Volume 7 Number 1 Winter 2005

...a Seeds of Hope publication

continued on page 2

On the morning of December 26, 2004, anearthquake caused a catastrophic chain

of events in the Indian Ocean. The level 9.0earthquake set forth a deadly tsunami (a seriesof traveling ocean waves generated bygeological disturbances) that would claim allliving things in its path.

The tsunami did not form at the exactepicenter of the quake. The collision of theIndia and Burma plates about 600 miles near

begun in 1965 by the US National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration, did not detectthe oncoming disaster because there were nowave sensors in the area.

Unfortunately, since tsunamis have notbeen common in Sri Lanka and India, thosetwo nations were not participants in theinternational warning system. Moreover,though Thailand is a member of the warningsystem, the country did not have wave sensorsmounted correctly in the ocean. Indonesiasimply could not afford the technology.

The areas hardest hit by the tsunami werealmost all bordered along the Indian Ocean—with Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Seychelles,Maldives, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka,Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesiaall being affected.

In one swift shift of water, people werecarried out to sea without warning. Entirevillages in Thailand were wiped out. The initialimpact of the tsunami killed thousands, butthere was more destruction to come.

As happens in many natural disasters, thefirst wave was followed by earthquakeaftershocks. Minutes later, other tsunami-sizedwaves pounded the already devastated coasts.Scientists estimate that the waves travelednear speeds of 500 miles an hour from ocean

World Responds toTsunami Devastation

by Jessica Garza

In one swift shift of water,people were carried out to sea

without warning. Entire villagesin Thailand were wiped out. The

initial impact of the tsunamikilled thousands, but there was

more destruction to come.

the coast of northern Sumatra is to blame forthe catastrophe. Though it is thought to havebeen one geological incident, the plates thatcaused the tsunami will continue to move inthe future.

The tsunami reached the shores of SriLanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailandaround 7:00 am. The early arrival of the hugewave gave little opportunity to alert the areasin its path. An international warning system,

In This

Issue:

page 2:More on the Tsunami

How to Respond toTsunami Victims

page 3:Stylianos Kyriakides:The Marathon RunnerWho Brought Hope to

Greece

page 4:CARE Director in

Iraq ReportedMurdered

The Story of MargaretHassan

page 5:Hunger Resources

pages 6-7:Number of US PoorContinues to Rise

Obesity, HeartDisease, and Poverty

page 8:Quotes, Poems &

Pithy Sayings

Hunger News & Hope 2 Winter 2005

to shore. Then, reaching land, the wavesslowed to 100 miles per hour. The intensewaves and aftershocks, collectively,claimed as many lives as the first.

Initial reports of death tolls soaredto inconceivable numbers. Nearly144,000 were reported dead, while147,000 were missing. In the comingdays, countries kept independent countsof their missing and their dead.

In Sri Lanka, the death toll hasreached almost 30,000 with 6,000missing. Indonesia reports they havelost 98,000 to the tsunami and 133,000people are yet to be found. India has11,000 dead and almost 6,000 missing.Thailand reports 5,000 dead and 4,000are unaccounted for. Other countries likeTanzania, Bangladesh, and Kenya havelost fewer than 10 each, but the areashave been greatly affected in other ways.

Though miraculous stories ofsurvival have been reported, the majorityof rescue efforts turned to recovery effortsjust one week after the event. Entirecommunities were destroyed as hugesections of coastland were reduced tomud and dirty water. People then lostthe ability to aid those who remainedstranded.

The people who survived had moredifficulties to face with the onset ofdisease and famine. The recovery of thedead brought new problems. There wasno place to bury the bodies—a situationwhich increased health risks. Manydoctors were concerned that this could

bring the death toll up to 700,000 people.To minimize the spread of disease,

many hospitals set up information boardsto help in identifying the dead. In mostcases, families were forced to identifytheir deceased by means of Polaroidphotos.

Days after the tsunami, the rescueeffort was not the only urgent needpressing the affected areas. In smallvillages and communities, the threat ofhomelessness and famine emerged as animminent danger. In the next few days,half a million people would be countedas homeless. To make matters worse,the floods have loosened and uncoveredland mines in some areas. Sri Lankanrescue workers reported injuries inflictedin this way.

