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ACNS 3097 SOUTH AFRICA 23 August 2002

Caring for Creation, Third Report

by Claire Foster and David Shreeve

Wednesday 21 August 2002

Today's first speaker was Rosina Wiltshire of the UN Development Programme.
Rosina's presentation was entitled 'Gender and Human Development' and she
spoke of the series of UN conferences and summits with which she had been
engaged as an advocate of women's rights. Rosina explained to the delegates
that she is both an Anglican and 'dedicated to the protection of the
environment and to health and human well-being'.

In her talk she spoke movingly of the role of women. She pointed out that a
staggering 80% of all food production in Africa is undertaken by women. Yet
so often attempts to offer development help assume that men will do the
work. For example, Rosina described seeing water pumps that had been
designed and provided by development engineers who had assumed that the
water would be pumped by men. As a result, women, who are the collectors of
water, were unable to use them. Rosina called for human and environmental
perspectives to be incorporated into what have been overtly technical and
scientific plans and actions trying to deal with the world's problems. She
challenged the Anglican Communion to bring a new understanding to people's
vision of wealth: what role is there for sharing love, joy, compassion,
fulfilling need rather than greed? How can the wealthy person or family be
redefined according to these values? How can the idea of manhood be shifted
from making money, gaining power, expressing sexuality and fathering
children? "I have seen a lot of progress, but I have not seen it happen fast
enough. Still millions of children are dying; there is still a deepening gap
between rich and poor. Let us come back to ethics and spirituality."

Delegates offered examples of women's influence and actions in a number of
Provinces. One was where the Anglican Church despite being small in number
is working in Uganda, along with the Mothers' Union, concentrating on
teaching women skills, and this is attracting the interest of women from the
much larger Muslim community.

The second part of the morning on 'Our Biodiversity, Our Concern, Our Life',
began with a presentation from Dr Chantal Andrianarivo, Head of Research and
Biodiversity, National Association of Protected Area Management, Madagascar.
Chantal described the work that has been going on since 1991 to protect the
environment of her country. Later, when extending the subject to ecological
justice, Bishop Geoff Davies of South Africa explained how well his country
knows that when people exercise 'dominion' for their own benefit without
caring for others, the consequences are disastrous and justice is forsaken.
"Our mandate for 'dominion' is not just to care for fellow human beings but
for all creation." The Bishop then proposed that there should be a
resolution sent to the UN that calls on the international community to
provide for protection of threatened habitats and species. He quoted
Pythagoras, writing 2,600 years ago, to support his views: "For as long as
Man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings, he will
never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals they will
kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seeds of murder and pain cannot
reap joy and love."

During the afternoon delegates were taken to Maretlane Nature Reserve which
has recently become the centre for providing young people, both black and
white, from rural and urban communities with the experience of the South
African environment, reaching back for millennia. For the Magaliesburg
Mountains, where the Nature Reserve is, are estimated to be 2 billion years
old, older than the Alps or the Himalayas.

Delegates returned for a service which reflected the day's deliberations and
experiences before spending further time refining the statement that will go
to the UN Summit.

David Shreeve
Claire Foster

Good Shepherd Retreat Centre
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