WOC Associate Returns from India

December 14, A.D. 2006

On November 25, I departed for India, along with colleagues Debra Frantz from the Southern Asia Area Office of Global Ministries and Susan Sanders of the United Church of Christ’s Office of Global Sharing of Resources, for a two and a half week journey through this vast country. The three of us landed in the northern city of Delhi where we met with one of our major partners, the Church of North India (CNI). We were impressed with CNI’s current focus on HIV/AIDS education and prevention and were pleased to attend an evening program presented by area youth working to raise awareness about the disease. In addition to HIV/AIDS work, CNI is also confronting the critical issue of child sex trafficking. We learned of children as young as seven years old who are being trafficked; CNI’s Children’s Concerns office has set up an anti-trafficking rehabilitation center and is actively working with children and their communities.

We also met with one of our long-standing partners, Churches Auxiliary and Social Action (CASA), an organization established in 1947 when India was partitioned. We have worked closely with CASA through our membership in Action by Churches Together (ACT), responding to natural disasters and emergencies, and CASA is also involved in significant development work. Currently, CASA is focusing efforts on capacity building among mountain communities, especially with women. Female infanticide, abuse and violence against women continue to be ongoing problems in India. Thus, CASA understands its work in economic development as only one part of social transformation. The social analysis and commitment to community empowerment of CASA’s staff was inspiring to all of us.

Moving south, we traveled to Madurai to visit one of our food security programs. A joint effort among the UCC, Foods Resource Bank, and Week of Compassion, we are supporting the community organizing and agricultural development work of CREATE, an NGO that began at Tamilnadu Theological Seminary. CREATE is working with six villages and their farmers' associations to implement food security programs. Securing food is a major issue for many in India, a country where a majority of the population does not earn more than $1 a day. Recent statistics claim that 80% of the population spends 80% of its income on food. To date, we have supported the CREATE program with wells and have also established a revolving loan fund. There are plans for a cattle and chicken distribution as well. While in Madurai, we met with three of the villages with whom CREATE is working, and we learned a great deal about the technical aspects of farming in this part of India, as well as the community organizing that must accompany the farm work. Because there are so many small farmers in India, “food security” is often a socio-political issue. CREATE is attempting to tackle these issues as part of their capacity building efforts in the villages.

While in Madurai, we also visited one of our long-time local partner organizations, also an extension of the seminary, the Unemployed Young People’s Association. I was delighted to meet many of the young people this school is helping to train and prepare for the job force – youth that otherwise would not have a chance.

The latter part of our journey was spent on the southernmost tip of India in the Kanyakumari District, where the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Bay of Bengal meet. The Peace Trust is our local partner there. Peace Trust is an interfaith NGO aiming to promote dialogue among the major religions of India – traditions that have often been at odds with one another. When the tsunami hit almost exactly two years ago, the Peace Trust immediately responded to the humanitarian crisis. We were thrilled to tour the area and meet the many ministries they have organized. In addition to a community medical clinic, three women’s training programs and community centers, income-generating projects, and several housing rebuilding projects, the Peace Trust is still offering seminars and programs on peace, justice, and interfaith dialogue issues.

It is always rewarding meeting the people and organizations implementing the projects we support. For me personally, this is the most important part of any trip; I love connecting with our partners. When I think of India, I will remember the people, those new faces and diverse expressions of God that I had not yet encountered. I will remember the child victims of human trafficking; the many persons living with HIV/AIDS in a place where it is still taboo to discuss it; the women abused by their husbands because of dowry and reproductive rights; the landless farmers striving to secure enough food for their families; those experiencing loss and grief after losing a loved one on that beautiful Sunday morning of December 2004 when the tsunami struck; and the confident, passionate, devoted persons leading the various organizations and institutions that we fund. Thank you to Global Ministries for organizing this visit and to our partners in India who act as the hands and feet of Week of Compassion.
- Amy Gopp

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