In a plea to aid in the relief effort,Dr. Pauline Sathiamurthy, GeneralSecretary of the Church of South India,placed a request for help on behalf of theEpiscopal Relief and Development. “Inplaces like Nagappattinam and Cudalore,entire families have died and their bodieshave been washed ashore in othervillages. People are homeless, left

destitute and need to be fed, clothed,comforted, and counseled and movedfrom polluted areas.”

Other relief agencies started tocampaign for monetary aid for the area.Groups from the Hindu Press, IndiaDevelopment and Relief Fund,Chinmaya Mission, and ExnoraInternational (based in Chennai) havecome to the front lines to deliver help.The agencies listed above are all basedin the countries affected by the tsunami.

With so many waiting to donatetheir services to the disaster area, manyof the groups are choosing to specializein one aspect of the problems likeproviding shelter, food, or clothing.

Many other countries around theworld have pledged incredible amountsof money to the cause. The estimatedcombined relief fund from foreigngovernments has now reached almostthree and a half billion dollars.

The cost of the disaster toll changesdaily, but the world is standing in supportof Southeast Asia. This does not includefunds collected from agencies like theRed Cross and UNICEF. People aredonating all they can to help restore andrebuild a future for those affected by thetsunami disaster.

Fred Ball, Minister General of theOrder of Ecumenical Franciscansexpressed his focus for the relief effortin a letter: “Somehow, we must reachout with love—rebuilding homes andrestoring hopes.”—Jessica Garza is a professional writingstudent at Baylor University. Sources:CNN, Hindu Press, India Developmentand Relief Fund, Chinmaya Mission,Exnora International, Episcopal Reliefand Development

If you’d like to help, contact your denomination’s reliefand development office, contact one of the charities listed

above, or check out one of the many organizations who areresponding to this disaster. For a list of groups with links,

go to www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/12/28/tsunami.aidsites/.

Tanzania

SomaliaSri Lanka

Malaysia

SeychellesKenya

Maldives

ThailandIndia

MyanmarBangladesh

Indonesia

Hunger News & Hope 3Winter 2005

ATHENS, GREECE—In the year 490 BCPheidippides ran 26.2 miles fromMarathon to Athens in order to bringword of Greece’s victory over thePersians. In the same way thatPheiddipides brought hope to theAthenians, Stylianos Kyriakides broughthope to his entire country in the aftermathof World War II.

Born in 1909, Stylianos “Stelios”Kyriakides first ran the marathon forCyprus. After becoming Cyprus’ toprunner, he moved to Greece and quicklymade his way to the top once again. Hisfame grew with each race, and by thetime of the 1936 Olympic Games inBerlin, Germany, Kyriakides was hailedas a national hero—a modernPheidippides.

However, this golden age would notlast. Five years after the Olympics, theNazis invaded Greece, and Athens finallyfell on April 27, 1941. The next fouryears proved treacherous for the Greeks.The Germans took all food, clothing, andmedicine causing 250,000 deaths fromstarvation in the first winter of occupation.One German soldier put it in perspective:“Let them perish so long as no Germandies.”

During this time, Kyriakides wascaptured and almost executed in aresponse to the death of a German soldier,but when the Germans saw his credentialpapers from the Berlin Olympics, they lethim go. The other men captured with himwere executed the next day.

Because of his freedom when so manywere perishing, Kyriakides bore a burdenand a guilt that would spur him to actionseveral years later.

Shortly after the jubilant period ofcelebration at the end of the war, Greeceerupted in a cruel civil war as the Loyalists

fought the Communists for control ofthe country. The Greek people heavilysuffered. There were no jobs, nofactories, and no food. The Greekpeople were desperate. It was at thispoint that Kyriakides acted.

In 1946, he decided to return toAmerica to run in the BostonMarathon, a race he was unable tocomplete several years earlier. Hewanted to win for Greece in order tomake their desperate plight known toa blind world. He adopted the phrase“win or die” as his slogan, and at 36years of age and after a six-yearabsence from competition, he ran.

