“Irresponsible borrowing decisions are felt on the backs of the people” Catherine Gordon, representative for international issues in the Office of Public Witness, said in Debt, Disaster and Corruption, the first in a series of global debt webinars co-sponsored by OPW, the Presbyterian Hunger Program and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.
Sri Lanka faces enormous economic and social challenges, but when a group representing several ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency visited in January, they saw a couple of fair trade and innovative workplaces beginning to flourish.
Sri Lanka faces enormous economic and social challenges, but when a group representing several ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency visited in January, they saw a couple of fair trade and innovative workplaces beginning to flourish.
As I travel around the world and visit farmers and other agricultural partners, my appreciation of farmers and respect for them grows ever stronger. Every day I learn more about what farming represents, not only for farmers but also for all of us as consumers. We depend daily on farmers and farms yet often do not get glimpses of their daily realities or struggles. Many farmers find themselves living in poverty and being affected by hunger. In 2015, three United Nations agencies reported that most of the 795 million people worldwide who don’t get enough to eat are in fact farmers.
A Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) delegation recently visited Sri Lanka, where they learned about the lives of tea plantation workers and the implications for PC(USA) mission work in Sri Lanka.
A group representing several ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) visited Sri Lanka earlier this year in response to a General Assembly overture aimed at eradicating slavery from supply chains. Program representatives included personnel from Presbyterian World Mission, the Presbyterian Hunger Program and Mission Responsibility Through Investment.
China is investing billions of dollars to build infrastructure all over Asia — Malaysia, the Philippines, and most recently, Sri Lanka. China says it is building a modern-day “silk road” (a nod to its ancient trade route), but some believe there are staggering consequences to signing away too much control to the Chinese, including irreparable environmental harm and debt so large it can never be repaid.
The plantation people of Sri Lanka harvest some of the world’s finest tea, yet they don’t get to enjoy it themselves. Instead, they are only allowed to take the bitter dust of the leaves. It’s a metaphor for their lives.
A group representing several ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) visited Sri Lanka in January in fulfillment of an overture aimed at eradicating slavery from supply chains. Program representatives included personnel from Presbyterian World Mission, the Presbyterian Hunger Program and Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI).
