Mennonite Central Committee is going through a re-evaluation period known as New Wine-New Wineskins. This is both a North American and worldwide event over 3 years. The hope is that when all is said and done something new and fresh, both in structure and in relationships, will pour out of the work. The hope is to invigorate and point MCC in a 21st century direction. Toward that end MCC partners were invited to the meeting for 3 days. Jan Schmidt from Winnipeg led the proceedings. Small groups of our partners and the CR’s were used continuously and given assignments that met the Appreciative Inquiry guidelines (a ‘positive’ way to develop a shared understanding on what MCC is good at and how that can help us in thinking about the future direction). We were asked to share what personal accomplishments we felt good about and what MCC accomplishments we felt good about. In order to be creative we were asked to illustrate by way of drawing, story, skit or song to convey our message.
One exercise included colored pipe cleaners. It seemed a little juvenile to play with pipe cleaners to get a message across but everyone was still in good humor on day 1. Afterwards we were told by one of the leaders that in purchasing the large amount of pipe cleaners needed for the exercise, the vendor wondered aloud if MCC has a large group of pipe smokers! Of course, it was noted, add the New Wine-New Wineskins theme and outsiders might wonder if we are all big smokers and drinkers!
There has been a tug of war going on in North America over the “MCC soul”; is MCC to move towards mainly being a professional funding agency, thereby allowing overseas staff levels to fall to minimal levels for maintenance alone (more efficient use of money). Or is MCC to maintain the idea of being relationship driven which means building up MCC volunteer postings worldwide, particularly in Africa, which can be so important in building relationships between peoples? How important are church-to-church contacts, such as in Ethiopia between MCC and MKC?
How will MCC address the problems that were talked about? The situation in many areas seems to be the same all across Africa. Some things MCC can address, others are out of our control.
Education – too many children in too small classrooms. Not enough space, not enough teachers, not enough education materials (uniforms, textbooks, pens and paper). Motivation is low because teachers are poorly paid, students are poorly educated and there are more graduates than jobs. Education is the key to all other areas listed below.
Health – HIV/AIDs tops the list, but don’t forget about malaria, river blindness, sleeping sickness, tuberculosis and complications surrounding birthing. Not enough doctors, too many patients, not enough clinics and so on.
Agriculture – there are many areas that are food insecure or suffer from a water shortage, or both. Ethiopia is one place for both but the problem is growing in other countries as well, especially as the climate changes. How to care for the soil so it won’t become depleted or eroded, or how to bring the soil back from those conditions (a much harder proposition). How to feed growing populations on limited land?
Peace – It is no secret that war and violence are rampant in Africa on a larger scale than anywhere else in the world. When governments purchase the missiles, tanks, warplanes, guns to equip and train militias and armies, the next logical step is to use them. It doesn’t help that western and eastern nations (from the USA to Europe to Russia and China) are willing partners in crime, for there is money to be made. Merchants of death have never had any moral pretense in selling weaponry over the centuries and it certainly hasn’t changed. On a smaller scale both MCC and its partners agree that teaching about the things that make for peace, especially reaching across religions, is extremely important. Hearts and minds can overrule weapons only if love and trust replace fear and injustice. But even here, peace is a word that causes suspicion in some governments. They know their dirty souls and suspect that peace would target them. After all, the popular saying, If you want peace, work for justice, is tacitly acknowledged as true . . . and dangerous.
Political – this is also a sensitive subject in Africa. But participants affirmed the importance of CSO’s (Civil Society Organizations) that do advocacy work on behalf of the marginalized and voiceless. Government responses range from partial engagement to tolerance to outright hostility. Sometimes NGO’s like MCC can do all the relief and development work they want and still fail in the long term because at the end of the day the governing structures are so poorly designed and implemented. Corruption is rampant in all countries and the participants noted this (however, corruption is more visible in some than in others).
So we were told to dream of an ideal world 10 years in the future. What would it look like in the communities where the participants came from? What could MCC do to bring about that dream? Time and again we heard that MCC should be doing what it is continuing to do. Based on our resources and our size, it feels like we are at full strength. The peace and justice part could be expanded but everyone acknowledged that that could jeopardize MCC presence in their respective countries. Perhaps one needs to be selective, like Daniel or Esther in the Bible, and know when that time is come to speak up. Our partners would need to prompt us, like the Jewish communities of Daniel and Esther’s time.
EARM wasn’t all New Wine-New Wineskins. After 3 days our partners left and the Country Reps and MCC Africa Desk leaders from Akron stayed and spent an additional 2 days going through a laundry list of things to talk about. But it was more informal and relaxed by now, perhaps because folks were so ‘talked out’ from NW-NWS. There are new CR’s this year in Sudan, Kenya, Somalia (that’s still up in the air because of the political situation) and in January there will be a new layer of authority, MCC Regional Reps based in Nairobi. Bob & Judy Zimmerman Herr will take over many of the duties of Africa Desk directors Bruce Campbell-Janz and Melody Rupley. This is seen as a positive because they will be so much closer to the action in Nairobi. Akron is a long ways away in more than one sense. We all look forward to working with Bob & Judy.
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