On April 20, 1946, SteliosKyriakides set out to accomplishthe impossible. Wearingnumber 77 for luck, hecaught up with theAmerican favorite,Johnny Kelley, andsprinted to the end afterfalling seemingly too farbehind, improving hispersonal best by 16 minutes.As he crossed the finish line, heuttered the words “for Greece.”

After the race his fame exploded,and he used it to his advantage.Kyriakides let America know ofthe plight of his people. He pleadedfor their help. He made Americansaware of a dying Greece, but he alsoawakened Greeks to the power left intheir land, the land of Pheidippides.

When he arrived home in Greecebringing money, food and othersupplies, almost one million peoplelined the streets to greet him. But hebrought much more than supplies. Hebrought Greeks hope, pride, andconfidence as a nation and as

individual people. As one friend remarked,“Kyriakides was Greece.”

Just as Pheidippides brought word ofvictory thousands of years ago, SteliosKyriakides brought his people the hope ofa new beginning.—Stephanie Tinker is a recent graduatefrom the Baylor University ProfessionalWriting department. Source: NBCDocumentary aired on August 29, 2004.For more information on the life of StylianosKyriakides, check out the book Runningwith Pheidippides: Stylianos Kyriakides,the Miracle Marathoner by Nick Tsiotos,Andy Dabilis, and Johnny Kelley.

Stylianos Kyriakides:The Marathon Runner Who Brought Hope to Greece

by Stephanie Tinker

Hunger News & Hope 4 Winter 2005

BAGHDAD—Margaret Hassan, beloved direc-tor of CARE International in Iraq, is reportedmurdered by an unknown “Islamic group” atthe age of 59.

On October 19, Hassan was kidnappedwhile on her way to work. Men dressed aspolice officers stopped her car and began tobeat her guard and driver. She stepped in tostop the beating and offered to go with thegunmen. In the following weeks, she appearedin several videos appealing to the British gov-ernment to pull troops out of Iraq to ensure herrelease. Pleas from her husband and siblingsfor her release were in vain, however, as a tapedepicting a blindfolded woman being shot inthe head by a hooded man was released earlierthis week.

Hassan was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1944, and later moved to London with herfamily. In 1961, at the age of 17, she met her husband Tahseen Hassan, an Iraqistudying engineering in the United Kingdom, and they married. After ten years ofmarriage, they moved to Iraq where Ms. Hassan fell in love with the people. Shelearned Arabic, converted to Islam, and became an Iraqi citizen. She has lived theresince 1972.

Ms. Hassan spent her time initially working for the British Council teachingEnglish to Iraqis. She would eventually become its director. She continued workingthrough every period of war and turmoil for the country—through Saddam Hussein’sregime, the Gulf War, and now the second US- led war on the country. She remainedan outspoken critic of UN sanctions and embargo of Iraq, emphasizing the detrimentaleffect such things had on the Iraqi people. She even briefed British MPs and the UNbefore the latest war, explaining the suffering of a people she so deeply loved.

After the Gulf War, Hassan became the director of the Iraqi segment of CAREInternational, “a global humanitarian organization,” a position she held for the pasttwelve years.

According to Dr. Kaydar Al-Chalabi, the director of a Baghdad hospital thatspecializes in spinal injuries that was recently rebuilt by CARE, “She was not just thedirector of CARE International, she ran everywhere she was needed—whether it wasa patient, a child, a hospital, a water purification project, she was the first one there withher staff.”

Hassan lived and worked in Iraq for thirty years and was loved by the Iraqi people.She devoted her life to caring for the poor and disadvantaged in the country, andthough childless herself, Hassan cared for the children of Iraq. They clung to her,chanting, “Madam Margaret. Madam Margaret. Everywhere she went, people justbeamed,” said Felicity Arbuthnot, friend and film-maker.

In light of her devotion to Iraq, her murder comes as a shock to all. Many aroundthe world mourn her death, but she leaves a legacy of love and dedication to a poor andforgotten people. She is survived by her husband, a brother, and three sisters.—Compiled by Stephanie Tinker. Sources: BBC News; www.careinternational.org;Guardian Unlimited (www.guardian.co.uk)

CARE International DirectorReported Murdered in Iraq

Milwaukee’s DownturnSaid to Be Worse Than

Great DepressionMILWAUKEE, WI—An exhaustive analysisby the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel re-leased grim news about the city’s economylate last year.

