialist economy to a liberalized capitalist economy has accompanied the political transition and caused considerable hardship among the people. The government's full-scale implementation of a Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) has particularly hurt the poor.Irish Aid and Joint Country Programm
April 1995 Case Study: Effect of Structural Adjustment Programmes on African Families
No full textThe impact of African poverty, international debt and of the Structural Adjustment Programmes is felt first and foremost within the home. Our family ministry demands that we speak out for the poorest and voiceless families in our society. They have to face the burden of escalating food prices and cutbacks in jobs, wages, health and educational facilities. The church needs to take the side of poor families, particularly of the women and children within Africa to ensure that they are not left to shoulder an unjust proportion of the burden of adjustment. The burden should be shared byn for example, decreasing the military budget and rooting out corruption and economic mismanagement.During 1994, two significant events occurred that focused attention on the family as the center of human society. The first was the commemoration by the United Nations of the "International Year of the Family" (IYF). The theme of the IYF was "Family: Resources and Responsibilities in a Changing World." The United Nations described the family as "the smallest democracy at the heart of society." The second event was the assembly of the African Synod. The bishops gathered in Rome for the Synod found the family as being central both to African civil society and to the African Church. One of the theological and pastoral gifts of the Synod was the focus on family as "model of Church."Irish Aid and Joint Country Programm
September 1995 Case Study: The Role of the Church in Delivery of Sustainable Health Care: Reflection on Basic Theology and Ethical Principles
No full textPoverty is the main reason why babies are not vaccinated, clean water and sanitation not provided, and curative drugs and other treatments are unavailable and why mothers die in childbirth. Poverty is the main cause of reduced life expectancy, of handicap and disability, and of starvation. Poverty is a major contributor to mental illness, stress, suicide, family disintegration and substance abuse.Health care has long been associated with the mission of the church to evangelize, to bring the Good News to all nations. In Mark's account of the mission of the first disciples after the Resurrection, Jesus promises that believers would "place heir hands on sick people, who will get well." (Mark 16:18) This ministry of healing is a continuation of Jesus' healing activity. Throughout the Gospels, we have examples of the cure of the sick as a integral pan of the preaching of the coming of the Kingdom of God (e.g., Luke 10:9). In missionary activity worldwide, the church has always had a role in the delivery of health care.Irish Aid and Joint Country Programm
The Threat of Overpopulation in Zambia A Critique
No full textThe population of the world at present is approximately ,5.6 billion. All of Africa accounts for approximately one-eighth of this, with 700 million. There are about 5&0 million people living in Africa south of the Sahara, and of these Zambia accounts for almost 9 million. Are resources adequate to support populations of this magnitude, and how adequate will they be in the future if populations continue to grow in the way they are doing today?A visitor from another planet, flying from London to Lusaka, would see very little from the air to suggest that the world experienced any problem of overpopulation. True, when leaving London he would see a city of 6,75
million people living in close, but highly ordered and organised, proximity to each other. Flying over Europe the interplanetary visitor would see scattered towns and settlements, but as the flight proceeded over Africa these would become smaller and more dispersed. After the great barrenness of the Sahara, the visitor would be struck by the sparsity of human settlements - so few towns and cities, such great distances between the tell-tale lights of flickering fires, such vast expanses of wooded and virtually uninhabited areas. Coming down low over Zambia in preparation for landing in Lusaka, he would see with even greater clarity that here was a land that looked hospitable and supportive and 'that confirmed the impression gained during the flight that the world as a whole was quite thinly populated, and that this was particularly true of Africa and of Zambia, as one of Africa’s larger countries. The visitor would indeed be surprised to hear that there is international concern that the world has about as many people at present as it wants and that if population growth continues on its present path there will soon be more people than the world can support. Looking at Zambia, he might well reiterate the question asked a few years ago by university visitors from Japan: ’’where are all the people?
THE THREAT OF OVERPOPULATION IN ZAMBIA A CRITIQUE
No full textThe population of the world at present is approximately ,5.6 billion. All of Africa accounts for approximately one-eighth of this, with 700 million. There are about 5&0 million people living in Africa south of the Sahara, and of these Zambia accounts for almost 9 million. Are resources adequate to support populations of this magnitude, and how adequate will they be in the future if populations continue to grow in the way they are doing today?A visitor from another planet, flying from London to Lusaka, would see very little from the air to suggest that the world experienced any problem of overpopulation. True, when leaving London he would see a city of 6,75
million people living in close, but highly ordered and organised, proximity to each other. Flying over Europe the interplanetary visitor would see scattered towns and settlements, but as the flight proceeded over Africa these would become smaller and more dispersed. After the great barrenness of the Sahara, the visitor would be struck by the sparsity of human settlements - so few towns and cities, such great distances between the tell-tale lights of flickering fires, such vast expanses of wooded and virtually uninhabited areas. Coming down low over Zambia in preparation for landing in Lusaka, he would see with even greater clarity that here was a land that looked hospitable and supportive and 'that confirmed the impression gained during the flight that the world as a whole was quite thinly populated, and that this was particularly true of Africa and of Zambia, as one of Africa’s larger countries. The visitor would indeed be surprised to hear that there is international concern that the world has about as many people at present as it wants and that if population growth continues on its present path there will soon be more people than the world can support. Looking at Zambia, he might well reiterate the question asked a few years ago by university visitors from Japan: ’’where are all the people?
August 1992 Case Study: The Social Context of the Amecea Countries on the Eve of the African Synod
No full textToday, however, during this moment of the Second Independence, the church in Africa is quite active in the struggle, with leadership, laity, letters, etc. Look at the West African scene, where in countries such as Benin, Togo, Congo, Zaire, the national conferences those assemblies of national sovereignty a.re chaired by prominent members to the church hierarchy. The courage these very days during which we meet of Archbishop Monsengwo, chair of the Zaire National Assembly, is well-known. lulere in our AMECEA countries, the challenging pastoral letters to the bishops of Kenya, Uganda and Zambia have played and continue to play key roles in the movement toward democracy.What seems to me to be very important to focus or) in both the First and the Second Independence is the role of the church. Correct me if I am mistaken, but is it not true to say that the church especially the official church of bishops and clergy was by and large absent front leadership roles in the struggle for the First Independence? There are surely exceptions to this generalization, but on the whole the church did not appear as a major player in the Independence struggle of the 1960's. This might be explained for a number of reasons, but at least two reasons were (1) the officials to the church were largely expatriates, themselves frequently associated by origin, and occasionally by attitude, with the colonial powers; and (2) this was a per-Vatican church without the theological premise and pastoral practice of Gaudium et Spes, with an eschatological model which could subsist without active engagement in the social context of its day.Irish Aid and Joint Country Programm