PWRDF UPDATE August 2008
Welcome to Update - The Primate's World Relief and Development Fund newsletter and information bulletin for subscribers.
PWRDF is the Anglican Church of Canada's agency for international development, relief, refugees and justice issues. This list is an outgoing communication service from PWRDF only. Please contact Yvonne Lane for more information on any of the following items.
1. News from Lambeth
2. justgeneration.ca
3. Summer Intern
4. Staff Travels
5. Refugee Network – temporary foreign workers issue
6. Response to Typhoon Frank in the Philippines
7. PWRDF Regional Meeting –Langley, BC, Sept 25-27
8. Families for PWRDF
9. 50th Anniversary
10. Changes to your parish information
11. 2008 Christmas card
12. Local Heroes
1. News from Lambeth
Beth Baskin was recently in Canterbury, England for the meeting of all Bishops in the Anglican Communion and was present in the marketplace to dialogue and swap ideas with others who do similar work to us. PWRDF was generously hosted by our sister organization Episcopal Relief and Development and learned lots about how they do their work. She had opportunity to visit with some partner bishops and to provide Canadian Bishops with an answer to “What does the Canadian church do in the area of development work?” Lynn Ross, PWRDF board member was there as part of the internal photography team and Nicholas Pang, PWRDF parish representative from the Diocese of Montreal was there as a steward. They both dropped by regularly and sent people in our direction for information and conversation. The Anglican Communion was reminded of our work and presence around the world.
2. justgeneration.ca
Simon Chambers, justgeneration.ca Facilitator, will be travelling to Montreal in August to attend part of the World Student Christian Federation’s General Assembly. PWRDF is a sponsor of this event, which gathers members of the Student Christian Movement (Canada) and other international organizations high school and university-aged students for 9 days in Montreal. Shortly after returning from Montreal, Simon will be travelling to London, Ontario to be part of Ask and Imagine, an Anglican youth theological program at Huron College. Simon will be leading a workshop and participating in the life of the community at A&I.
Since its release in late 2007, the Off the Grid resource has helped young Anglicans across the country to explore issues of energy consumption, justice, and international development. Youth from as young as 9 years old to those in their twenties have raised more than $4,000 for PWRDF through their electricity “fasts”.
3. Summer Intern
PWRDF is happy to again have a university student working with us for the summer as an intern working with justgeneration.ca and public engagement.
4. Staff Travels
While travelling recently in Brazil, Suzanne Rumsey sent us stories about two partners’ visits, one of an indigenous community in north-eastern Brazil and the other one of an Afro-Brazilian rural community on the outskirts of Salvador de Bahia. In both places, PWRDF partners are accompanying and supporting processes that seek to defend and promote the rights of these communities, as well as to build their capacities to claim their rights for themselves. Read Suzanne’s story...
5. Refugee Network – Temporary Foreign Workers Issue
The province of Alberta is leading a national trend that has seen the number of temporary foreign workers grow as the influx of immigrants has stagnated, a change which some say is a major shift in Canadian immigration policy.
The Canadian Council for Refugees notes that in recent years, Canada has been increasingly relying on migrant workers admitted to Canada on temporary work permits. The emphasis on temporary rather than permanent migration is not good policy, and the proposed amendments contribute to a disturbing shift towards the use of immigration primarily to meet Canadian employers’ needs, without regard to broader Canadian interests. The Council’s view is that this is providing an increasing reliance on temporary work permits and Canada needs to consider immigrants as full participants in society, not simply as disposable units to fill currently available jobs.
For further information, check the CCR website.
6. Response to Typhoon Frank in the Philippines
The island of Cebu, located in Central Visayas in the Philippines, was hit by typhoon Frank, internationally code-named “Fengshen” on June 20-21, 2008 with winds from 160 to 170 kilometers per hour. The typhoon caused extensive damage in the province of Cebu, with lost lives and properties, and livelihood stocks destroyed.
Central Visayas Farmers’ Development Centre (FARDEC), a longstanding PWRDF partner in the Philippines, carried out the impact assessment and developed a plan to respond to the emergency needs of communities affected by the disaster.
The objective is to provide emergency food relief to 600 families in 28 small towns and villages in Cebu island as they face and try to cope with the disaster. Each family will receive food relief items worth 850 pesos ($20).