“A depression far exceeding the GreatDepression of the 1930s has struck theMilwaukee region’s urban core,” the ar-ticle, titled “Hit by a Global Train,” said.The article declared that no other majorurban center in America has suffered asmuch as Milwaukee has.

The study shows that globalization isthe cause for the downturn. “No otherAfrican-American community worked asintensely at manufacturing products thatare no longer made here, or was less pre-pared for a historic shift from unskilledlabor,” according to the article.

“In little more than a generation, Mil-waukee has gone from a place of unrivaledeconomic opportunity for African Ameri-cans to a city of downward mobility with-out equal among other big US cities.”

The employment rate among African-American males in Milwaukee plummetedby 21 percentage points from the peak ofAmerica’s industrial boom in 1970 to themost recent census in 2000. This is nearlydouble the 13-percentage-point decline inthe national employment rate from 1929to the Dust Bowl of 1933.

In 1970, the poverty rate among Afri-can Americans in Milwaukee was 22 per-cent lower than the US average among thatgroup. By 2000, the poverty rate in thesame group was 34 percent higher than thenational figure.—from the Milwaukee Journal Sentineland Food Research & Action Center(FRAC) Digest

New York Senate OverridesGovernor’s Veto

to Increase Minimum WageALBANY, NY—The Republican-controlledNew York Senate voted overwhelminglyin December 2004 to overturn GovernorPataki’s veto of a minimum-wage increase.As a result, the state’s minimum wage will

photo courtesy ofCARE International

(continued on page 5)

Hunger News & Hope 5Winter 2005

hunger resources

Sacred Seasons is a quarterly series of creativeworship tools to help raise awareness of hungerand justice issues. A year’s subscription includesAdvent, Lent, Ordinary Time, and a fallhunger emphasis resource. To order, call 254/755-7745; fax 254/753-1909; write to SeedsPublishers at 602 James, Waco,TX 76706; or emailseedshope@aol.com. USsubscriptions are $120. Singlepackets are US$50. (Non-USsubscriptions are $135;individual packets are $60.)For more information, seewww.seedspublishers.org.

Raise HungerAwareness

through Worship.Subscribe to

Sacred Seasons,a worship resource

from Seeds of Hope.

Make Hunger History: BFW Launches 2005 Offering of LettersAs many people know, hunger is still an epidemic in the US—and the numbers

of hungry and food-insecure people are increasing. (See “Number of Hungry Ameri-cans Increased for Fourth Straight Year” on page 6.) Hunger threatens the lives ofnearly 36 million US Americans and 13 million children each year. To respond to this,Bread for the World (BFW) sponsors an annual Offering of Letters. The letters arewritten by concerned citizens to help bring awareness to members of Congress abouttheir need for a resolution to hunger problems. The theme for this year’s campaign isMake Hunger History. BFW is working toward ending hunger within US borders by2015. The organization suggests that a congregation or campus group choose aSunday (or another day) to write letters to state representatives and senators. TheOffering of Letters Kit contains all of the information concerning current legislativecampaigns in regards to hunger resolutions, plus sample letters, posters, bulletininserts, and clip art. BFW hopes that 200,000 letters will be written for the campaign.To order a kit, go to www.bread.org or call 800-82-BREAD.

Church World Service Launches New Website Feature“Build a Village” is a new interactive feature on the Church World Service

website for the whole family, featuring alternative holiday and year-round gift-givingopportunities as well as stories, games, and other activities for children of all ages.Imani, a friendly giraffe, is the host of this feature. The feature can be accessed fromCWS’s website (www.churchworldservice.org), or you can go directly towww.buildavillage.org.

