Africans invite us to share a journey
https://archives.anglican.ca/link/article29289
- Author
- Maxwell, Charlotte
- Material Type
- Journal Article
- Journal
- Ministry Matters
- Date
- 1999 Spring
- Author
- Maxwell, Charlotte
- Material Type
- Journal Article
- Journal
- Ministry Matters
- Date
- 1999 Spring
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 2
- Page
- 16-17
- Notes
- The author, Africa development coordinator for the Primate's Relief and Development Fund, reflects on a meeting she attended in Nairobi in June 1998 dedicated to the concept of the "Reconstruction of Africa". "The Nairobi meeting consisted of a group of remarkable Christians -- there was no dominant leader -- some working inside churches, some in ecumenical councils, some in universities, some in secular organizations. In a three-year process, these activists have visited Africa's most troubled places. They have held dialogues with key national and and regional civic organizations as well as with intergovernmental organizations such as the Southern Africa Development Coordination Committee (SADC)". "What generates tremendous excitement at meetings like the one I attended in Nairobi is the knowledge that building modern, responsive institutions must involve a balance between the recognition of spiritual needs, the reality of debt and the destruction of social infrastructure, and the profound need to sustain the best of community values and practices. There is no sentimentality about this, nor is there helplessness. What there is is a willingness to forge alliances with other activists in civil society. The role of the North, its overwhelming command of economic power and Africa's relative lack of bargaining power, is recognized, but it is not seen as a way out of Africans accepting responsibility for their future".
- Subjects
- Africa - Politics and government - 20th century
- Africa - Economic conditions - 20th century
- Africa - Social conditions - 20th century
- Location
- General Synod Archives