PWRDF has provided $12,000 to FARDEC for this response. We welcome your donations to assist in the support of FARDEC.
7. Regional Meeting – Langley, BC
The bi-annual regional meeting for the Ecclesiastical Province of BC and Yukon will be held this year at St. Andrews, Langley and the program focus will be Latin America. Suzanne Rumsey will be the staff person and staff from PWRDF Partner Centre for Women’s Human Rights, Chihuahua City, N. Mexico will also be present. For more information, contact Peter Goodwin, Diocesan Representative for New Westminster who is hosting the meeting at: goodmac22[at]gmail.com.
All those interested and involved at the parish level are welcome to attend, but you must register beforehand with ylane[at]pwrdf.org.
Subsequent meetings will take place in:
Glace Bay, Cape Breton, NS
October 2 – 4, 2008
E-mail local host
Saskatoon, SK
October 31 – November 2, 2008
E-mail local host
Ottawa, ON
November 13-15, 2008
E-mail local host
Contact email addresses have been given for the local host if you would like additional information or if you are able to accommodate out of town guests for any of the meetings.
8. Families for PWRDF
Ecology is the July focus for the PWRDF Family Calendar. As Christians we have a lot to offer the question of how to take better care of the world based on what we know about God who created it all, and charged us to care for it all as stewards. See July calendar page.
Refugees are the August Focus of the PWRDF Family Calendar. Read the stories and activities you can do as a family, as well as specific age-related activities for children at the August calendar page .
9. 50th Anniversary
Short message from Carolyn Vanderlip, 50th Anniversary Program Facilitator:
“It is my pleasure to greet you as the 50th Anniversary Program Facilitator for PWRDF. We are working on an exciting program of activities and events to take place over the next two years as we celebrate our past, and plan for the next 50 years!
Throughout this time there will be initiatives that focus on celebrating the past, present and future, building awareness, engaging in educational experiences, and fundraising. An important element of the program will be sponsoring 50 refugee families for resettlement to Canada, under Canada’s Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program.
For everything that is undertaken, there will be three values kept front and centre:
• Be environmental stewards and work hard to minimize the carbon footprint
• Be intentional in building communities with all ages and regions across Canada
• Be grassroots-oriented – ensure collaboration with constituents that can provide their insights first-hand in order to facilitate a successful time together
This is an exciting time for all of us and we look forward to sharing the 50th anniversary journey together. 50 years after the Springhill disaster, we are asking Anglicans across Canada to continue to make a difference by joining us, working together, and helping to inspire the next 50 years of changing lives, changing communities and changing the world.”
To contact Carolyn: cvanderlip[at]pwrdf.org
10. Changes to Parish Information
If you are not receiving materials at the correct address, if your address has changed or if your parish is receiving an incorrect amount of materials, please let us know at pwrdf@pwrdf.org. We would like to have all corrections received by mid August so that we can make the changes to our database before submitting the information to our mailing house.
11. 2008 Christmas Card
Christmas cards will be available shortly. Please check our website towards the end of August, when the image and poster will be available and instructions on how to order will be provided. This year we are providing two different cards. Each card will be available in packs of 12 for the same price as it has been the past few years - $15. As we sold ours very early last year, we have ordered larger quantities, but we do encourage you to order early.
12. Local Heroes
Diocese of Ontario – “Virtual march” to support Millenium Development Goals – At the suggestion of Bishop George Bruce of the Diocese of Ontario, three archdeacons led small delegations to local MP’s offices with letters reminding the federal government of its MDG promises. This happened on the same day as the Bishops’ march in Central London, England in solidarity with the 600-plus bishops and others who walked to draw attention to the MDG’s as well as the Anglican Communion’s work in helping alleviate extreme poverty.
In addition, Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation (EGR) have included a special page on the “virtual march” on their website just for Canadians, and posted a copy of the Diocese of Ontario’s letter. For more information check the Diocese of Ontario website – www.ontario.anglican.ca, which also includes a link to the EGR site where you can join the “virtual march”.
Did you know that all of the Local Heroes mentioned in our Email Updates are listed on our website under the Volunteers section of Who we Are? www.pwrdf.org/who-we-are/volunteers/local-heroes/
We love to hear about what you are doing, so please keep letting us know about your activities that support PWRDF. In addition, it is important for us to provide CIDA with statistics on our public engagement programs through our parish and diocesan volunteers.