National Council of Churches Produces New TV DocumentaryHunger No More: Faces Behind the Facts, a documentary made for television by

the National Council of Churches (USA), aired on many ABC stations last October.The film takes an unflinching look at the persistent problem of hunger in the twenty-first century and, approaching the issue from a faith perspective, declares that hungeris a moral issue that needs immediate resolution. The NCC also produced a studyguide. For more information, go to www.nccusa.org.

rise to $7.15 an hour, to be phased in overtwo years starting in 2005. Senator JohnDeFrancisco (R-Syracuse), one of thesponsors of the original bill, told the Syra-cuse Post-Standard that “No one...can af-ford to live on the minimum wage as itexists today,” and added that raising theminimum was “doing the right thing.”Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno saidthat he remains hopeful that federal law-makers will raise the national minimumwage soon. Governor Pataki has arguedthat increasing the state minimum wage inisolation would put New York at a “com-petitive disadvantage” with businesses inPennsylvania and New Jersey, where theminimum remains at $5.15.

—from the Syracuse Post-Standard andFood Research and Action Center (FRAC)Digest

Outreach Helps 1,400 MorePeople Get Food Stamps

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA—A year aftercounty agencies made a push to increaseawareness about and participation in theirfood stamp program, participation roseby nearly 1,400 persons from 5,159 to6,554 persons—a 22 percent jump. “Themore people are using the [food stamp]dollars…the better nutrition they’rebringing home to their family,” NancyRuester told the San Luis Obispo Tri-bune. Ruester works with the Food BankCoalition of San Luis Obispo County. A

year ago, a hunger-relief study foundonly 20 percent of people eligible forfood stamp assistance in the county weregetting help. Eligible people often donot have time to visit the state socialassistance office to complete the paper-work necessary to qualify for foodstamps, according Ruester.

As a result of the study, officialsfrom Social Services and the Food BankCoalition started making weekly visitsto food pantries and shelters throughoutthe county, promoting awareness of theprogram and helping people completethe proper paperwork.—from the San Luis Obispo Tribune andFood Research and Action Center(FRAC) Digest

(New York Senate, continued)

Hunger News & Hope 6 Winter 2005

hunger news

WASHINGTON, DC—According to theUnited States Department of Agricul-ture (USDA), the number of hungry andfood-insecure people in the US is still onthe rise. A total of 36 million people aresuffering from hunger and 13.3 millionof those are children.

The highest numbers are amongAfrican Americans and Hispanics. Thethree states dealing with the most hungerproblems are Arkansas, Texas, and Mis-sissippi—with eight other states show-ing at least 12.9 percent of householdsexperiencing food insecurity.

This demonstrates an increase in thenumber of hungry and food-insecureAmericans for the fourth straight year.

According to the Food Research andAction Center (FRAC), the number onecause of these conditions is weakness inthe economy for the bottom half ofAmericans. Jim Weill, president ofFRAC, cites wage stagnation, jobless-ness, and underemployment for US folksin the lower income levels as the keycause of the growing numbers of food-insecure people.

“Hunger rates in 1999 were alreadymuch too high,” Weill said, “and threeof the last four years weren’t recessionyears, so the worsening rates really re-flect the growing inequality of income inthe country, and the harmful holes in thesafety net.”

Another concern, according to Weill,are reports that some in the White Houseand Congress are discussing cuts in thenation’s basic human needs programs,which “would add millions more peopleto the already appalling nationalbreadline.”

Federal nutrition programs still ex-ist as a preventive measure for furtherproblems, but the damage will be diffi-cult to repair. One obstacle is the factthat Food Stamp programs, the Special

Supplemental Nutrition Program forWomen, Infants & Children (WIC), andThe Emergency Food Assistance Pro-gram (TEFAP) are not being utilized byall food-insecure people. (People whohave not been able, for financial reasons,to access a sufficient diet at all times ina 12-month period are considered to befood-insecure.)

Many hungry people do not knowabout the social assistance programs thatare available to them. Other food-inse-cure people have difficulties providingfor all their family members even withgovernment assistance.

Those who suffer most from hungerare children. Schools have seen a 5.2percent increase in the numbers for freeand reduced-cost lunches for studentsover the last three years. The govern-ment has placed more emphasis, for thetime being, on the importance of break-fast.

For years, nutritionists have madethe correlation between academicachievement and having a nutritionalbreakfast. Another good reason for pro-viding breakfast to students is that it willeliminate the need for snacking betweenmorning and lunch time, therefore mak-ing the way for more balanced mealsinstead of empty-snack calories.

Even with all the importance placedon hungry children in the US, there arestill some areas that fall short of provid-ing for its youngest citizens. Some of theworst states in providing nutritionalmeals for students are Wisconsin, New

Jersey, and Utah. There is a plan inaction to improve the cafeteria programin these states.

In contrast, Oregon, West Virginia,Kentucky, Mississippi, and Texas allshowed superior results in reaching low-income children with school breakfastslast year.

A FRAC report identified a positivetrend of more schools offering “univer-sal” School Breakfast programs—whichserve breakfast at no charge to all chil-dren. The FRAC report says that theseuniversal programs reduce administra-tive burdens, reduce the stigma somestudents feel in being treated differentlyaccording to income, and increase stu-dent participation and achievement.

Children, however, are not the onlygroup to suffer from hunger and foodinsecurity. Older people do not get thenutritional diets they need to help con-trol their mental and physical health.Without proper nutrition, this group cansee an increase in cholesterol, diabetes,and high blood pressure. Putting togetherhunger programs for the elderly willensure that these elders live healthierlives.—compiled by Jessica Garza. Sources:Food Journal, a publication of the TexasAssociation of Community Action Agen-cies, the USDA, and FRAC. For a copyof the USDA report, go towww.ers.usda.gov/publications. For acopy of the FRAC report, go towww.frac.org/School_Breakfast_Report2004.

Number of Hungry Americans Increases for Fourth Straight Year

Hunger News & Hope 7Winter 2005

hunger news

Center for Disease Control:Children and Teens at Risk

ATLANTA, GA—As people have changedin the last forty years, so have theireating habits. With the influx of weightcomes the increase in heart disease. Theaverage person today weighs nearlytwenty to thirty pounds heavier thanthose in the 1960s.

Men ages twenty years and olderhave added close to thirty-three poundsto their belts. Women ages twenty yearsand above have added thirty pounds.And children gained ten pounds com-pared to children in the 1960s.

Though an influx of weight is seenacross the board for all people, this stilldoes not touch the increase of the BodyMass Index for people.

Body Mass Index is a single numberthat elevates an individual’s weight sta-tus in relation to height. Though therehas been a distinct growth in height formen, women, and children, body fat hasgrown as well. The added height mea-surements have not kept body fat undercontrol.

The group most significantly af-fected by this is children and teenagers.

As children and teens are at thehighest risk for developing unhealthyeating and exercise habits, schools aredoing what they can to provide themwith a better lifestyle. Action for HealthyKids, a nonprofit organization, says thatthere is a correlation between diet, exer-cise, and academic progress.

When diet or exercise is not moni-tored in children, it has an adverse affecton the learning process. The Trust forAmerica’s Health organization (TFAH)states that schools need help finding abetter solution for obesity among itsstudents.

They plan to target the organiza-tions that help schools reform the prob-lems.

Study Finds Food StampRecipients Can’t Afford Heart-

Healthy MealsChildren and teens are not the only

people facing dietary difficulties inAmerica. A study released in 2004 to the

American HeartAssociation’s Sci-entific Sessions saidthat many familieswho accept govern-ment aid such asfood stamps are atrisk for unhealthylifestyles.

The report saidthat in Roxbury—the Boston commu-nity in the study—afamily of four wouldneed $227 in excessof Food Stamp ben-efits to provideheart-healthy foodsfor themselves. A se-

Low-Income Groups, Children More at Risk for Heart Disease

nior living alone would need $100 more.In a case study among African

Americans in the Roxbury neighbor-hood, families using the Food Stampprogram were polled in focus groupswith a series of model seven-day menus.

In Roxbury, a family of fourwould need $227 in excessof Food Stamp benefits to

provide heart-healthy foodsfor themselves. A senior

living alone wouldneed $100 more.

Rachel S. Fulp, director of the Center forCardiovascular Disease in Women atBrigham and Women’s Hospital in Bos-ton, said that the study came about be-cause of a sharp rise in coronary riskfactors in this community.

“Many sets of cost-effective menushave been developed in the past formembers of low-income communities,”she said, “but none were developed withas much input from the community re-lated to taste and cultural appropriate-ness….”

Fulp said that the researchers real-ized that the study is limited because itfocuses on one ethnic group within onecommunity. The group plans to conducta similar study in Jamaica Plain, Massa-chusetts, among Latina women.—compiled by Jessica Garza. Sourcefor Body Mass Index study: NationalCenter for Health Statistics (NCHS) ofthe Center for Disease Control (CDC).For more on this topic, go towww.cdc.gov/nchs. Source for Bostonstudy: Food Journal, a publication of theTexas Association of Community ActionAgencies (TACAA). For more informa-tion on the focus group in Roxbury, go towww.tacaa.org.art by Susan Smith

Hunger News & Hope is publishedquarterly by Seeds of Hope Publishers,

in partnership with the followingdenominational groups:

• American Baptist Churches USA• Baptist General Convention of Texas• Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

• Christian Reformed Churchin North America

• Cooperative Baptist Fellowship• Covenant World Relief

• Evangelical Lutheran Churchin America

• Presbyterian Church USA• Reformed Church in America

• United Methodist Committee on Relief

Staff and VolunteersEditor.......................................L. Katherine CookBusiness Manager.................Laura SchmeltekopfDrama and Poetry Editor............John S. BallengerCopy Editor..........................Pat A. StrotherWeb Designer.................................Bennett LaneEditorial Assistants....................Jessica Garza,

Katie Moore, Jonathan Hal ReynoldsArtists......................Robert Askins, Sally Askins,

Peter Yuichi Clark, Robert Darden,Van Darden, Erin Kennedy Mayer,

Lenora Mathis, Sharon Rollins,Susan Smith, Rebecca Ward

Seeds of Hope Council of Stewards2004-2005

H. Joseph HaagTheodore Londos, Jr.

Daniel B. McGee (President)Kathryn Mueller

Nathan PorterSteven Sadler

Jacquline L. SaxonJon Singletary

Statement of PurposeSeeds of Hope is a private, independent

group of believers responding to a common bur-den for the poor and hungry of God’s world, andacting on the strong belief that biblical mandatesto feed the poor were not intended to be optional.The group intends to seek out people of faith whofeel called to care for the poor; and to affirm,enable, and empower a variety of responses tothe problems of poverty.

Editorial AddressSeeds of Hope Publishers are housed by the

community of faith at Seventh and James Bap-tist Church. The mailing address is 602 James,Waco, Texas 76706; Phone: 254/ 755-7745; Fax:

254/753-1909; Email: seedshope@aol.com.Web: www.seedspublishers.org. Copyright© 2005; ISSN 0194-4495. Seeds of Hope, Inc.,holds the 501(c)3 nonprofit tax status.

Seeds of Hope Publishers also produce quar-terly packets of worship materials for the liturgi-cal year—with an economic justice attitude.

quotes, poems, & pithy sayings

These include litanies, sermons, children's andyouth activities, bulletin art, and drama.

Scripture quotations, unless otherwisenoted, are from the New Revised Standard Ver-sion, Copyright © 2001 by the National Councilof Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by per-mission.

I have learned two lessons in my life: first, there are no sufficient literary,psychological, or historical answers to human tragedy, only moral ones. Second,just as despair can come to one another only from other human beings, hope, too,can be given to one only by other human beings.—Elie Wiesel

If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose thatcourage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I stillhave a dream.—Martin Luther King,, Jr.

You must not lose faith inhumanity. Humanity is anocean; if a few drops of theocean are dirty, the oceandoes not become dirty.—Mohandas K. Ghandi

We who lived in concen-tration camps can remem-ber the men who walkedthrough the huts comfort-ing others, giving awaytheir last piece of bread.They may have been fewin number, but they offersufficient proof that ev-erything can be taken froma man but one thing: thelast of the human free-doms—to choose one’sattitude in any given set ofcircumstances, to chooseone’s own way.—Viktor Frankl

Love the earth and sun andthe animals, despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks, stand up for the stupidand crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue notconcerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people…re-examine allyou have been told in school or church or in any book, and dismiss whatever insultsyour own soul….—Walt Whitman